An experimental study of trace-element partitioning between Ti-Al-clinopyroxene and melt: Equilibrium and kinetic effects including sector zoning

Abstract

Equilibrium and dynamic crystallization experiments were used to determine distribution coefficients (D-values) for the REE and the trace elements Sc, V, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ba, Hf, Th, and U between Ti-Al-clinopyroxene and melt. Equilibrium values for D correlate well with previous studies where values have been determined. The D-values were also studied as a function of cooling rate. Increased cooling rates produce higher growth rates. At growth rates that exceed the diffusion rates in the crystals, the D-values increase to near unity and the HREE D-values exceed unity only at the most rapid crystal growth rates. The increase in D-values is the result of the inclusion of components into the growing pyroxene from the boundary layer that develops at the crystal-melt interface because of the disparity between the growth and diffusion rates. The origin of sector zoning is best explained as an interplay of primarily crystallographic control with kinetic effects.