Th and U partitioning between monazite and felsic melt

•26 experiments on Th and U partitioning behavior between monazite and melt•KTh and KU vary by 2 orders of magnitude for Al/Na in the range of 0.4 to ~ 2.•A 200 °C increase in T results in a 6-fold decrease in KU and 50% decrease of KTh.

We present experimental measurements of monazite/melt partition coefficients (Kmonz/melt) for thorium (Th) and uranium (U) in haplogranitic Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2 melts (with 6-10 wt.% H2O) at 900 °C-1100 °C and 1 GPa pressure. Our results show the following trends: (1) KTh and KU in felsic melts are strongly dependent on melt Al/Na. Both partition coefficients reach maxima in mildly peraluminous region and decrease toward strongly peraluminous (Al/Na > 1) and peralkaline (Al/Na < 1) melt compositions. KTh and KU vary by 2 orders of magnitude for Al/Na in the range of 0.4 to ~ 2. (2) For identical melt compositions, the effect of temperature on KU is pronounced: A 200 °C increase in temperature results in a 6-fold decrease in KU. In contrast, the same temperature change results in only 50% decrease of the less temperature-sensitive KTh. (3) One experiment with 10 wt.% H2O added does not change K, which may suggest little dependence of K upon water content from 6 to 10 wt.%. (4) KTh is much larger than 1 at all natural magmatic temperature, so the removal of monazite during fractionation crystallization or its retention as a residual phase during partial melting has a significant effect on the content of Th in the coexisting melt phase. (5) U is much less compatible than Th, and could even behave incompatibly at high temperatures (e.g., at 1000 °C, KU is 0.01 for melts containing 75 wt.% SiO2 and Al/Na ~ 0.4).