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Partition coefficients of trace elements between carbonates and melt and suprasolidus phase relation of Ca-Mg-carbonates at 6 GPa

  • Melanie J. Sieber ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Franziska Wilke and Monika Koch-Müller
Published/Copyright: June 4, 2020
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 105 Issue 6

Abstract

The presence of Ca-Mg-carbonates affects the melting and phase relations of peridotites and eclogites in the mantle, and (partial) melting of carbonates liberates carbon from the mantle to shallower depths. The onset and composition of incipient melting of carbonated peridotites and carbonated eclogites are influenced by the pure CaCO3-MgCO3-system making the understanding of the phase relations of Ca-Mg-carbonates fundamental in assessing carbon fluxes in the mantle. By performing high-pressure and high-temperature experiments, this study clarifies the suprasolidus phase relations of the nominally anhydrous CaCO3-MgCO3-system at 6 GPa showing that Ca-Mg-carbonates will (partially) melt for temperatures above ~1300 °C. A comparison with data from thermodynamic modeling confirms the experimental results. Furthermore, partition coefficients for Li, Na, K, Sr, Ba, Nb, Y, and rare earth elements between calcite and dolomitic melt, Ca-magnesite and dolomitic melt, and magnesite and dolomitic melt are established.

Experiments were performed at 6 GPa and between 1350 to 1600 °C utilizing a rotating multi-anvil press. Rotation of the multi-anvil press is indispensable to establish equilibrium between solids and carbonate liquid. Major and trace elements were quantified with EPMA and LA-ICP-MS, respectively.

The melting temperature and phase relations of Ca-Mg-carbonates depend on the Mg/Ca-ratio. For instance, Ca-rich carbonates with a molar Mg/(Mg+Ca)-ratio (XMg) of 0.2 will transform into a dolomitic melt (XMg = 0.33–0.31) and calcite crystals (XMg = 0.19–0.14) at 1350–1440 °C. Partial melting of Mg-rich carbonates (XMg = 0.85) will produce a dolomitic melt (XMg = 0.5–0.8) and Ca-bearing magnesite (XMg = 0.89–0.96) at 1400–1600 °C. Trace element distribution into calcite and magnesite seems to follow lattice constraints for divalent cations. For instance, the compatibility of calcite (XMg = 0.14–0.19) for Sr and Ba decreases as the cation radii increases. Ca-Mg-carbonates are incompatible for rare earth elements (REEs), whereby the distribution between carbonates and dolomitic melt depends on the Mg/Ca ratio and temperature. For instance, at 1600 °C, partition coefficients between magnesite (XMg = 0.96) and dolomitic melt (XMg = 0.8) vary by two orders of magnitudes from 0.001 to 0.1 for light-REEs to heavy-REEs. In contrast, partition coefficients of REEs (and Sr, Ba, Nb, and Y) between magnesite (XMg = 0.89) and dolomitic melt (XMg = 0.5) are more uniform scattering marginal between ~0.1–0.2 at 1400 °C.

Keywords: Melt relations of carbonates at 6 GPa (~200 km); deep carbon cycle; trace-element partitioning; carbonate stability in the mantle

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to A. Ebert, O. Appelt, and C. Wohlgemuth-Überwasser for their assistance in experimental and analytical work. We thank A. Shatskiy and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments and C.E. Lesher for editorial handling of the paper.

  1. Funding

    This study was funded by the DFG funded research group FOR2125 CarboPaT under the grant number KO 1260/19-1.

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Received: 2019-05-03
Accepted: 2020-01-15
Published Online: 2020-06-04
Published in Print: 2020-06-25

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2020-7098
Keywords for this article
Melt relations of carbonates at 6 GPa (~200 km); deep carbon cycle; trace-element partitioning; carbonate stability in the mantle

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Halogens in amphibole and mica from mantle xenoliths: Implications for the halogen distribution and halogen budget of the metasomatized continental lithosphere
  2. New insights on Br speciation in volcanic glasses and structural controls on halogen degassing
  3. Decoupled water and iron enrichments in the cratonic mantle: A study on peridotite xenoliths from Tok, SE Siberian Craton
  4. Deconvolution of the composition of fine-grained pyrite in sedimentary matrix by regression of time-resolved LA-ICP-MS data
  5. A multi-method characterization of natural terrestrial birnessites
  6. REE redistributions during granite weathering: Implications for Ce anomaly as a proxy for paleoredox states
  7. The relationship of destinezite to the acid sulfate alteration at the El Laco magnetite deposit, Chile
  8. Crystallographic preferred orientation of talc determined by an improved EBSD procedure for sheet silicates: Implications for anisotropy at the slab–mantle interface due to Si-metasomatism
  9. The occurrence, origin, and fate of water in chromitites in ophiolites
  10. Thermoelasticity of tremolite amphibole: Geophysical implications
  11. Stability of fcc phase FeH to 137 GPa
  12. Partition coefficients of trace elements between carbonates and melt and suprasolidus phase relation of Ca-Mg-carbonates at 6 GPa
  13. Systematics of H2 and H2O evolved from chlorites during oxidative dehydrogenation
  14. Texture and geochemistry of multi-stage hydrothermal scheelite in the Tongshankou porphyry-skarn Cu-Mo(-W) deposit, eastern China: Implications for ore-forming process and fluid metasomatism
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  16. A refined zirconium-in-rutile thermometer
  17. New Mineral Names
  18. Book Review
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