Inclusion (mineral)

Algorithm

Physics

Geology

Philosophy

Isobaric process

Paleontology

Organic chemistry

Chemistry

Mineralogy

Fluid inclusions

Quartz

Composition (language)

Computer science

Linguistics

Phase (matter)

Petrography

Isochoric process

Thermodynamics

Chemical Geology

Fluid inclusions approximated by the system H2O-NaCl-CO2 are common in a wide variety of geologic settings, requiring protocols to evaluate the composition, phase equilibria, density, and isochoric pressure-temperature relations. This study presents a generic approach to determine these properties of H2O-NaCl-CO2 inclusions, based on petrographic, microthermometic and/or Raman spectroscopic data, invoking mass balance and conservation of bulk molar volume constraints. The generic algorithm is implemented using a combination of new correlation equations and existing equations of state. The resulting computer program accepts a variety of possible input types, according to the particular microthermometric properties (thus, according to bulk composition and density) and measured data, and includes tools for reconstructing phase boundaries as well as the pressure-temperature trajectories of the inclusion during heating (i.e., the isochore). The program is written in Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Excel.

Fluid inclusions in the system H2O-NaCl-CO2: An algorithm to determine composition, density and isochore