Effect of Fe2+ on garnet–melt trace element partitioning: experiments in FCMAS and quantification of crystal-chemical controls in natural systems

Garnet–melt trace element partitioning experiments were performed in the system FeO–CaO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (FCMAS) at 3 GPa and 1540°C, aimed specifically at studying the effect of garnet Fe2+ content on partition coefficients (DGrt/Melt). DGrt/Melt, measured by SIMS, for trivalent elements entering the garnet X-site show a small but significant dependence on garnet almandine content. This dependence is rationalised using the lattice strain model of Blundy and Wood [Blundy, J.D., Wood, B.J., 1994. Prediction of crystal–melt partition coefficients from elastic moduli. Nature 372, 452–454], which describes partitioning of an element i with radius ri and valency Z in terms of three parameters: the effective radius of the site r0(Z), the strain-free partition coefficient D0(Z) for a cation with radius r0(Z), and the apparent compressibility of the garnet X-site given by its Youngʹs modulus EX(Z). Combination of these results with data in Fe-free systems [Van Westrenen, W., Blundy, J.D., Wood, B.J., 1999. Crystal-chemical controls on trace element partitioning between garnet and anhydrous silicate melt. Am. Mineral. 84, 838–847] and crystal structure data for spessartine, andradite, and uvarovite, leads to the following equations for r0(3+) and EX(3+) as a function of garnet composition (X) and pressure (P):r0(3+) [Å]=0.930XPy+0.993XGr+0.916XAlm+0.946XSpes+1.05(XAnd+XUv)−0.005(P [GPa]−3.0)(±0.005 Å)EX(3+) [GPa]=3.5×1012(1.38+r0(3+) [Å])−26.7(±30 GPa)Accuracy of these equations is shown by application to the existing garnet–melt partitioning database, covering a wide range of P and T conditions (1.8 GPa