Principles of applied experimental igneous petrology: A comment on “Experimental constraints on the Skaergaard liquid line of descent” by Thy, Lesher, Nielsen, and Brooks, 2006, Lithos 92: 154-180

The study under discussion fails in all three of these desiderata. Subliquidus products of equilibrium crystallization and their masses were used to infer a differentiation history. Intensive parameters were constrained to an arbitrary choice of the FMQ buffer. Finally, the bulk compositions chosen for experiment can be shown beforehand (and as in the listed results) to yield olivine and plagioclase compositions far more refractory than in any known rock of the target intrusion.