Author(s)

E. Caballero, C. Jiménez de Cisneros

Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (UGR-CSIC), Armilla, Spain.

Oxygen isotope fractionation is studied during the synthesis of kaolinite under controlled conditions of temperature and time. Equilibrium conditions have been established and its relationship with temperature has been studied. Kaolinite was hydrothermally precipitated starting from non-crystalline aluminosilicate gels. The amount of kaolinite obtained increases up to a limited constant value and in all cases coexists with the amorphous starting gels. It can be seen that the data obtained at 48 hours of synthesis can be considered as quasi-equilibrium, since the total isotopic equilibrium has not been reached, only the sample obtained at 24 hours should be discarded for studies in equilibrium. This would allow us, with the samples obtained at 720 hours, to try to establish a relationship between isotopic fractionation and temperature, provided that we know the water in equilibrium with the synthesized kaolinite. Two equations have been obtained that show correlation coefficients with a high statistical significance.

Oxygen Isotopic Fractionation, Kaolinite-Water System, Isotopic Equilibrium

Caballero, E. and Jiménez de Cisneros, C. (2018) Oxygen Isotopic Fractionation in the Kaolinite-Water System during the Synthetic Process. Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, 6, 507-516. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2018.64036.