High pressure metal–silicate partitioning of Ni, Co, V, Cr, Si, and O

The distributions of major and minor elements in Earth’s core and mantle were primarily established by high pressure, high temperature metal–silicate partitioning during core segregation. The partitioning behaviors of moderately siderophile elements can be used to constrain the pressure-temperature conditions of core formation and the core’s composition. We performed experiments to study the partitioning of Ni, Co, V, Cr, Si, and O between silicate melt and Fe-rich metallic melt in a multianvil press and diamond anvil cell, up to 100 GPa and 5700 2! K. Combining our new results with data from 18 previous studies, we parameterized the effects of pressure, temperature, and metallic melt composition on partitioning. Ni and Co partitioning are insensitive to composition. At low pressures, these elements become less siderophile with increasing temperature, with this trend reversing above ~45 GPa. V and Cr partitioning are much more sensitive to metallic melt composition and less sensitive to pressure. Partitioning of Si and O are insensitive to pressure, but with strong and moderate temperature dependences, respectively. Our new parameterizations of Ni and Co partitioning suggest that the Earth’