Abstract. Grain growth of quartz was investigated using two quartz samples
(powder and novaculite) with water under pressure and temperature
conditions of 1.0–2.5 GPa and 800–1100 ∘C. The compacted powder
preserved a substantial porosity, which caused a slower grain growth than in
the novaculite. We assumed a grain growth law of
dn-d0n=k0fH2Orexp(-Q/RT)t
with grain size d (µm) at time t (seconds), initial grain size
d0 (µm), growth exponent n, a constant k0 (µmn MPa−r s−1), water fugacity
fH2O (MPa) with the exponent r,
activation energy Q (kJ mol−1),
gas constant R, and temperature T in
Kelvin. The parameters we obtained were n=2.5±0.4, k0=10-8.8±1.4, r=2.3±0.3, and Q=48±34 for the powder and n=2.9±0.4, k0=10-5.8±2.0, r=1.9±0.3, and Q=60±49 for the novaculite. The grain growth parameters obtained for
the powder may be of limited use because of the high porosity of the powder
with respect to crystalline rocks (novaculite), even if the differences
between powder and novaculite vanish when grain sizes reach ∼70 µm. Extrapolation of the grain growth laws to natural conditions
indicates that the contribution of grain growth to plastic deformation in the
middle crust may be small. However, grain growth might become important for
deformation in the lower crust when the strain rate is < 10−12 s−1.