Consistency of the activity–composition models of Holland, Green, and Powell (2018) with experiments on natural and synthetic compositions: A comparative study

The recent publication of new activity–composition models by Holland, Green and Powell (2018; Journal of Petrology 59: 881–900), with a melt model calibrated for source compositions ranging from peridotitic to granitic, opens the door to the modelling of multiple petrogenetic processes at supersolidus conditions in which the composition of the melt phase changes considerably, without having to change the melt model. This melt model is also the first one using the internally consistent thermodynamic databases published by T. Holland and R. Powell that contains TiO2 and Fe2O3, further expanding the application of this model to more realistic geological scenarios. The accompanying mineral models are also the first in containing some minor elements, like TiO2 in garnet and K2O in clinopyroxene. Consequently, it is relevant to test the applicability of these new models to a large P–T–X range of conditions before they can be used in full. Thermodynamic calculations made with the software Perple_X using these models were compared to experimental results, namely the modal proportions and the composition of the melt and several mineral solution phases. The experiments chosen for the comparative study covered a wide range of source compositions (from mafic to felsic), pressure (from 0.3 to 2.1 GPa), temperature (from 700 to 1,150°C) and total and added water content (structural water: 0.15–1.48 wt%; added water: 0–8 wt%; total water: 0.15%–8.15%). The results indicate that the extended melt model reproduces well the composition of the experimental melts, with an inverse correlation between component amount and fit: the best match is found for SiO2 (−0.8% on average) and the worst match is found for those elements with the lowest amounts, TiO2 and MgO (+241% and +235% on average, respectively; values indicate calculated minus experimental, times 100 and divided by experimental). The TiO2 content in the melt model increases dramatically with increasing pressure, from +90% for P < 1.5 GPa to +593% for P > 1.5 GPa. No comparison was made on the Fe2O3 content, as the published iron contents of the experimental melts were always reported as FeOt. In some cases, there is a substantial mismatch in the modal proportions between experiments and calculations, with the reactant phases less abundant and product phases more abundant in the calculations, an effect that is attributed to kinetic effects in the experiments and to the selected clinoamphibole model. Finally, the extended melt model was compared to the tonalitic melt model of Green et al. (2016; Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 34: 845–869). Both melt models produce very similar results for SiO2, Al2O3, Na2O and K2O, with slightly better results for the tonalitic melt model in FeOt and MgO and for the extended melt model in CaO. No comparison is made on TiO2 because the tonalitic melt model does not include this component. In summary, the new activity–composition models represent a significant contribution to thermodynamic calculations on the evolution of siliceous magmas where their composition, temperature and pressure changes substantially.