Separation of sulfide melt droplets in sulfur saturated silicate liquids

This experimental study explores the controls of run duration, oxygen fugacity, silicate melt structure and sulfide melt composition on the size of sulfide melt droplets that generate in sulfur saturated silicate liquids. The sizes of the formed sulfide melt droplets influence the physical behavior of the separate sulfide phases during magma evolution within the Earth's mantle and crust. The relative enrichments of Rh, Pt, and Pd in the primitive mantle melts and of Os, Ir, and Ru in mantle residue mirror the physical and geochemical behavior of sulfide droplets that are finely dispersed in silicate melts and get entrained by ascending primitive mantle melts. Hypotheses, that are based on kinetic constraints, to model the formation of the magmatic sulfide deposits of Kambalda and Sudbury can be reinforced by the expected physical behavior of separate sulfide phases within the parental magmas of the magmatic deposits, while formation scenarios of the deposits of Bushveld and Skaergaard remain ambiguous when combining kinetic constraints with expected physical behavior of separate sulfide phases within the parental magmas.