Tantalite Solubility in Granitoid Melts and Evaluation of the Ta and Nb Diffusion Coefficients

Abstract

The paper presents experimental data on tantalite solubility in water-saturated granitoid melts with various alumina and alkaline elements concentrations at T = 650–850°C and P = 100 MPa. The maximum Ta concentration (effective solubility) in melt is shown to be always higher than the Nb concentration. As the melt composition is changed from alkaline to Al₂O₃-enriched, the Ta and Nb concentrations decrease by one to two orders of magnitude, and the Nb/Ta ratio simultaneously decreases (from ~0.8–0.7 to ~0.4–0.1) because the Nb concentration decreases notably more rapidly than that of Ta. This effect is enhanced at decreasing temperature. The effective Ta solubility in melt is demonstrated to be practically independent of the composition of the dissolving mineral of the columbite-tantalite series. The Ta, Nb, Mn, and Fe diffusion coefficients in granitoid melts are estimated. The Ta and Nb diffusion coefficients at T = 750°C and P = 100 MPa are ~10^–10 cm²/s, and those of Fe and Mn are ~10^–8.5 cm²/s. With an increase in temperature from 740 to 980°C, all of the diffusion coefficients increase by approximately 1.5 orders of magnitude. The configurations of the diffusion profiles of Ta concentration in melts change differently depending on change in the composition of the melt, temperature, or pressure.