Redox-controlled iron isotope fractionation during magmatic differentiation: an example from the Red Hill intrusion, S. Tasmania

Abstract

This study presents accurate and precise iron isotopic data for 16 co-magmatic rocks and 6 pyroxene–magnetite pairs from the classic, tholeiitic Red Hill sill in southern Tasmania. The intrusion exhibits a vertical continuum of compositions created by in situ fractional crystallisation of a single injection of magma in a closed igneous system and, as such, constitutes a natural laboratory amenable to determining the causes of Fe isotope fractionation in magmatic rocks. Early fractionation of pyroxenes and plagioclase, under conditions closed to oxygen exchange, gives rise to an iron enrichment trend and an increase in \( f_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} \) of the melt relative to the Fayalite–Magnetite–Quartz (FMQ) buffer. Enrichment in Fe3+/ΣFemelt is mirrored by δ57Fe, where VIFe2+-bearing pyroxenes partition 57Fe-depleted iron, defining an equilibrium pyroxene-melt fractionation factor of \( \Updelta^{57} {\text{Fe}}_{{{\text{px}} - {\text{melt}}}} \le - 0.25\,\permille \times 10^{6} /T^{2} \). Upon magnetite saturation, the \( f_{{{\text{O}}_{2} }} \) and δ57Fe of the melt fall, commensurate with the sequestration of the oxidised, 57Fe-enriched iron into magnetite, quantified as \( \Updelta^{57} {\text{Fe}}_{{{\text{mtn}} - {\text{melt}}}} = + 0.20\,\permille \times 10^{6} /T^{2} \). Pyroxene–magnetite pairs reveal an equilibrium fractionation factor of \( \Updelta^{57} {\text{Fe}}_{{{\text{mtn}} - {\text{px}}}} \approx + 0.30\,\permille \) at 900–1,000 °C. Iron isotopes in differentiated magmas suggest that they may act as an indicator of their oxidation state and tectonic setting.