A re-evaluation of the olivine-spinel geothermometer

The Irvine olivine-spinel geothermometer, as formulated by Jackson (1969), appears to yield magmatic temperatures when applied to plutonic rocks such as the Stillwater Complex but Evans and Wright (1972) have demonstrated that it gives temperatures in excess of 2,000 ° C when applied to volcanic assemblages. A re-evaluation of the geothermometer has shown that more realistic temperatures can be obtained for volcanic rocks by using a different free energy value of FeCr₂O₄ in the formulation. The revised geothermometer gives temperatures in the range 1,100–1,300 ° C for samples from Kilauea and 500–800 ° C for basic plutonic rocks from layered intrusions, indicating that Mg and Fe²⁺ have re-equilibrated at subsolidus temperatures in these intrusions as suggested by Irvine (1965). This theory was tested by heating uncrushed natural samples from layered intrusions to magmatic temperatures for periods ranging from two days to four weeks. The result was a marked increase in the Mg/Fe²⁺ ratio in the spinels and a decrease in the Mg/Fe²⁺ ratio in the olivines, confirming that considerable subsolidus re-equilibration had taken place in the unheated samples.