The partitioning of selenium and tellurium between sulfide liquid and silicate melt and their abundances in the silicate Earth

DOI zum Zitieren der Version auf EPub Bayreuth: https://doi.org/10.15495/EPub_UBT_00008830
URN to cite this document: urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-8830-2

Title data

Liu, Zhiwei ; Li, Yuan:
The partitioning of selenium and tellurium between sulfide liquid and silicate melt and their abundances in the silicate Earth.
In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Vol. 656 (2025) . - 119277.
ISSN 0012-821X
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2025.119277

	Format: PDF Name: 1-s2.0-S0012821X25000767-main.pdf Version: Published Version Available under License Creative Commons BY 4.0: Attribution
	Download (5MB)

Project information

Project title:	Project's official title Project's id Open Access Publizieren No information

Abstract

Near-chondritic relative abundances of sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te) observed in mantle peridotites have been used to support the hypothesis of a carbonaceous chondrite-like late veneer added to the proto-Earth. However, the extent to which the observed S, Se, and Te compositions represent the signature of the silicate Earth remains a topic of debate. The concentrations of Se and Te in mantle-derived melts, such as mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs), can help clarify this issue, provided we have a precise understanding of the behavior of Se and Te during magmatic differentiation and mantle partial melting. Here we conduct laboratory experiments to determine the sulfide liquid–silicate melt partition coefficients of Se and Te (DSe,TeSul/Sil) at crust–mantle conditions. Our results indicate that DSe,TeSul/Sil range from 180 to 2200 for Se and from 1000 to 25,400 for Te, exhibiting an inverted U-shaped dependence on the FeOtot content in silicate melt. We parameterize DSe,TeSul/Sil as a multi-function of the compositions of silicate melt and sulfide liquid, with pressure (0.5–2.5 GPa), temperature (1273–1973 K), and oxygen fugacity (FMQ-5 to FMQ+1.5; FMQ refers to the fayalite–magnetite–quartz buffer) having negligible effects on DSe,TeSul/Sil. Applying our parameterization to magmatic differentiation can effectively account for the Se, Te, and Cu systematics observed in both MORBs and oxidized arc magmas. More significantly, when applied to mantle partial melting, alongside high-precision Se and Te concentration data from MORBs, our parameterization yields superchondritic S/Se, S/Te, and Se/Te ratios in the depleted MORB mantle and primitive mantle, compared to carbonaceous chondrites. These findings suggest that the S, Se, and Te abundances in the silicate Earth were likely established during the main accretion phase, with the late veneer playing only a minor role.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Keywords:	Se and Te; Sulfide liquid; Silicate melt; Partition coefficient; Morbs; Silicate earth
DDC Subjects:	500 Science > 550 Earth sciences, geology
Institutions of the University:	Research Institutions > Central research institutes > Bavarian Research Institute of Experimental Geochemistry and Geophysics - BGI Research Institutions Research Institutions > Central research institutes
Language:	English
Originates at UBT:	Yes
URN:	urn:nbn:de:bvb:703-epub-8830-2
Date Deposited:	29 Jan 2026 11:38
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2026 11:38
URI:	https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/8830

Download Statistics

Download Statistics

Download Statistics

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year