Crystallization of Chromite and Chromium Solubility in Basaltic Melts

The equilibrium between chromite and melt has been determinedon four basalts at temperatures of 1200–1400?C over arange of oxygen fugacity (f_o2) and pressures of 1 atm and 10kb. The Cr content of chromite-saturated melts at 1300?C and1 atm ranges from 0?05 wt.% Cr₂O₃ at a log f_o2= –3 to1?4 wt.% at a log f_o2=–12?8. The Cr²⁺/Cr³⁺ of melt increaseswith decreasing f_o2 and is estimated by assuming a constantpartitioning of Cr³⁺ between chromite and melt at constant temperature.The estimated values of Cr²⁺/Cr³⁺ in the melt are at f_o2 valuesof 4–5 orders of magnitude lower than the equivalent Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺values. The Cr/(Cr+Al) of chromite coexisting with melt at constanttemperature changes little with variation of f_o2 below log f_o2=–6.Five experiments at 10 kb indicate that Cr₂O₃ dissolved in themelt is slightly higher and the Cr/(Cr + Al) of coexisting chromiteis slightly lower than experiments at 1 atm pressure. Thus variationin total pressure cannot explain the large variations of Cr/(Cr+ Al) that are common to mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) chromite. Experiments on a MORB at 1 atm at f_o2 values close to fayalite-magnetite-quartz(FMQ) buffer showed that the Al₂O₃ content of melt is highlysensitive to the crystallization or melting of plagioclase,and consequently coexisting chromite shows a large change inCr/(Cr + Al). It would appear, therefore, that mixing of a MORBmagma containing plagioclase with a hotter MORB magma undersaturatedin plagioclase may give rise to the large range of Cr/(Cr +Al) observed in some MORB chromite.