Albit

Most igneous and metamorphic rocks are composed predominantly of alurninosiHcate minerals, including feldspar such as albite (NaAlSi Og) or anorthite (CaAl2Si20g) and crystalline forms of siHca such as quartz (Si02). Various mixed metal-plus-siHcon oxides such as oHvine [(Mg,Fe)2(SiO ] and... 

NaAlSigOs + 2 H+ + 9 H2O Al2Si2 O5 (OH) + 4 H4Si04(aq) + 2Na albite hydrogen water kaolinite silicic acid sodium... 

Other alkali ions (except lithium) also probably have the coordination Number 8 as a rule, and should similarly have a tendency to a 1 1 ratio with aluminum this is shown in NaAlSi3Os, albite, H2Na2Al2Si30i2, natro-lite, H2Cs4Al4Si9027, pollucite, etc. 

An example of aluminosilicate weathering is the reaction of the feldspar albite to a montmor-illonite-type mineral... 

Figure 1.33. Frequency (number of analyses) histogram for Fc203 (wt%) of epidote from the Kuroko basalt. A epidote coexisting with albite, B epidote coexisting with chlorite, C epidote coexisting with pyrite, D epidote coexisting with hematite and calcite (Shikazono et al., 1995).

Adularia is abundant in Au-Ag deposits, where it is commonly found with Au-Ag minerals only rarely does it occur in Pb-Zn and Cu deposits. Albite is very rare and is reported only from the Nebazawa Au-Ag deposits. Barite is a common gangue constituent in Pb-Zn-Mn deposits, especially those in the southwestern part of Hokkaido and the northern part of Honshu, where it is usually a late-stage mineral coexisting with carbonate and quartz but rarely with sulfide minerals. Other rare gangue minerals include fluorite, apatite, gypsum, bementite, rutile, and sphene, but they have not been studied. 

Representative propylitie alteration minerals inelude epidote, albite, earbonates, quartz, chlorite, sericite, and smectite. The less common minerals are mixed-layer elay minerals such as chlorite/smectite and sericite/smectite and zeolite minerals. 

Few data on the chemical compositions of feldspars (albite, K-feldspar) are available. Fuji (1976) indicated that K-feldspar and albite in the propylite of west Izu Peninsula, middle Honshu are of nearly end member composition. Nagayama (1992) showed that K-feldspars in the Hishikari Au-Ag vein and in the host andesitic rock have different composition Na/K ratio of K-feldspars from the vein is lower than that from the host rocks. 

Figure 1.86. Variation in chemical compositions (in molal unit) of hydrothermal solution with temperature. Thermochemical data used for the calculations are from Helgeson (1969). Calculation method is given in Shikazono (1978a). Chloride concentration in hydrothermal solution is assumed to be 1 mol/kg H2O. A-B Na concentration in solution in equilibrium with low albite and adularia, C-D K concentration in solution in equilibrium with low albite and adularia, E-F HaSiOa concentration in equilibrium with quartz, G-H Ca + concentration in equilibrium with albite and anorthite (Shikazono, 1978a, 1988b).

Formation of albite which is characteristic mineral of propylitic alteration occurs by heating of rocks and descending fluids at recharge zone in the hydrothermal system (Giggenbach, 1984 Takeno, 1989). Thus, it is considered that the propylitic alteration takes place at recharge zone in the hydrothermal system, while potassic alteration at discharge zone. 

Supergroup rocks in the Hishikari district suffered hydrothermal alteration. Chlorite, quartz and sericite occur abundantly near the veins. The other constituents are pyrite, albite, calcite and organic matter. 

Alteration minerals at the greatest depth in areas of relatively high temperatures (200-300°C) are quartz, chlorite, mica, anhydrite, K-feldspar, calcite, pyrite, albite, wairakite, laumontite, and minor amounts of epidote and prehnite. 

Hence, it is assumed that the minerals in equilibrium with geothermal waters are albite, K-feldspar, muscovite, quartz, calcite, anhydrite, chlorite and wairakite. 

Albite and K-feldspar are commonly observed to coexist. If the following reaction is in equilibrium,... 

