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With the data returned from the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission, there are now numerous constraints on the physical and chemical properties of Mercury, including its surface composition. The high Sand low FeO contents observed from MESSENGER suggest a low oxygen fugacity of the present materials on the planet's surface. Most of our understanding of elemental partitioning behavior comes from observations made on terrestrial rocks, but Mercury's oxygen fugacity is far outside the conditions of those samples, estimated at approximately 3-7 log units below the Iron-Wtistite (lW) oxygen buffer, several orders of magnitude more reducing than other terrestrial bodies we have data from. With limited oxygen available, lithophile elements may instead exhibit chalcophile, halophile, or siderophile behaviors. Furthermore, very few natural samples of rocks that formed under reducing conditions (e.g., enstatite chondrites, achondrites, aubrites) are available in our collections for examination of this change in geochemical affinity. Our goal is to determine the elemental partitioning behavior of typically lithophile elements at lower oxygen fugacity as a function of temperature and pressure. Experiments were conducted at I GPa in a 13 mm QUICKpress piston cylinder and at 4 GPa in an 880-ton multianvil press, at temperatures up to 1850degC. The composition of starting materials for the experiments were designed so the final run products contained metal, silicate melt, and sulfide melt phases. Oxygen fugacity was controlled in the experiments by adding silicon metal to the samples, in order to utilize the Si-Si02 buffer, which is approximately 5 log units more reducing than the IW buffer at our temperatures of interest. The target silicate melt composition was diopside (CaMgSi206) because measured surface compositions indicate partial melting of a pyroxene-rich mantle. The results of our experiments will aid in our understanding of the fate of elements during the differentiation and thermal evolution of Mercury and other highly reducing planetary bodies.

The mineral apatite is present in a wide range of planetary materials. The presence of volatiles (F, Cl, and OH) within its crystal structure (X-site) have motivated numerous studies to investigate the partitioning behavior of F, Cl, and OH between apatite and silicate melt with the end goal of using apatite to constrain the volatile contents of planetary magmas and mantle sources. A number of recent experimental studies have investigated the apatite-melt partitioning behavior of F, Cl, and OH in magmatic systems. Apatite-melt partitioning of volatiles are best described as exchange equilibria similar to Fe-Mg partitioning between olivine and silicate melt. However, the partitioning behavior is likely to change as a function of temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity, apatite composition, and melt composition. In the present study, we have conducted experiments to assess the partitioning behavior of F, Cl, and OH between apatite and silicate melt over a pressure range of 0-6 gigapascals, a temperature range of 950-1500 degrees Centigrade, and a wide range of apatite ternary compositions. All of the experiments were conducted between iron-wustite oxidation potentials IW minus 1 and IW plus 2 in a basaltic melt composition. The experimental run products were analyzed by a combination of electron probe microanalysis and secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS). Temperature, apatite crystal chemistry, and pressure all play important roles in the partitioning behavior of F, Cl, and OH between apatite and silicate melt. In portions of apatite ternary space that undergo ideal mixing of F, Cl, and OH, exchange coefficients remain constant at constant temperature and pressure. However, exchange coefficients vary at constant temperature (T) and pressure (P) in portions of apatite compositional space where F, Cl, and OH do not mix ideally in apatite. The variation in exchange coefficients exhibited by apatite that does not undergo ideal mixing far exceeds the variations induced by changes in temperature (T) or pressure (P) . In regions where apatite undergoes ideal mixing of F, Cl, and OH, temperature has a stronger effect than pressure on the partitioning behavior, but both are important. Furthermore, fluorine becomes less compatible in apatite with increasing pressure and temperature. We are still in the process of analyzing our experimental run products, but we plan to quantify the effects of P and T on apatite-melt partitioning of F, Cl, and OH.