Solubility of water in pyrope-rich garnet at high pressures and temperature

The water solubility in pyrope-rich garnet was determined between pressures of 5-9 GPa and temperatures of 1373-1473 K under silica activity and oxygen fugacity similar to those expected in the Earth's upper mantle. We found that pyrope-rich garnet has substantial water solubility up to similar to 0.1 wt% under these conditions. In addition, the water content in garnet varied as a function of chemical conditions. In particular, the variation in water fugacity (and Mg#) caused a variation in water partitioning with olivine (D-H2O(ol/py)). The substantial water solubility in pyrope-rich garnet under deep upper mantle conditions might have significant influence on physical and transport properties. Citation: Mookherjee, M., and S. Karato (2010), Solubility of water in pyrope-rich garnet at high pressures and temperature, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L03310, doi: 10.1029/2009GL041289.