Partition coefficients for iron between plagioclase and basalt as a function of oxygen fugacity - Implications for Archean and lunar anorthosites

As a prelude to determinations of the content of total iron as FeO(T) in melts in equilibrium with calcic anorthosites, the partition coefficients (Ds) for FeO(T) between calcic plagioclase and basaltic melt were determined, as a function of oxygen fugacity (f(O2)), for a basaltic composition that occurs as matrices for plagioclase megacrysts. Results showed that, at the liquidus conditions, the value of D for FeO(T) between calcic plagioclase and tholeiitic basalt changed little (from 0.030 to 0.044) between the very low f(O2) of the iron-wustite buffer and that of the quartz-fayalite-magnetite (QFM) buffer. At fugacities above QFM, the value for D increased rapidly to 0.14 at the magnetite-hematite buffer and to 0.33 in air. The increase in D results from the fact that, at f(O2) below QFM, nearly all of the Fe is in the Fe(2+) state; above QFM, the Fe(3+)/Fe(2+) ratio in the melt increases rapidly, causing more Fe to enter the plagioclase which accepts Fe(3+) more readily than Fe(2+).