Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Trace Element Partitioning between Olivine and Melt: Analysis of Experimental Data

  • Published:
Geochemistry International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract—

Knowledge of mineral–melt partition coefficients (D) is necessary for geochemical modeling of magma formation and evolution. The main source of these parameters is experiments on equilibrium between minerals and silicate melt. The database on mineral–melt equilibrium experiments has grown continuously, which allows one to refine partition coefficients and reveal the most important factors affecting them. This paper reports the analysis of available experimental data on trace element partitioning between olivine and melt (7000 experiments from 587 publications were used). Based on the statistical processing of the data array, the dependence of D on melt and olivine composition and P–T conditions was evaluated. It was found that most of incompatible elements are either insensitive or moderately sensitive to these parameters. Among the compositional parameters, CaO content in melt is most significant. It was shown that D estimates can be significantly improved by using ratios of D values for different elements. Such ratios are often independent of experimental parameters and much less variable than D values for particular elements. The obtained D estimates for basaltic compositions vary within six orders of magnitude, from <10–5 (U, Th, and La) to ~5–10 (Co and Ni). The low D values for most elements (<0.1) indicate that many trace element ratios in melts do not change significantly even at high degrees of olivine crystallization. The obtained estimates were compared with data on element partitioning between high-pressure (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 phases (wadsleyite and ringwoodite) and silicate melt and between olivine and carbonate–silicate melts. In both cases, there is a close similarity to element partitioning between olivine and silicate melt. One exception is REE. DREE values for the wadsleyite/ringwoodite–melt and olivine–carbonate melt systems are approximately one order of magnitude lower than those for olivine–silicate melt partitioning.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. N. L. Allan, Z. Du, M. Y. Lavrentiev, J. D. Blundy, J. A. Purton, and W. van Westrenen, “Atomistic simulation of mineral–melt trace-element partitioning,” Phys. Earth Planet. Int. 139, 93–111 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. M. Bau, “Controls on the fractionation of isovalent trace elements in magmatic and aqueous systems: evidence from Y/Ho, Zr/Hf, and lanthanide tetrad effect,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 123, 323–333 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. P. Beattie, “On the occurrence of apparent non-Henry’s Law behaviour in experimental partitioning studies,”Geochim. Cosmochim Acta. 57, 47–55 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. P. Beattie, “Systematics and energetics of trace-element partitioning between olivine and silicate melts: implications for the nature of mineral/melt partitioning,” Chem. Geol. 117, 57–71 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. P. Beattie, C. Ford, and D. Russell, “Partition coefficients for olivine-melt and orthopyroxene-melt systems,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 109, 212–224 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. J. H. Bedard, “Partitioning coefficients between olivine and silicate melts,” Lithos 83, 394–419 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. J. Blundy and J. Dalton, “Experimental comparison of trace element partitioning between clinopyroxene and melt in carbonate and silicate systems, and implications for mantle metasomatism,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 139, 356–371 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. J. Blundy and B. Wood, “Partitioning of trace elements between crystals and melts,” Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 210, 383–397 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. J. D. Blundy and B. J. Wood, “Prediction of crystal–melt partition coefficients from elastic moduli,” Nature 372, 452–454 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. A. Borisov, A. Pack, A. Kropf, and H. Palme, “Partitioning of Na between olivine and melt: An experimental study with application to the formation of meteoritic Na2O-rich chondrule glass and refractory forsterite grains,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 72, 5558–5573 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. D. Canil, “Vanadium partitioning and the oxidation state of Archean komatiite magmas,” Nature 389, 842–845 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. D. Canil and Y. Fedortchouk, “Olivine–liquid partitioning of vanadium and other trace elements, with applications to modern and ancient picrites,” Can. Mineral. 39, 319–330 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. R. O. Colson, G. A. Mckay, and L. A. Taylor, “Temperature and composition dependencies of trace element partitioning: Olivine/melt and low-Ca pyroxene/melt,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 52, 539–553 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. P. Condamine, S. Couzinie, A. Fabbrizio, J.-L. Devidal, and E. Medard, “Trace element partitioning during incipient melting of phlogopite-peridotite in the spinel and garnet stability fields,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 327, 53–78 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Stefano F. Di, S. Mollo, J. Blundy, P. Scarlato, M. Nazzari, and O. Bachmann, “The effect of CaO on the partitioning behavior of REE, Y and Sc between olivine and melt: Implications for basalt–carbonate interaction processes,” Lithos 326–327, 327–340 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. C. Dupuy, J. M. Liotard, and J. Dostal, “Zr/Hf fractionation in intraplate basaltic rocks: carbonate metasomatism in the mantle source,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 56, 2417–2423 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. M. Ya. Frenkel, A. A. Yaroshevskii, A. A. Ariskin, G. S. Barmina, E. V. Koptev-Dvornikov, and B. S. Kireev, Dynamics of Intrachamber Differentiation of Basaltic Magmas (Nauka, Moscow, 1988) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  18. A. V. Girnis, V. K. Bulatov, G. P. Brey, A. Gerdes, and H. E. Höfer, “Trace element partitioning between mantle minerals and silico-carbonate melts at 6–12 GPa and applications to mantle metasomatism and kimberlite genesis,” Lithos 160–161, 183–200 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. D. H. Green and M. E. Wallace, “Mantle metasomatism by ephemeral carbonatite melts,” Nature 336, 459–462 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. T. H. Green, “Experimental studies of trace-element partitioning applicable to igneous petrogenesis–Sedona 16 years later,” Chem. Geol. 117, 1–36 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. J. Guo and T. H. Green, “Barium partitioning between alkali feldspar and silicate liquid at high temperature and pressure,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 102, 328–335 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. B. Hanson and J. H. Jones, “The systematics of Cr3+ and Cr2+ partitioning between olivine and liquid in the presence of spinel,” Am. Mineral. 83, 669–684 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. W. J. Harrison, “Partition coefficients for REE between garnets and liquids: implications of non-Henry’s law behaviour for models of basalt origin and evolution,” Geochim. Cosmochim Acta 45, 1529–1544 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. W. J. Harrison and B. J. Wood, “An Experimental investigation of the partitioning of REE between garnet and liquid with reference to the role of defect equilibria,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 72, 145–155 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. I. Horn, S. F. Foley, S. E. Jackson, and G. A. Jenner, “Experimentally determined partitioning of high field strength- and selected transition elements between spinel and basaltic melt,” Chem. Geol. 117, 193–218 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. W. Irber, “The lanthanide tetrad effect and its correlation with K/Rb, Eu/Eu*, Sr/Eu, Y/Ho, and Zr/Hf of evolving peraluminous granite suites,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63, 489–508 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. A. J. Irving, “A review of experimental studies of crystal/liquid trace element partitioning,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42, 743–770 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. M. H. G. Jacobs, R. Schmid-Fetzer, and A. P. van den Berg, “Thermophysical properties and phase diagrams in the system MgO–SiO2–FeO at upper mantle and transition zone conditions derived from a multiple-Einstein method,” Phys. Chem. Minerals 46, 513–534 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. J. H. Jones, “Temperature- and pressure-independent correlations of olivine-liquid partition coefficients and their application to trace element partitioning,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 88, 126–132 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. H. Kagi, Y. Dohmoto, S. Takano, and A. Masuda, “Tetrad effect in lanthanide partitioning between calcium sulfate crystal and its saturated solution. Chem. Geol. 107, 71–82 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. M. J. Le Bas, R. N. Le Maitre, A. Streckeisen, and B. Zanettin, “A Chemical Classification of Volcanic Rock Based on Total Silica Diagram,” J. Petrol. 27, 745–750 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. C. Li and E. M. Ripley, “The relative effects of composition and temperature on olivine-liquid Ni partitioning: Statistical deconvolution and implications for petrologic modeling,” Chem. Geol. 275, 99–104 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. G. Mallmann and H. St.C. O’Neill, “Calibration of an empirical thermometer and oxybarometer based on the partitioning of Sc, Y and V between olivine and silicate melt,” J. Petrol. 54, 933–949 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. A. Masuda, O. Kawakami, Y. Dohmoto, and T. Takenaka, “Lanthanide tetrad effects in nature: Two mutually opposite types, W and M,” Geochem. J. 21, 119–124 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. K. Mibe, Y. Orihashi, S. Nakai, and T. Fujii, “Element partitioning between transition–zone minerals and ultramafic melt under hydrous conditions,” Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L16307.https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL026999

