Between about +0.6/–1.0 and ±0.2 depending on spinel Fe3+/∑Fe ratio of spinel (see Methods Appendix and Davis et al., 2017)***
see Davis et al., 2017; and Birner et al., 2017; for discussions of a‐X model choices
Parkinson & Pearce, 1998; Pearce et al., 2000; Birner et al., 2017
plume
0.10* (0.71)
basalt pillow glass
334
XANES
at 1atm and 1200°C. Kress & Carmichael, 1991
0.59
Studies using the standard glasses of Cottrell et al., 2009, are recalculated using the Fe3+/Fe2+ ratios reported by Zhang et al., 2018
Brounce et al., 2017; Moussallam et al., 2014; Helz et al., 2017; Moussallam et al., 2016; Shorttle et al., 2015; Hartley et al., 2017; Moussallam et al., 2019
plume
–0.25 (0.55)
lavas
47
mag‐ilm pairs
fO2 at T recorded and 1 atm. Ghiorso & Evans, 2008
0.25**
passes Bacon & Hirschmann, 1988, test for equilibrium
Carmichael, 1967a,b; Anderson & Wright, 1972; Wolfe et al., 1997; Hasse et al., 1997; Gunnarsson et al., 1998; Beier et al., 2006; Genske et al., 2012; Portnyagin et al., 2012
plume
0.82 (1.40) at 0.6 GPa and 0.10 (1.42) at 2.5 GPa
peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths
143
sp‐oxybarometry
fO2 at T and 0.6GPa. Mattioli & Wood, 1988; and Wood & Virgo, 1989; with aFe3O4 from Sack & Ghiorso, 1991a, 1991b; http://melts.ofm‐research.org/CalcForms/index.html; Temperature from spinel‐olivine Fe‐Mg exchange thermometer of Li et al., 1995
Between about +1.2/–2.0 and ±0.4 depending on spinel Fe3+/∑Fe ratio of spinel (see Methods Appendix and Davis et al., 2017)***
see Davis et al., 2017; and Birner et al. 2017; for discussions of a‐X model choices
Abu El‐Rus et al., 2006; Bonadiman et al., 2005; Davis et al., 2017; Grégoire et al., 2000; Hauri & Hart, 1994; Kyser et al., 1981; Neumann, 1991; Neumann et al., 1995; Neumann et al., 2002; Ryabchikov et al. 1995; Sen, 1987; Sen, 1988; Sen & Leeman, 1991; Sen & Presnall, 1986; Tracy, 1980; Wasilewski et al., 2017; Wulff‐Pedersen et al. 1996
Note: *Authors of these studies infer higher fO2 for primitive, near primary, melts based on these data: Mauna Kea >QFM 0.6 (Brounce et al., 2017); Kilauea QFM +0.4 to 0.7 (Helz et al., 2017, Moussallam et al., 2016); Iceland ~QFM + 0.4 (Shorttle et al., 2015; Hartley et al., 2017); Erebus ~QFM + 1.4 (Moussallam et al., 2014); Canary Islands ~QFM + 1.0 (Moussallam et al., 2019)
Note: **Magnetite‐Ilmenite oxygen barometery errors reflect the average residual of model calcluations and the calibration dataset: (Ghiroso & Evans [2008] oxygen barometer‐derived fO2 – known fO2 from calibration dataset), presented in supplemental material of Waters & Lange (2016)
Note: ***Uncertainty in fO2 calculated from spinel oxybarometry is asymmetrical and decreases in magnitude as Fe3+/∑Fe ratio of spinel increases. Spinels that have Fe3+/∑Fe = 0.05 have an uncertainty in log fO2 at the high end listed and those with Fe3+/∑Fe ≥ 0.4 at the low end. Hotspot residues, except four from Davis et al. (2017), are samples with spinel Fe3+/∑Fe ratios determined without Mössbauer correction standards, which roughly doubles uncertainty compared to corrected analyses (Davis et al., 2017).
Early estimates based on wet chemistry and magnetite–ilmenite pairs indicated that mid‐ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) record fO2s similar to QFM (Carmichael & Ghiorso, 1986; Haggerty, 1976). However, upon reexamining data from the literature compiled by Haggerty (1976), we found only one sample with multiple pairs of magnetite and ilmenite in equilibrium at magmatic temperatures according to Bacon and Hirschmann (1988), and that sample (15.6m cooling unit from DSDP Leg34: site 319A) records QFM+0.16 (±0.1) at 1232 (±37)°C (Mazzullo & Bence, 1976). Subsequent wet chemical work found that MORBs record fO2s low enough to suggest graphite is a stable phase in the MORB source (i.e., ~QFM‐1, Christie et al., 1986), but more recent wet‐chemical work and Fe K‐edge XANES analyses have revised average MORB fO2 estimates back upwards to QFM (Bezos & Humler, 2005; Cottrell & Kelley, 2011; O’Neill et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2018). Five recent studies determine Fe3+/∑Fe ratios spectroscopically by XANES to determine the fO2 of average MORB (Fig. 3.1, Fig. 3.2a) (Birner et al., 2018; Cottrell & Kelley, 2011; Le Voyer et al., 2015; O’Neill et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2018). Determinations for 166 MORB glasses that use the calibration of Zhang et al. (2018) find a narrow distribution around QFM –0.17±0.15 (all uncertainty is 1 standard deviation [σ] unless otherwise noted). Determinations for 42 MORB using the calibration of Berry et al. (2018) by O’Neill et al. (2018) return a mean of QFM +0.19 ±0.36. It is notable that O’Neill et al. (2018)’s corresponding Fe3+/∑Fe ratios for average MORB are lower by ~0.04 than those from the global survey of Zhang et al. (2018), despite their equation to higher fO2. The difference stems from O’Neill et al. (2018)’s application of a new compositional parameterization of fO2, which we choose not to apply in this study (see Methods Appendix for a description and assessment of parameterizations). The important point for our purpose here is that, regardless of the value of the Fe3+/∑Fe ratio of natural MORB, the Fe‐XANES spectra of natural MORB glasses resemble the spectra of experimental MORB‐composition glasses equilibrated at fO2 similar to the QFM buffer (see Methods Appendix, Fig. S1), and there is general agreement among all recent spectroscopic studies that MORB glasses record QFM. The fO2s recorded by average MORBs (7.58 wt.% MgO, Gale et al., 2013b) will be maxima with respect to the fO2 of the mantle from which they derive, because Fe3+ is moderately incompatible during low‐pressure fractional crystallization and average MORBs are not primary melts of the mantle (Fe3+/∑Fe ratios increase by 0.03 as MgO falls from 10 to 5 wt.%; Cottrell & Kelley, 2011).
Figure 3.1 Locations of samples compiled in this study as a function of tectonic setting, lithology, and methodology. Symbol size scales linearly with the number of samples at a given locality.