Ferric iron partitioning between plagioclase and silicate liquid: thermodynamics and petrological applications

A series of Fe and Mg partition experiments between plagioclase and silicate liquid were performed in the system SiO2–Al2O3–Fe2O3–FeO–MgO–CaO–Na2O under oxygen fugacities from below the IW buffer up to that of air. A thermodynamic model of plagioclase solid solution for the (CaAl,NaSi,KSi)(Fe3+,Al3+)Si2O8–Ca(Fe2+,Mg)Si3O8 system is proposed and is calibrated by regression analysis based on new and previously reported experimental data of Fe and Mg partitioning between plagioclase and silicate liquid, and reported thermodynamic properties of end members, ternary feldspar and silicate liquid. Using the derived thermodynamic model, FeOt, MgO content and Mg/(Fet+Mg) in plagioclase can be predicted from liquid composition with standard deviations of ±0.34 wt% (relative error =9%) and ±0.08 wt% (14%) and ±0.7 (8%) respectively. Calculated Fe3+–Al exchange chemical potentials of plagioclase, $${\rm \mu }_{{\rm Fe}^{{\rm 3 + }} \left( {{\rm Al}} \right)_{{\rm - 1}} }^{{\rm Pl}} $$ agree with those calculated using reported thermodynamic models for multicomponent spinel, $${\rm \mu }_{{\rm Fe}^{{\rm 3 + }} \left( {{\rm Al}} \right)_{{\rm - 1}} }^{{\rm Sp}} $$ and clinopyroxene, $${\rm \mu }_{{\rm Fe}^{{\rm 3 + }} \left( {{\rm Al}} \right)_{{\rm - 1}} }^{{\rm Cpx}} $$ . The FeOt content of plagioclase coexisting with spinel or clinopyroxene is affected by Fe3+/(Fe3++Al) and Mg/(Fe+Mg) of spinel or clinopyroxene and temperature, while it is independent of the anorthite content of plagioclase. Three oxygen barometers based on the proposed model are investigated. Although the oxygen fugacities predicted by the plagioclase–liquid oxygen barometer are scattered, this study found that plagioclase–spinel–clinopyroxene–oxygen and plagioclase–olivine–oxygen equilibria can be used as practical oxygen barometers. As a petrological application, prediction of plagioclase composition and fO2 are carried out for the Upper Zone of the Skaergaard intrusion. The estimated oxygen fugacities are well below QFM buffer and consistent with the estimation of oxidization states in previous studies.