Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Zircon saturation model in silicate melts: a review and update

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Acta Geochimica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Zircon stability in silicate melts—which can be quantitatively constrained by laboratory measurements of zircon saturation—is important for understanding the evolution of magma. Although the original zircon saturation model proposed by Watson and Harrison (Earth Planet Sci Lett 64(2):295–304, 1983) is widely cited and has been updated recently, the three main models currently in use may generate large uncertainties due to extrapolation beyond their respective calibrated ranges. This paper reviews and updates zircon saturation models developed with temperature and compositional parameters. All available data on zircon saturation ranging in composition from mafic to silicic (and/or peralkaline to peraluminous) at temperatures from 750 to 1400 °C were collected to develop two refined models (1 and 2) that may be applied to the wider range of compositions. Model 1 is given by lnCZr(melt) = (14.297 ± 0.308) + (0.964 ± 0.066)·M − (11113 ± 374)/T, and model 2 given by lnCZr(melt) = (18.99 ± 0.423) − (1.069 ± 0.102)·lnG − (12288 ± 593)/T, where CZr(melt) is the Zr concentration of the melt in ppm and parameters M [= (Na + K + 2Ca)/(Al·Si)] (cation ratios) and G [= (3·Al2O3 + SiO2)/(Na2O + K2O + CaO + MgO + FeO)] (molar proportions) represent the melt composition. The errors are at one sigma, and T is the temperature in Kelvin. Before applying these models to natural rocks, it is necessary to ensure that the zircon used to date is crystallized from the host magmatic rock. Assessment of the application of both new and old models to natural rocks suggests that model 1 may be the best for magmatic temperature estimates of metaluminous to peraluminous rocks and that model 2 may be the best for estimating magmatic temperatures of alkaline to peralkaline rocks.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anthony JW, Bideaux RA, Bladh KW, Nichols MC (2003) Handbook of mineralogy. Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker DR, Conte AM, Freda C, Ottolini L (2002) The effect of halogens on Zr diffusion and zircon dissolution in hydrous metaluminous granitic melts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 142:666–678

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayanova TB (2006) Baddeleyite: a promising geochronometer for alkaline and basic magmatism. Petrology 14(2):187–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Belousova EA, Griffin WL, O’Reilly SY, Fisher NI (2002) Igneous zircon: trace element composition as an indicator of source rock type. Contrib Mineral Petrol 143:602–622

    Google Scholar 

  • Boehnke P, Watson EB, Trail D, Harrison TM, Schmitt AK (2013) Zircon saturation re-revisited. Chem Geol 351:324–334

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao GY, Liu Z, Xue HM (2018) LA-ICP=MS zircon U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry of the porphyroclastic lava and rhyolite in west Taipusi Banner area of Inner Mongolia. Geol Bull China 37:397–410 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Charlier BLA, Wilson CJN, Lowenstern JB, Blake S, Van Calsteren PW, Davidson JP (2005) Magma generation at a large, hyperactive silicic volcano (Taupo, New Zealand) revealed by U-Th and U-Pb systematics in zircons. J Petrol 46:3–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Cherniak DJ, Watson EB (2003) Diffusion in zircon. Rev Miner Geochem 53:113–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemens JD, Holloway JR, White AJR (1986) Origin of an A-type granite: experimental constraints. Am Mineral 71:317–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Dai JG, Wang CS, Hébert R, Li YL, Zhong HT, Guillaume R, Bezard R, Wei YS (2011) Late Devonian OIB alkaline gabbro in the Yarlung Zangbo Suture Zone: Remnants of the Paleo-Tethys? Gondwana Res 19:232–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickinson JE, Hess P (1982) Zircon saturation in lunar basalts and granites. Earth Planet Sci Lett 57(2):336–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich R (1968) Behavior of zirconium in certain artificial magmas under diverse P-T conditions. Lithos 1(1):20–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison AJ, Hess PC (1986) Solution behavior of +4 cations in high silica melts: petrologic and geochemical implications. Contrib Mineral Petrol 94:343–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferry JM, Watson EB (2007) New thermodynamic models and revised calibrations for the Ti-in-zircon and Zr-in-rutile thermometers. Contrib Mineral Petrol 154(4):429–437

    Google Scholar 

  • Fourcade S, Allegre CJ (1981) Trace elements behavior in granite genesis: a case study. The Calc-alkaline plutonic association from the Querigut complex (Pyrenees, France). Contrib Mineral Petrol 76:177–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Gervasoni F, Klemme S, Rocha-Junior ERV, Berndt J (2016) Zircon saturation in silicate melts: a new and improved model for aluminous and alkaline melts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 171:21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-016-1227-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gromet LP, Silver LT (1983) Rare earth element distributions among minerals in a granodiorite and their petrogenetic implications. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 47:925–939

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanchar JM, Watson EB (2003) Zircon saturation thermometry. Rev Mineral Geochem 53:89–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison TM, Watson EB (1983) Kinetics of zircon dissolution and zirconium diffusion in granitic melts of variable water content. Contrib Mineral Petrol 84:66–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison TM, Watson EB, Rapp RP (1986) Does anataxis deplete the lower crust in heat producing elements? Implications from experimental studies. Trans Am Geophys Union (EOS) 67:386

