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Partitioning and Partition Coefficients

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Encyclopedia of Geochemistry

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Definition

Partitioning is used in geochemistry to describe the equilibrium distribution of a chemical species between two coexisting phases. The concentration ratio of this species between the two phases (α and β) is defined as the partition coefficient (D) to quantitatively measure the equilibrium fractionation,

$$ {D}_i^{\alpha /\beta }={C}_i^{\alpha }/{C}_i^{\beta }, $$
(1)

where C denotes the concentration of species i in each phase. The species could be a cation, anion, or chemical compound, while the coexisting phases may be present as solids, liquids, or vapors. According to different forms of concentration, the partition coefficient can be defined by weight fractions, molar contents, and volume percentages of the species.

Different species may behave in distinct manners with a wide spectrum of partition coefficients. Depending on its relative affinity with the reference phase α, a species is classified as compatible when D α/β > 1 or incompatible when D α/β< 1. When the...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS-126, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

    Chenguang Sun

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Correspondence to Chenguang Sun .

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  1. Department of Earth, Cornell University Department of Earth, Ithaca, New York, USA

    William M. White

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Sun, C. (2018). Partitioning and Partition Coefficients. In: White, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_347-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39193-9_347-1

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