Metal/Silicate Partitioning of W, Ge, Ga and Ni: Dependence on Silicate Melt Composition

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3630 Experimental Mineralogy And Petrology, 1060 Planetary Geochemistry (5405, 5410, 5704, 5709, 6005, 6008), 1065 Trace Elements (3670), 1015 Composition Of The Core

Scientific paper

Metal/silicate partition coefficients (Dm/s) for siderophile elements are essential to investigations of core formation when used in conjunction with the pattern of elemental abundances in the Earth's mantle (Drake and Righter, 2002; Jones and Drake, 1986; Righter et al. 1997). The partitioning of siderophile elements is controlled by temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity, and by the compositions of the metal and silicate phases. In this work, we investigate the role of silicate melt composition on the partitioning of the siderophile elements W, Ge, Ga and Ni between metallic and silicate liquid. Experiments were performed in the Experimental Geochemistry Laboratory at the University of Arizona utilizing a non-end loaded piston cylinder apparatus with a barium carbonate pressure medium. Starting materials were created by combining the mafic and silicic compositions of Jaeger and Drake (2000) with Fe powder (~25 wt% of the total mixture) to achieve metal saturation. Small amounts of W, Ge, Ga2O3 and NiO powder (less than 2 wt% each) were also added to the starting compositions. The experiments were contained in a graphite capsule and performed with temperature and pressure fixed at 1400ºC and 1.5 GPa. Experimental run products were analyzed with the University of Arizona Cameca SX50 electron microprobe with four wavelength dispersive spectrometers and a PAP ZAF correction program. All experiments in our set are saturated with metal and silicate liquid, indicating that oxygen fugacity is below IW. Several of the runs also contain a gallium-rich spinel as an additional saturating phase. Quench phases are also present in the silicate liquid in all runs. The experimentally produced liquids have nbo/t values (calculated using the method of Mills, 1993) that range from 1.10 to 2.97. These values are higher than those calculated for the liquids in the Jaeger and Drake (2000) study. The higher nbo/t values are due to uptake of Fe by the melt. The initial silicate composition contained no FeO, however the experimentally produced silicate liquids contained from 15 to 26 wt % FeO. We find that W is incompatible over the range of compositions used in this study. However, W compatibility increases as melts become more silicic, with D(W) = 0.0005 at nbo/t = 2.97 and D(W) = 0.09 at nbo/t = 1.1. The slope of the best fit line for the W data when plotted in nbo/t vs Log D space is -1.22 and close to the value of -1.34 found by Jaeger and Drake (2000). Ge is compatible at all compositions and follows a similar pattern to that of W becoming more compatible with decreasing nbo/t (D(Ge)= 14 at nbo/t = 2.97 and D(Ge) = 100 at nbo/t = 1.1). Ni and Ga display essentially flat slopes within the error of our analysis, with D(Ni) = 395 at nbo/t = 2.97 and D(Ni) = 870 at nbo/t 1.10 and D(Ga) = 0.08 at nbo/t = 2.97 and D(Ga) = 0.02 at nbo/t = 1.1. A second series of experiments is in progress to verify these data and extend the study to lower values of nbo/t. References: Drake, M.J. and Righter, K. (2002) Nature, v. 416, 39-44; Jones, J.H. and Drake, M.J. (1986) Nature, v. 323, 470-471; Righter, K., et al. (1997) Physics Earth and Planet. Int., v. 100, 115-134; Jaeger, W.L. and Drake, M.J. (2000) Geo. Cosmo. Acta, v. 64, 3887-3895; Mills, K.C. (1993) ISIJ International, v. 33, 148-155.

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