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A comment on: ‘TitaniQ under pressure: the effect of pressure and temperature on the solubility of Ti in quartz’, by Jay B. Thomas, E. Bruce Watson, Frank S. Spear, Philip T. Shemella, Saroj K. Nayak and Antonio Lanzirotti

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A Reply to this article was published on 23 May 2012

The Original Article was published on 31 March 2010

Abstract

Trace concentrations of Ti in quartz are used to indicate the pressure and temperature conditions of crystallization in the ‘TitaniQ’ geothermobarometer of Thomas et al. (Contrib Miner Petrol 160:743–759, 2010). It utilises the partitioning of Ti into quartz as an indicator of the pressures and/or temperatures of crystal growth. For a given value of TiO2 activity in the system, if temperatures are inferred to ±20 °C, pressure is constrained to ±1 kbar and vice versa. There are significant contrasts, however, between the conclusions from TitaniQ and those for natural quartz (as well as other mineral phases) in volcanic rocks. Application of the TitaniQ model to quartz from the 27 ka Oruanui and 760 ka Bishop high-silica rhyolites, where the values of T, P and TiO2 activity are constrained by other means (Fe–Ti oxide equilibria, melt inclusion entrapment pressures in gas-saturated melts, melt and amphibole compositions), yields inconsistent results. If realistic values are given to any two of these three parameters, then the value of the third is wholly unrealistic. The model yields growth temperatures at or below the granite solidus, pressures in the lower crust or upper mantle, or TiO2 activities inconsistent with the mineralogical and chemical compositions of the magmas. CL imagery and measurements of Ti (and other elements) in quartz are of great value in showing the growth histories and changes in conditions experienced by crystals, but direct linkages to P, T conditions during crystal growth cannot be achieved.

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Acknowledgments

The Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand provided financial support (VUW0813). We thank: Wes Hildreth, Paul Wallace, Mark Reed, Andreas Audétat, Jay Thomas, Calvin Miller and two anonymous reviewers for reviews and/or discussions, Vincent van Hinsberg and Naomi Matthews for discussions and help on the TiO2 activity calculations, Yang Liu for the crystal fractionation calculations used in Fig. 1, and Joe Wooden for assistance in the ion microprobe analytical work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University, PO Box 600, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand

    Colin J. N. Wilson, Terry M. Seward, Aidan S. R. Allan & Léa Bello

  2. CEPSAR, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK

    Bruce L. A. Charlier

  3. Sciences de la Terre, Ecole Normal Superieure de Lyon, 69364, Lyon Cedex 07, France

    Léa Bello

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  1. Colin J. N. Wilson
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  2. Terry M. Seward
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  3. Aidan S. R. Allan
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  4. Bruce L. A. Charlier
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Correspondence to Colin J. N. Wilson.

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Communicated by T. L. Grove.

This comment refers to the article available at 10.1007/s00410-010-0505-3.

An author‘s reply to this comment is available at 10.1007/s00410-012-0761-5.

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Wilson, C.J.N., Seward, T.M., Allan, A.S.R. et al. A comment on: ‘TitaniQ under pressure: the effect of pressure and temperature on the solubility of Ti in quartz’, by Jay B. Thomas, E. Bruce Watson, Frank S. Spear, Philip T. Shemella, Saroj K. Nayak and Antonio Lanzirotti. Contrib Mineral Petrol 164, 359–368 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-012-0757-1

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