Concurrent fractional and equilibrium crystallisation

Abstract

This paper proposes the concept of concurrent fractional and equilibrium crystallisation (CFEC) in a multi-phase magmatic system in light of experimental results on diffusivities of elements and other species in minerals and melts. A group of equations are presented to describe how the concentrations of an element or isotope change in fractionated solid, equilibrated solid, melt, liquid, and gas phases, as well as in magma, as a function of distribution coefficients and mass fractions during the CFEC process. CFEC model is a generalised and unified formulation that is valid, not only for pure fractional crystallisation (FC) and perfect equilibrium crystallisation (EC) singly, as two of its limiting end-member cases, but also for the geologically more important process of concurrent fractional and equilibrium crystallisation. The concept that both fractional and equilibrium crystallisation can operate concurrently in a magmatic system, for a given element, among different minerals, and even within different-sized crystal grains of the very same mineral phase, is of fundamental importance in deepening our current understanding of magmatic differentiation processes. CFEC probably occurs more frequently in the natural world than either pure fractional or perfect equilibrium crystallisation alone, as a result of the interplay of varying diffusivities of elements under diverse physicochemical conditions, different residence time and growth rates of mineral phases in magmas, and varying grain sizes within each phase and among different phases. The marked systematic variations in trace element concentrations in the melts of the Bishop Tuff have long been perplexing and difficult to reconcile with existing models of differentiation. CFEC, which is able to better explain the scatter trends in a systematic way than fractional crystallisation, is considered to be the cause.