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaman LM, LeCheminant AN (1993) Paragenesis and U-Pb systematics of baddeleyite (ZrO2). Chem Geol 110(1–3):95–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellett DA, Grujic D, Erdmann S (2009) Miocene structural reorganization of the South Tibetan detachment, eastern Himalaya: implications for continental collision. Lithosphere 1(5):259–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Keppler H (1993) Influence of fluorine on the enrichment of high field strength trace elements in granitic rocks. Contrib Mineral Petrol 114:479–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen L (1973) Measurement of solubility of zircon (ZrSiO4) in synthetic granitic melts. Eos Trans Am Geophys Union 54:479

    Google Scholar 

  • Linnen RL, Keppler H (2002) Melt composition control of Zr/Hf fractionation in magmatic processes. Geochim et Cosmochim Acta 66(18):3293–3301

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu YC, Li SG, Gu XF, Hou ZH (2006) Zircon SHRIMP U-Pb dating for olivine gabbro at Wangmuguan in the Beihuaiyang zone and its geological significance. Chin Sci Bull 51(20):2500–2506

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller JS, Matzel JEP, Miller CF, Burgess SD, Miller RB (2007) Zircon growth and recycling during the assembly of large, composite arc plutons. J Volcanol Geoth Res 167:282–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Mysen BO (1983) The structure of silicate melts. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 11:75–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Pang K-N, Zhou M-F, Lindsley D, Zhao D, Malpas J (2008a) Origin of Fe-Ti oxide ores in mafic intrusions: evidence from the Panzhihua intrusion, SW China. J Petrol 49:295–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Pang K-N, Lin C, Zhou M-F, Ripley EM (2008b) Abundant Fe-Ti oxide inclusion in olivine from the Panzhihua and Hongge layered intrusions, SW China: evidence for early saturation of Fe-Ti oxides in ferrobasaltic magma. Contrib Mineral Petrol 156:307–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Price JD, Hogan JP, Gilbert MC, London D, Morgan VI GB (1999) Experimental study of titanite-fluorite equilibria in the A-type Mount Scott granite: implications for assessing F contents of felsic magma. Geology 27:951–954

    Google Scholar 

  • Qiu ZL, Wu FY, Yu QY, Xie LW, Yang SF (2005) Hf isotopes of zircon megacrysts from the Cenozoic basalts in Eastern China. Sci Bull 50:2602–2611

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramírez de Arellano C, Putlitz B, Müntener O, Ovtcharova M, (2011) Petrography and chemistry of zircons from the Chaltén Plutonic Complex and implication on the interpretation of U-Pb zircon ages. In: Conference: Goldschmidt at mineralogicam magazine, vol 75(3), p 1692

  • Rubatto D, Hermann J (2007) Experimental zircon/melt and zircon/garnet trace element partitioning and implications for the geochronology of crustal rocks. Chem Geol 241:38–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryerson FJ, Watson EB (1987) Rutile saturation in magmas: implications for Ti-Nb-Ta depletion in island-arc basalts. Earth Planet Sci Lett 86:225–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Scaillet B, MacDonald R (2001) Phase relations of peralkaline silicic magmas and petrogenetic implications. J Petrol 42(4):825–845

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt AK, Simon JI (2004) Boron isotopic variations in hydrous rhyolitic melts: a case study from Long Valley, California. Contrib Mineral Petrol 146:590–605

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt AK, Emmermann R, Trumbull RB, Buhn B, Henjes-Kunst F (2000) Petrogenesis and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Brandberg Complex, Namibia: Evidence for a major mantle contribution in metaluminous and peralkaline granites. J Petrol 41(8):1207–1239

    Google Scholar 

  • Scoates JS, Chamberlain KR (1995) Baddeleyite (ZrO2) and zircon (ZrSiO4) from anorthositic rocks of the Laramie anorthosite complex, Wyoming; petrologic consequences and U-Pb ages. Amer Mineral 80(11–12):1317–1327

    Google Scholar 

  • Shao T, Cheng N, Song M (2016) Provenance and tectonic-paleogeographic evolution: Constraints from detrital zircon U-Pb ages of Late Triassic-Early Jurassic deposits in the northern Sichuan basin, central China. J Asian Earth Sci 127:12–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Shao T, Xia Y, Ding X, Cai YF, Song MS (2019) Zircon saturation in terrestrial basaltic melts and its geological implications. Solid Earth Sci 4:27–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sesci.2018.08.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shellnutt JG, Jahn B-M (2009) Formation of the Late Permian Panzhihua plutonic-hypabyssal-volcanic igneous complex: implications for the genesis of Fe-Ti oxide deposits and A-type granites of SW China. Earth Planet Sci Lett 90:509–519

    Google Scholar 

  • Shellnutt JG, Zhou M-F (2007) Permian peralkaline, peraluminous and metaluminous A-type granites in the Panxi district, SW China: their relationship to the Emeishan mantle plume. Chem Geol 242:286–316

