Rates of Hydrothermal Reactions

The rates of reactions of silicates and aqueous fluids follow zero-order kinetics controlled by the reacting surface area with the rate constant given by the equation: log k[unknown] -2900/T -6.85, where T is temperature and where k has the unit's gram-atoms of oxygen per square centimeter per second. This expression appears to hold for all silicates and for reactions involving dissolution, fluid production, or solid-solid transformations in the presence of a fluid of moderate to high pH.