Low solubility of alumina in enstatite and uncertainties in estimated palaeogeotherms

Abstract

Spurious kinks in estimated palaeogeotherms may result from small errors in the calibration of the geothermometers and geobarometers. New data indicate that the equilibrium solubility of alumina in enstatite is even less than shown by recent studies, and that the slopes (d T /d P ) of the isopleths of equal alumina content are steeper than hitherto believed. Consequently, pressures of equilibration estimated from current formulations of the orthopyroxene-garnet geobarometer will be too high at high temperatures (> 1200 °C) and too low at low temperatures.