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Compositional effects on element partitioning between Mg-silicate perovskite and silicate melts

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Abstract

High-pressure melting experiments were performed at ~26 GPa and ~2,200–2,400°C on synthetic peridotite compositions with varying FeO and Al2O3 contents and on a synthetic CI chondrite analogue composition. Peridotite liquids show a crystallisation sequence of ferropericlase (Fp) followed down temperature by Mg-silicate perovskite (MgPv) + Fp, which contrasts a sequence of MgPv followed by MgPv + Fp observed in the chondritic composition. The difference in crystallisation sequence is a consequence of the different bulk Mg/Si ratios. MgPv/melt partition coefficients for major, minor and trace elements were determined by electron microprobe and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Partition coefficients of tri- and tetravalent elements increase with increasing Al concentration in MgPv. A lattice strain model indicates that Al3+ substitutes predominantly onto the Si-site in MgPv, whereas most elements substitute onto the Mg-site, which is consistent with a charge-compensating coupled substitution mechanism. MgPv/melt partition coefficients for Mg (DMg) and Si (DSi) are related to the melt Mg/Si ratio such that DSi becomes lower than DMg at low Mg/Si melt ratios. We use a crystal fractionation model, based on upper mantle refractory lithophile element ratios, to constrain the amount of MgPv and Ca-silicate perovskite (CaPv) that could have fractionated during a Hadean magma ocean event and could still be present as a chemically distinct heterogeneity in the lower mantle today. We show that a fractionated crystal pile composed of 96% MgPv and 4% CaPv could comprise up to 13 wt% of the entire mantle.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Heinz Fischer, Hubert Schulze, Georg Herrmannsdörfer and Detlef Krausse for technical support. We greatly acknowledge assistance during ion microprobe analysis by R. W. Hinton and J. Craven at University of Edinburgh. C.L. is grateful for support by the German Science Foundation (DFG, project, Fr 1555/01). A.C. acknowledges receipt of a Postgraduate Scholarship from the University of Bristol. We would like to thank Reidar Trønnes and Wim van Westrenen for very helpful and constructive reviews.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bayerisches Geoinstitut, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Christian Liebske, Daniel J. Frost & David C. Rubie

  2. Department of Earth Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK

    Alexandre Corgne & Bernard J. Wood

  3. Christian Liebske, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany

    Christian Liebske & Christian Liebske

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  1. Christian Liebske
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Correspondence to Christian Liebske.

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Liebske, C., Corgne, A., Frost, D.J. et al. Compositional effects on element partitioning between Mg-silicate perovskite and silicate melts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 149, 113–128 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-004-0641-8

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