Water uptake of quartz investigated by means of ion-beam analysis

The diffusion of water into quartz was studied by measuring depth profiles of hydrogen and oxygen in hydrothermally treated samples using ion-beam ana lysis methods. Diffusion data were obtained in the temperature range 60 to 200 degrees C. It was found that the initial II content of the individual q uartz specimen plays a crucial role for the diffusion rate, which also depe nds on the orientation of the sample surface relative to the quartz c-axis. External factors which possibly influence the diffusion data were examined . Hydrogen depth profiles measured on a prehistoric quartz artifact were fo und to be compatible with an extrapolation of the diffusion data to ambient temperature.