Chenguang Sun

Distribution of REE between clinopyroxene and basaltic melt along a mantle adiabat: effects of major element composition, water, and temperature

The distribution of rare earth elements (REE) between clinopyroxene (cpx) and basaltic melt is important in deciphering the processes of mantle melting. REE and Y partition coefficients from a given cpx-melt partitioning experiment can be quantitatively described by the lattice strain model. We analyzed published REE and Y partitioning data between cpx and basaltic melts using the nonlinear regression method and parameterized key partitioning parameters in the lattice strain model (D0, r0 and E) as functions of pressure, temperature, and compositions of cpx and melt. D0 is found to positively correlate with Al in tetrahedral site (AlT) and Mg in the M2 site (MgM2) of cpx and negatively correlate with temperature and water content in the melt. r0 is negatively correlated with Al in M1 site (AlM1) and MgM2 in cpx. And E is positively correlated with r0. During adiabatic melting of spinel lherzolite, temperature, AlT, and MgM2 in cpx all decrease systematically as a function of pressure or degree of melting. The competing effects between temperature and cpx composition result in very small variations in REE partition coefficients along a mantle adiabat. A higher potential temperature (1,400°C) gives rise to REE partition coefficients slightly lower than those at a lower potential temperature (1,300°C) because the temperature effect overwhelms the compositional effect. A set of constant REE partition coefficients therefore may be used to accurately model REE fractionation during partial melting of spinel lherzolite along a mantle adiabat. As cpx has low Al and Mg abundances at high temperature during melting in the garnet stability field, REE are more incompatible in cpx. Heavy REE depletion in the melt may imply deep melting of a hydrous garnet lherzolite. Water-dependent cpx partition coefficients need to be considered for modeling low-degree hydrous melting.

A parameterized model for REE distribution between low-Ca pyroxene and basaltic melts with applications to REE partitioning in low-Ca pyroxene along a mantle adiabat and during pyroxenite-derived melt and peridotite interaction

Low-Ca pyroxenes play an important role in mantle melting, melt-rock reaction, and magma differentiation processes. In order to better understand REE fractionation during adiabatic mantle melting and pyroxenite-derived melt and peridotite interaction, we developed a parameterized model for REE partitioning between low-Ca pyroxene and basaltic melts. Our parameterization is based on the lattice strain model and a compilation of published experimental data, supplemented by a new set of trace element partitioning experiments for low-Ca pyroxenes produced by pyroxenite-derived melt and peridotite interaction. To test the validity of the assumptions and simplifications used in the model development, we compared model-derived partition coefficients with measured partition coefficients for REE between orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene in well-equilibrated peridotite xenoliths. REE partition coefficients in low-Ca pyroxene correlate negatively with temperature and positively with both calcium content on the M2 site and aluminum content on the tetrahedral site of pyroxene. The strong competing effect between temperature and major element compositions of low-Ca pyroxene results in very small variations in REE partition coefficients in orthopyroxene during adiabatic mantle melting when diopside is in the residue. REE partition coefficients in orthopyroxene can be treated as constants at a given mantle potential temperature during decompression melting of lherzolite and diopside-bearing harzburgite. In the absence of diopside, partition coefficients of light REE in orthopyroxene vary significantly, and such variations should be taken into consideration in geochemical modeling of REE fractionation in clinopyroxene-free harzburgite. Application of the parameterized model to low-Ca pyroxenes produced by reaction between pyroxenite-derived melt and peridotite revealed large variations in the calculated REE partition coefficients in the low-Ca pyroxenes. Temperature and composition of starting pyroxenite must be considered when selecting REE partition coefficients for pyroxenite-derived melt and peridotite interaction.

A REE-in-plagioclase–clinopyroxene thermometer for crustal rocks

A REE-in-plagioclase-clinopyroxene thermometer has been developed on the basis of the temperature- and composition-dependent rare-earth element (REE) partitioning between coexisting plagioclase and clinopyroxene. This two-mineral exchange thermobarometer is constructed using parameters from lattice strain models for REE + Y partitioning in plagioclase and in clinopyroxene that were independently calibrated against experimentally determined mineral-melt partitioning data. An important advantage of this REE-based thermometer is that it can provide accurate temperatures through linear least-squares analysis of REE + Y as a group. Applications of the REE-in-plagioclase-clinopyroxene thermometer to volcanic and cumulate rocks show that temperatures derived from the new thermometer agree well with independently constrained magma crystallization temperatures, which adds confidence to applications of the REE-exchange thermometer to natural rocks with a wide spectrum of composition (i.e., from basalt to rhyolite). However, systematic temperature differences appear between the REE- and Mg-exchange thermometers for the volcanic and cumulate rocks. Through numerical simulations of diffusion in plagioclase-clinopyroxene systems, we demonstrate that (1) due to their slower diffusion rates, REE in minerals preferentially records crystallization or near-crystallization temperatures of the rock, and that (2) Mg is readily rest to lower temperatures for rocks from intermediately or slowly cooled magma bodies but records the initial crystallization temperatures of rocks from rapidly cooled magmas. Given their distinct diffusive responses to temperature changes, REE and Mg closure temperatures recorded by the two thermometers can be used in concert to study thermal and magmatic histories of plagioclase- and clinopyroxene-bearing rocks.

Parameterized lattice strain models for REE partitioning between amphibole and silicate melt

Abstract The distribution of rare earth elements (REEs) between amphibole and silicate melt is important for understanding a wide variety of igneous and metamorphic processes in the lithosphere. In this study, we used published experimental REE and Y partitioning data between amphibole and silicate melt, the lattice strain model, and nonlinear least-squares regression method to parameterize key partitioning parameters in the lattice strain model (D0, r0, and E) as a function of pressure, temperature, and both amphibole and melt compositions. Two models, which give nearly identical results, are obtained in this study. In the first model, D0 depends on temperature and amphibole composition: it positively correlates with Ti content and negative correlates with temperature and Mg, Na, and K contents in the amphibole. In the second model, D0 depends solely on the melt composition: it positively correlates with Si content and negatively correlates with Ti and Ca contents in the melt. In both the mineral and melt composition models, r0 negatively correlates with the ferromagnesian content in the M4 site of the amphibole, and E is a constant. The very similar coefficients in the equations for r0 and best-fit values for E in the two models allow us to connect the two models through amphibole-melt phase equilibria. An application of our model to amphiboles in mantle xenoliths shows that observed major element compositional variations in amphibole alone can give rise to order of magnitude variations in amphibole-melt REE partition coefficients. Together with experimental data simulating fractional crystallization of arc magmas, out models suggest that: (1) REE partition coefficients between amphibole and melt can vary by an order of magnitude during arc magma crystallization due to variation in the temperature and composition of the amphibole and melt, and that (2) amphibole fractional crystallization plays a key role in depleting the middle REEs relative to heavy REEs and light REEs in arc magmas.