This study proposes a simple and novel synthesis route for rhombohedral single crystals (<2µm) of magnesite. This synthesis can be summarized by two main sequential reactions: (1) aqueous carbonation of synthetic brucite (Mg(OH) 2) by injection of CO 2 in a highly alkaline medium (2Molal of NaOH) at ambient temperature (∼20°C), leading to precipitation of platy-compacted aggregates of dypingite...

Acoustic velocities of brucite were measured at room pressure in over 48 directions from Brillouin spectroscopy using a natural sample. These data are supplemented with volume measurements as a function of pressure and temperature that range from ambient conditions to 11 GPa and 873 K using synchrotron X-ray radiation at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) in a cubic-anvil apparatus (S...

The Oman Drilling Project “Multi-Borehole Observatory” (MBO) samples an area of active weathering tectonically exposed peridotite. This article reviews the geology MBO region, summarizes recent research, and provides new data constraining ongoing alteration. Host rocks are partially to completely serpentinized, residual mantle harzburgites, replacive. Dunites show evidence for “reactive fractio...

Solid-state (2)H NMR spectroscopy has been used to probe the dynamic disorder of hydroxyl deuterons in a synthetic sample of deuterated hydroxyl-clinohumite (4Mg(2)SiO(4).Mg(OD)(2)), a proposed model for the incorporation of water within the Earth's mantle. Both static and magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR methods were used. Static (2)H NMR appears to reveal little evidence of the dynamic process,...

In this work, the potential of CO₂ mineral carbonation of brucite (Mg(OH)2) derived from the Mount Tawai peridotite (forsterite based (Mg)₂SiO4) to produce thermodynamically stable magnesium carbonate (MgCO3) was evaluated. The effect of three main factors (reaction temperature, particle size, and water vapor) were investigated in a sequence of experiments consisting of aqueous acid leaching, e...

First-principles calculations have been employed to examine the possible use of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) as a tool for determining the presence of OH groups and hence hydrogen content in compounds. Our density functional theory (DFT) based calculations describe accurately the experimental EELS results for forsterite (Mg2SiO4), hambergite (Be2BO3(OH)), brucite (Mg(OH)2) and diasp...