Three-Phase Melting Curves in the Binary System of Carbon Dioxide and Water

Invariant, three-phase melting curves, of ice VI in equilibrium with solid CO2, of ice VII in equilibrium with solid CO2, and of solid CO2 in simultaneous equilibrium with a majority aqueous and a majority CO2 fluid, were explored in the binary system of carbon dioxide and water. Diamond-anvil cells were used to develop pressures of 5 GPa. Water exhibits a large melting temperature depression (73 degrees C less than its pure melting temperature of 253 degrees C at 5 GPa) indicative of large concentrations of CO2 in the aqueous solution. The melting point of water-saturated CO2 does not show a measureable departure from that of the pure system at temperatures lower than similar to 200 degrees C and only 10 degrees C at 5 GPa (from 327 degrees C).