Abstract
To investigate the effect of grain growth on the fluid distribution in deep-seated rocks, we carried out sintering experiments of fluid-bearing quartzite at 900°C and 1 GPa for 90–382 h. Grain growth and fluid segregation proceeded significantly in 200 h. The volume fraction of the retained fluid in the quartzites with a high initial fluid content (3.7wt%) decreased asymptotically to 0.8 wt% in 200 h. It was observed that the quartzite grains with much initial fluid were more coarsened than those with less. The fluid expulsion was thus coupled with the grain growth in the initial stage of sintering.