Fig. 2.3. Relation between the K+ and CI concentration of geothermal waters and inclusion fluids. The solid line defines the equilibrium condition between the solution and the assemblage albite-K-feldspar at 250°C. For symbols used, see caption to Fig. 2.2. (Shikazono, 1978a).

The above discussions are based on the assumption of constant temperature. However, temperature varies widely. The chemical compositions of geothermal waters intimately relate to temperature. For example, the correlation between Na/K ratio in geothermal waters and temperature has been interpreted as indicating that this ratio is controlled by albite and K-feldspar (White, 1965 Ellis, 1969, 1970). 

Helgeson (1967) constructed an activity diagram depicting chemical equilibrium points (albite-sericite-K-feldspar and albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite) of NazO-K20-Si02-Al203-H20 system at elevated temperatures. At these points,... 

This equation shows that activity of Ca + is related to pH, concentration of H2CO3 and temperature. Because pH is related to the concentration of Cl for the equilibrium curves 1 and 2 in Fig. 2.14, the relationship between the concentrations of Ca " " and Cl" can be derived for calcite-albite-sericite-K-feldspar-quartz equilibrium (curves 4 and 7 in Fig. 2.14) and calcite-albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite-quartz equilibrium (curves 5 and 8 in Fig. 2.14) with constant w2h2C03- The range of zh2C03 in the solution in equilibrium with calcite is assumed to be 10 to 10 . The other equilibrium curves for the assemblage including Ca minerals are also drawn (Fig. 2.14). These assemblages are wairakite-albite-sericite-K-feldspar-quartz (curve 3), Ca-montmotillonite-albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite-quartz (curve 6), Ca-montmorillonite-albite-sericite-K-feldspar-quartz (curve 9) and anhydrite (curve 10). The effect of solid solution on the equilibrium curves is not considered because of the lack of thermochemical data of solid solution. 

Fig. 2.14. The variation of concentration of with concentration of CP in aqueous solution in equilibrium with a given mineral assemblage at 250°C. I Equilibrium curve based on albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite-quartz-aqueous solution equilibrium and Na-K-Ca relationship obtained by Fournier and Truesdell (1973). 2 Equilibrium curve based on albite-K-feldspar-aqueous solution equilibrium and Na-K-Ca relationship obtained by Fournier and Truesdell (1973). 3 Wairakite-albite-sericite-K-feldspar-quartz. 4 Calcite-albite-sericite-K-feldspar-quartz (/jjhjCO, = 10 ). 5 Calcite-albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite-quartz (mH2C03 = 10 ). 6 Ca-montmorillonite-albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite-quartz. 7 Calcite-albite-sericite-K-feld-spar-quartz (mnjCOj = 10 ). 8 Calcite-albite-sericite-Na-montmorillonite-quartz (mHjCOj = 10 ). 9 Ca-montmorillonite-albite-sericite-K-feldspar-quartz. 10 Anhydrite = 10 ). (Shikazono, 1976)...

These results indicate that the chemical composition of geothermal water at 250°C is largely controlled by such minerals commonly occurring in geothermal area as albite, K-feldspar, sericite, calcite, wairakite and quartz. 

The Okuaizu geothermal system is characterized by high temperatures (maximum 340°C), high salinity (about 2 wt% total dissolved solids (TDS)) and large amounts of non-condensable gases (1 wt% CO2 and 200 ppm H2S). The pH of the hydrothermal solution measured at 25°C is 6.44 (Table 2.6). However, the pH of the original fluid in the reservoir is computed to be 4.05. This pH as well as alkali and alkali earth element concentrations are plotted near the equilibrium curve of albite, K-mica, anhydrite and calcite (Fig. 2.19) (Seki, 1991). 

Fig. 2.37. Phase diagram for Ca0-Na20 Si02-(Al203)-H20 system in equilibrium with quartz at 400°C and 400 bars. Plagioclase solid solution can be represented by the albite and anorthite fields, whereas epidote is represented by clinozoisite. Note that the clinozoisite field is adjacent to the anorthite field, suggesting that fluids with high Ca/(H+) might equilibrate with excess anorthite by replacing it with epidote. The location of the albite-anorthite-epidote equilibrium point is a function of epidote and plagioclase composition and depends on the model used for calculation of the thermodynamic properties of aqueous cations (Berndt et al., 1989).

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