Abstract
THE mineral olivine—(Fe,Mg,Mn)2SiO4—is the dominant phase in the Earth's upper mantle, and is also present in a wide range of igneous rocks. Metal cations in olivine crystals are partitioned between two structurally distinct octahedral sites, a property which could in principle be used to obtain important information regarding the thermal history of the host rock. But attempts to establish the temperature and pressure dependence of cation ordering, mainly from the room-temperature structures of samples that have been annealed and quenched1–3, have yielded contradictory information. In fact, recent studies have shown that considerable re-ordering occurs during the quenching process4,5, and thus cation ordering is unlikely to be representative of high-temperature equilibration. Here we present a new model of the thermodynamics and kinetics of metal partitioning in olivine, derived from in situ neutron-diffraction measurements of cation ordering in the synthetic olivine (Fe0.5Mn0.5)2SiO4. Our results suggest that the room-temperature structure of a quenched olivine reflects the rate at which the mineral cooled. The extension of this approach to common rock-forming olivines should provide a valuable 'geospeedometer' for determining the cooling rates of rocks that have cooled relatively rapidly.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Virgo, D. & Hafner, S. S. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 14, 305–312 (1972).
Princivalle, F. Miner. Petrol. 43, 121–129 (1990).
Ottonello, G., Princivalle, F. & Della Giusta, A. Phys. Chem. Miner. 17, 301–312 (1990).
Artioli, G., Rinaldi, R., Wilson, C. C. & Zanazzi, P. F. Am. Miner. 80, 197–200 (1995).
Henderson, C. M. B., Knight, K. S., Redfern, S. A. T. & Wood, B. J. Science 271, 1713–1715 (1996).
Seifert, F. A. & Virgo, D. Science 188, 1107–1109 (1975).
Ganguly, J. & Tazzoli, V. Am. Miner. 79, 930–937 (1994) .
Kroll, H., Schlenz, H. & Phillips, M. W. Phys. Chem. Miner. 21, 555–560 (1994).
Kroll, H. & Knitter, R. Am. Miner. 76, 928–941 (1991).
Huppert, H. E. & Sparks, R. S. J. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 92, 397–405 (1989).
Gibb, F. G. F. & Henderson, C. M. B. Contr. Miner. Petrol. 109, 538–545 (1992).
Marsh, B. D. J. Petrol. 30, 479–530 (1989).
Carpenter, M. A., Powell, R. & Salje, E. K. H. Am. Miner. 79, 1053–1067 (1994).
Carpenter, M. A. & Salje, E. K. H. Mineralog. Mag. 53, 483–504 (1989).
Harrison, R. J. & Putnis, A. Am. Miner. (in the press).
Shinno, I. J. Jap. Ass. Miner. Petrol, econ. Geol. 75, 343–352 (1980).
Annersten, H., Adetunji, J. & Filippidis, A. Am. Miner. 69, 1110–1115 (1984).
Brown, G. E. Jr Rev. Miner. 5, 275–381 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Redfern, S., Henderson, C., Wood, B. et al. Determination of olivine cooling rates from metal-cation ordering. Nature 381, 407–409 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/381407a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/381407a0
This article is cited by
-
Atomic disorders in layer structured topological insulator SnBi2Te4 nanoplates
Nano Research (2018)
-
Critical Evaluations and Thermodynamic Optimizations of the MnO-Mn\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\)-SiO\(_{2}\) and FeO-Fe\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\)-MnO-Mn\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\)-SiO\(_{2}\) Systems
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B (2017)
-
Inferred time- and temperature-dependent cation ordering in natural titanomagnetites
Nature Communications (2013)
-
Fluid and melt inclusions in the Mesozoic Fangcheng basalt from North China Craton: implications for magma evolution and fluid/melt-peridotite reaction
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (2013)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.