Buried Hydrothermal Systems: The Potential Role of Supercritical Water,“ScriW”, in Various Geological Processes and Occurrences in the Sub-Surface
Journal: American Journal of Analytical Chemistry
Year: 2014

It is well known that seawater that migrates deep into the Earth’s crust will pass into its supercritical domain at temperatures above 407°C and pressures above 298 bars. In the oceanic crust, these pressures are attained at depths of 3 km below sea surface, and sufficiently high temperatures are found near intruding magmas, which have temperatures in the range of 800°C to 1200°C. The physico-chemical behaviour of seawater changes dramatically when passing into the supercritical domain. A superc