Experimental petrology

Earth’s lithosphere is dominated by silicate minerals and melts. Low abundance, non-silicate phases, however, often host the most dramatic element enrichments. Best studied of these are sulfide melts, which can concentrate chalcophile (sulfur-loving) elements by factors of >10,000 relative to coexisting silicate melts. Less well understood are molten salts, such as sulfates, phosphates, and fluorides. Molten salts are known to strongly fractionate lithophile (rock-loving) elements from each other and, in extreme cases, completely exclude some elements. The unique chemistry of these melts, and recent discoveries regarding their role in economic deposits, makes them exciting candidates for further study.