Cooling rate responsiveness of pyroxene geothermometry

Geothermometry is fundamentally important to explore thermal processes within the Earth. An extremely popular geothermometer is the two-pyroxene thermometer, which is based on the temperature dependence of elemental partitioning between pyroxenes in a rock. This technique is ambiguous in terms of its responsiveness to change in the temperature of the system. We performed a numerical simulation of one-dimensional calcium diffusion in a clinopyroxene using Ca- Mg inter-diffusion coefficients. While applying the simulation to rock bodies with various temperature conditions and both heating and cooling rates, we investigated the time scale for the re-equilibration of elemental partitioning between enstatite and diopside. Those results enable us to evaluate the responsiveness of the two-pyroxene thermometer to change in temperature. For heating processes up to 1300∞C, chemical zoning is not well developed at a heating rate faster than 10∞C/yr because the duration for the diffusion is insufficient. In addition, at a heating rate 10-4∞C/yr and >1200∞C, the simulated diffusion profiles show no chemical zoning. This occurs because the chemical equilibrium between the pyroxenes is achieved via elemental diffusion. For cooling processes, a rock body will cool down to closure temperature before making an observable zoning at a high cooling rate such as 100∞C/yr. In addition, no detectable zoning of Ca in clinopyroxene developed under high temperature (>∼1100∞C) and a slow cooling rate (<∼10-4∞C/yr) down to 700∞C, properly reflecting temperature without detectable zoning of Ca. In contrast, for a rock body with detectable chemical zoning, it is difficult to ascertain the appropriate pyroxene temperature. Model diffusion profiles reflect conditions of changing temperature. Therefore, a graphic representation of diffusion profiles under various initial temperatures and different rates of temperature change would be useful to estimate the thermal history of rock bodies.