  36. A. Navrotsky, “Thermodynamics of element partitioning: (1) Systematics of transition metals in crystalline and molten silicates and (2) defect chemistry and the Henry’s law problem,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42, 887–902 (1978).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. R. L. Nielsen, “A model for the simulation of combined major and trace element liquid lines of decent,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 52, 27–38 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. R. L. Nielsen, “BIGD.FOR: A Fortran program to calculate trace-element partition coefficients for natural mafic and intermediate composition magmas,” Comp. Geosci. 18, 773–788 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. S. Prowatke and S. Klemme, “Rare earth element partitioning between titanite and silicate melts: Henry’s law revisited,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 70, 4997–5012 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. P. L. Roeder and R. F. Emslie, “Olivine–liquid equilibrium,” Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 29, 275–289 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. R. L. Rudnick, W. F. McDonough, and B. W. Chappell, “Carbonatite metasomatism in the northern Tanzanian mantle: petrographic and geochemical characteristics,” Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 114, 463–475 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. I. V. Veksler, A. M. Dorfman, M. Kamenetsky, P. Dulski, and D. B. Dingwell, “Partitioning of lanthanides and Y between immiscible silicate and fluoride melts, fluorite and cryolite and the origin of the lanthanide tetrad effect in igneous rocks. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 69, 2847–2860 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. B. J. Wood and J. D. Blundy, “Trace element partitioning: The influences of ionic radius, cation charge, pressure, and temperature,” Treatise on Geochemistry 3, 421–448 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. A. B. Woodland, V. K. Bulatov, G. P. Brey, A. V. Girnis, H. E. Höfer, and A. Gerdes, “Subduction factory in an ampoule: Experiments on sediment–peridotite interaction under temperature gradient conditions,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 223, 319–349 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. G. M. Yaxley, A. J. Crawford, and D. H. Green, “Evidence for carbonatite metasomatism in spinel peridotite xenoliths from western Victoria, Australia,” Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 107, 305–317 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author thanks A.A. Ariskin (Moscow State University) and G.S. Nikolaev (Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences) for attentive analysis of the manuscript and valuable comments and recommendations.

Funding

This study was carried out under government-financed research project FMMN-2021-0003 for the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Girnis

Authors
  1. A. V. Girnis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. V. Girnis.

Ethics declarations

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Translated by E. Kurdyukov

Supplementary Information

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Girnis, A.V. Trace Element Partitioning between Olivine and Melt: Analysis of Experimental Data. Geochem. Int. 61, 311–323 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702923040055

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702923040055

Keywords:

Search

Navigation