    Google Scholar 

  • Shellnutt JG, Zhou M-F, Zellmer GF (2009a) The Permian Baima Igneous Complex (SW China): the role of Fe-Ti oxide crystallization in the formation of A-type granitoids with implication for the Daly gap. Chem Geol 259:204–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Shellnutt JG, Wang CY, Zhou M-F, Yang Y (2009b) Zircon Lu-Hf isotopic compositions of metaluminous and peralkaline A-type granitic plutons of the Emeishan large igneous province (SW China): constraints on the mantle source. J Asian Earth Sci 35:45–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Siégel C, Bryan SE, Allen CM, Gust DA (2018) Use and abuse of zircon-based thermometers: a critical review and a recommended approach to identify antecrystic zircons. Earth-Sci Rev 176:87–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Sláma J, Košler J, Pedersen RB (2007) Behaviour of zircon in high-grade metamorphic rocks: evidence from Hf isotopes, trace elements and textural studies. Contrib Mineral Petrol 154(3):335–356

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Lichtervelde M, Holtz F, Hanchar JM (2010) Solubility of manganotantalite, zircon and hafnon in highly fluxed peralkaline to peraluminous pegmatitic melts. Contrib Mineral Petrol 160:17–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang X, Griffen WL (2004) Unusual Hf contents in metamorphic zircon from coesite-bearing eclogites of the Dabie Mountains, east-central China: implications for the dating of ultrahigh pressure metamorphism. J Metamorph Geol 22:629–637

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Q, Chung S-L, Li X-H, Wyman D, Li Z-X, Sun W-D, Qiu H-N, Liu Y-S, Zhu Y-T (2012) Crustal melting and flow beneath Northern Tibet: evidence from Mid-Miocene to quaternary strongly peraluminous rhyolites in the southern Kunlun Range. J Petrol 53:2523–2566

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Wang L-Q, Danzhen W-X, Li Z, Li S (2017) The discovery of Late Jurassic rhyolite porphyry in Geji area, southern Bangong Co-Nujiang suture zone, Tibet: Constraints from zircon U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry and Hf isotopes. Acta Geosci Sin 38:723–733 (in Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang W-D, Yang HB, Liu T, Ma Z-Z, Zheng J-L, Hu J-H, Wei X-Y (2018) Chronology, geochemistry and tectonic implications of Early Cretaceous igneous rocks in Xinlin Zhanbeicun area, northern Great Hinggan Mountain. Global Geol 37:21–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB (1979) Zircon saturation in felsic liquids: experimental results and applications to trace element geochemistry. Contrib Mineral Petrol 70(4):407–419

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson EB, Harrison TM (1983) Zircon saturation revisited: temperature and composition effects in a variety of crustal magma types. Earth Planet Sci Lett 64(2):295–304

    Google Scholar 

  • White JC, Ren M, Parker DF (2005) Variation in mineralogy, temperature, and oxygen fugacity in a suite of strongly peralkaline lavas and tuffs, Pantelleria, Italy. Can. Mineral 43:1331–1347

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu Y-G, Luo Z-Y, Huang X-L, He B, Xiao L, Xie L-W, Shi Y-R (2008) Zircon U-Pb and Hf isotope constraints on crustal melting associated with the Emeishan mantle plume. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:3084–3104

    Google Scholar 

  • Zen E (1986) Aluminum enrichment in silicate melts by fractional crystallization: some mineralogic and petrographic constraints. J Petrol 27:1095–1117

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YX, Xu ZJ (2016) Zircon saturation and Zr diffusion in rhyolitic melts, and zircon growth geospeedometer. Am Mineral 101:1252–1267

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XF, Zhou Y, Liu JL, Li SC, Wang BR, Teng C, Cao J, Zhang HC (2018) Geochronology and geochemistry for volcanic rocks of Dashizhai Formation and its geological significance in Xi U jimqin Banner, Inner Mongolia. Acta Petrol Sin 34:1775–1791

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y, Liang XQ, Liang XR, Jiang Y, Wang C, Fu JG, Shao T (2015) U-Pb geochronology and Hf-isotopes on detrital zircons of Lower Paleozoic strata from Hainan Island: new clues for the early crustal evolution of southeastern South China. Gondwana Res 27:1586–1598

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We appreciate my editors’ critical and constructive comments, which turned out to be very helpful. Dr. Nanfei Cheng is gratefully acknowledged for critical comments on an early version of the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB18010402), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41702224), and the Pearl River Talent Plan of Guangdong Province. This work represents a contribution to No. IS-2774 from the GIGCAS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Tongbin Shao, Ying Xia, Xing Ding & Maoshuang Song

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploration of Hidden Nonferrous Metal Deposits and Development of New Materials in Guangxi & Guangxi Key Laboratory of Hidden Metallic Ore Deposits Exploration, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin, 541004, China

    Yongfeng Cai

  3. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xing Ding

Authors
  1. Tongbin Shao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ying Xia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xing Ding
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yongfeng Cai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Maoshuang Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tongbin Shao.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (XLSX 35 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (XLSX 37 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shao, T., Xia, Y., Ding, X. et al. Zircon saturation model in silicate melts: a review and update. Acta Geochim 39, 387–403 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-019-00384-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-019-00384-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation