High temperature stability limit of phase egg, AlSiO₃(OH)

Abstract

The stability relations of phase egg, AlSiO₃(OH), have been investigated at pressures from 7 to 20 GPa, and temperatures from 900 to 1700 °C in a multi-anvil apparatus. At the lower pressures phase egg breaks down according to the univariant reaction, phase egg = stishovite + topaz-OH, which extends from 1100 °C at 11 GPa to 1400 °C at 13 GPa where it terminates at an invariant point involving corundum. At pressures above the invariant point, the stability of phase egg is limited by the breakdown reaction, phase egg = stishovite + corundum + fluid, which extends from the invariant point to 1700 °C at 20 GPa. Stishovite crystallized in the Al₂O₃-SiO₂-H₂O system contains Al₂O₃, and the amount of Al₂O₃ increases with increasing temperature. It is inferred that the Al₂O₃ content is controlled by the charge-balanced substitution of Si⁴⁺ by Al³⁺ and H⁺. Aluminum-bearing stishovite coexisting with an H₂O-rich fluid may contain a certain amount of water. Therefore, phase egg and stishovite in a subducting slab could transport some H₂O into the deep Earth.