URANIUM AND THORIUM DIFFUSION IN DIOPSIDE

Abstract

This paper presents new experimental data on the tracer diffusion rates of U and Th in diopside at 1 atm and 1150-1300°C. Diffusion couples were prepared by depositing a thin layer of U-Th oxide onto the polished surface of a natural diopside single crystal, and diffusion profiles were measured by ion microprobe depth profiling. For diffusion parallel to [001] the following Arrhenius relations were obtained: log10DU=(-5.75+/-0.98)-(418+/-28kJ/mol)/2.303RT log10DTh=(-7.77+/-0.92)-(356+/-26kJ/mol)/2.303RT. The diffusion data are used to assess the extent to which equilibrium is obtained during near fractional melting of a high-Ca pyroxene bearing mantle peridotite. We find that the diffusion rates for both elements are slow and that disequilibrium between solid and melt will occur under certain melting conditions. For near-fractional adiabatic decompression melting at ascent rates >3 cm/yr, high-Ca pyroxene will exhibit disequilibrium effects. High-Ca pyroxene will become zoned in U and Th and the melts extracted will be depleted in these incompatible elements relative to melts produced by equilibrium fractional melting. U and Th diffusivities in high-Ca pyroxene are similar, and diffusive fractionation of these elements will be limited. Numerical solutions to a dynamic melting model with diffusion-controlled chemical equilibration indicate that the activity ratio [230Th/238U] in a partial melt of spinel peridotite will be slightly less than 1 for a broad range of melting parameters. This result reinforces the already widely accepted conclusion that melting of spinel peridotite cannot account for 230Th excesses in mid-ocean ridge and ocean island basalts, and that garnet must therefore be present over part of the melting column.