Effect of melt composition on the partitioning of trace elements between titanite and silicate melt

Isobaric and isothermal experiments were performed to investigate the effect of melt composition on the partitioning of trace elements between titanite (CaTiSiO5) and a range of different silicate melts. Titanite-melt partition coefficients for 18 trace elements were determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analyses of experimental run products. The partition coefficients for the rare earth elements and for Th, Nb, and Ta reveal a strong influence of melt composition on partition coefficients. whereas partition coefficients for other studied monovalent, divalent and most quadrivalent (i.e.. Zr, Hf) cations are not significantly affected by melt composition. The present data show that the influence of melt composition may not be neglected when modelling trace element partitioning. It is argued that it is mainly the change of coordination number and the regularity of the coordination space of trace elements in the melt structure that controls partition coefficients in our experiments. Furthermore. our data also show that the substitution mechanism by which trace elements are incorporated into titanite crystals may be of additional importance in this context. Copyright (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd.