For much of the 20th century, scientific contacts between the Soviet Union and western countries were few and far between, and often super­ ficial. In earth sciences, ideas and data were slow to cross the Iron Curtain, and there was considerable mutual mistrust of diverging scient­ ific philosophies. In geochemistry, most western scientists were slow to appreciate the advances being made in the Soviet Union by os. Korz­ hinskii, who put the study of ore genesis on a rigorous thermodynamic basis as early as the 1930s. Korzhinskii appreciated that the most fun­ damental requirement for the application of quantitative models is data on mineral and fluid behaviour at the elevated pressures and temper­ atures that occur in the Earth's crust. He began the work at the Institute of Experimental Mineralogy (IEM) in 1965, and it became a separate establishment of the Academy of Sciences in Chernogolovka in 1969. The aim was to initiate a major programme of high P-T experimental studies to apply physical chemistry and thermodynamics to resolving geological problems. For many years, Chernogolovka was a closed city, and western scient­ ists were unable to visit the laboratories, but with the advent of peres­ troika in 1989, the first groups of visitors were eagerly welcomed to the IEM. What they found was an experimental facility on a massive scale, with 300 staff, including 80 researchers and most of the rest pro­ viding technical support.

Table of Contents:
1 An introduction to crustal fluids.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 Fluid systems.- 1.3 Mineral solubility and the composition of crustal fluids.- 1.4 Fluid migration through crustal rocks.- 1.5 Conclusions.- References.- 2 Fluids in geological processes.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Equilibrium systems with fluid components.- 2.3 Dynamic phenomena in systems with fluid components.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- 3 Hydrothermal experimental techniques used at the Institute of Experimental Mineralogy, Russian Academy of Sciences.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Parts of the apparatus for studying hydrothermal processes.- 3.3 Sampling techniques.- 3.4 Apparatus and techniques for experiments on diffusion and infiltration metasomatism.- 3.5 Summary and conclusions References.- References.- 4 Solubility and complex formation in the systems Hg?H2O, S?H2O, SiO2?H2O and SnO2?H2O.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Mercury solubility in water.- 4.3 Sulphur solubility in water and the thermodynamics of the aqueous species Saqo, H2Saq, SO2aq, H2S2O3, HSO4?ine> to 440°C.- 4.4 SiO2 solubility in water and in acid solutions (HCl, HNO3) at 100–400°C and 1013 bar.- 4.5 Solubility of SnO2 in water and aqueous electrolyte solutions at 200–400°C and 16–1500 bar.- 4.6 Summary.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- 5 Experimental studies of the solubility and complexing of selected ore elements (Au, Ag, Cu, Mo, As, Sb, Hg) in aqueous solutions.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Gold.- 5.3 Silver.- 5.4 Copper.- 5.5 Molybdenum.- 5.6 Arsenic.- 5.7 Antimony.- 5.8 Mercury.- 5.9 Discussion and geological implications.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- 6 The influence of acidic fluoride and chloride solutions on the geochemical behaviour of Al, Si and W.-6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Gain and loss of rock-forming components during greisenization: an example from the Akchatau W?Mo deposit.- 6.3 Results of mineral solubility experiments.- 6.4 Silicification of rocks associated with acid metasomatism.- 6.5 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 7 The behaviour of components in complex fluid mixtures under high T?P conditions.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 Experimental procedures and techniques.- 7.3 Behaviour of the acid component HCl.- 7.4 Behaviour of the salt components MgCl2, CaCl2 and FeCl2.- 7.5 Concluding discussion.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- 8 Phase equilibria in fluid systems at high pressures and temperatures.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 Binary H2O—salt systems.- 8.3 Ternary systems H2O-CO2—salt systems.- 8.4 Fluid immiscibility and magmatic crystallization.- 8.5 Fluid in metamorphism and anatectic melting.- 8.6 Phenomena accompanying the two-phase fluid state.- 8.7 Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- 9 Diffusion of electrolytes in hydrothermal systems: free solution and porous media.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 The diffusion of the electrolyte $$ {A_{{{v_1}}}}\,{B_{{{v_2}}}} $$ in dilute solutions.- 9.3 P?T?m dependencies of diffusion coefficients in electrolyte solutions.- 9.4 Theoretical calculations of transport properties of rocks, based on the data on functions of microcrack size distributions.- 9.5 Diffusion of electrolytes in pore solutions: correction for the electric double layer (EDL) effect.- 9.6 Diffusion of NaCl in pore solutions of granite to 600°C.- Acknowledgments.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- 10 Thermal decompaction of rocks.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Experimental procedure.- 10.3 Results.- 10.4 Discussion.- 10.5 Conclusions: possible geological implications of theeffect of thermal decompaction of rocks.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- 11 Permeability of rocks at elevated temperatures and pressures.- 11.1 Introduction.- 11.2 Key concepts, methods of permeability measurement and experimental procedure.- 11.3 Permeability of magmatic rocks.- 11.4 Permeability of metamorphic rocks.- 11.5 Permeability of sedimentary rocks.- 11.6 Discussion and summary of conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Glossary of symbols.- Index of aqueous species.- Index of systems.