Element Partitioning (Mineral-Melt, Metal-/Sulfide-Silicate) in Planetary Sciences

Mahan, Brandon

Abstract

Element partitioning—at its most basic—is the distribution of an element of interest between two constituent phases as a function of some process. Major constituent elements generally affect the thermodynamic environment (chemical equilibrium) and therefore trace element partitioning is often considered, as trace elements are present in minute quantities and their equilibrium exchange reactions do not impart significant changes to the larger system. Trace elements are responsive to thermodynamic conditions, and thus they act as passive tracers of chemical reactions without appreciably influencing the bulk reactions themselves. In planetary sciences, the phase pairs typically considered are mineral-melt, metal-silicate, and sulfide-silicate, owing largely to the ubiquity of their coexistence in planetary materials across scales and context, from the micrometer-sized components of meteorites up to the size of planets (thousands of kilometers).

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Oxford Research Encyclopedia

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9780190647926

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Oxford University Press

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Oxford, UK

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DOI

10.1093/acrefore/9780190647926.013.202