A method for studying iron silicate liquids under reducing conditions with negligible iron loss

In studies of iron silicate liquids under reducing conditions at 1 atm pressure, iron losses from the melt can be minimized by suspending the liquid as a drop from a short segment of fine Pt wire. For a basaltic composition at 1275°C and oxygen fugacities appropriate to terrestrial magmas, iron losses from the melt are less than 0.5 wt.% of the amount present for run times less than about 20 hr.