Formation of CO2, H2 and condensed carbon from siderite dissolution in the 200–300°C range and at 50MPa

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the chemical processes governing the carbon speciation associated to hydrothermal decomposition of siderite. Experiments were carried out in sealed gold capsules using synthetic siderite and deionised water. The samples were reacted at 200 and 300°C, under a pressure of 50MPa. Siderite dissolved to reach the 3FeCO3+H2O=Fe3O4+3CO2+H2 equilibrium and magnetite, Fe3O4, was produced accordingly. The gas phase was dominated by CO2, H2 and CH4, the latter being in strong thermodynamic disequilibrium with CO2. Contrary to the other gas products, H2 concentration was found to decrease with run duration. TEM observations showed the occurrence of condensed carbon phases at the surfaces of magnetite and residual siderite grains. Thermodynamic calculations predict the formation of condensed carbon in the experiments according to the reaction: CO2+2H2⇒C+2H2O, which accounted for the observed H2 concentration decrease up to the point where H2 and CO2 activities were buffered by the graphite–siderite–magnetite assemblage. The well-organized structure of the carbon coating around magnetite emphasizes the high catalytic potential of magnetite surface for carbon reduction and polymerization. The formation of such C-rich phases may represent a potential source of CH4 by hydrogenation. On the other hand, the catalysis of Fischer–Tropsch type reactions may be poisoned by the presence of carbon coating on mineral surfaces. In any case, this study also demonstrates that abiotic H2 generation by water reduction, widely studied in recent years in ultrabasic contexts, can also occur in sedimentary contexts where siderite is present. We show that, in the latter case, natural H2 concentration will be buffered by a condensed carbon phase associated with magnetite.