Single-crystal X-ray structure refinement of natural olivines equilibrated at high temperature under controlled oxygen fugacity (f O2) conditions, coupled with a structure-energy model were used to establish the influence of T, f O2 and bulk chemistry on intracrystalline disorder.
The results are: 1) The k D (k D = [(Fe M1·Mg M2)/(Fe M2·Mg M1)]) factor describing site population on M1, M2 polyhedra increases from values lower than 1 at T below 400–600° C (depending on composition) to values higher than 1 at higher temperature. 2) The increase of k D with T is quite regular. 3) At constant temperature and pressure, k D increases with increasing fayalite content in the mixture; 4) Contrary to previous observations (Will and Nover 1979; Nover and Will 1981) varying f O2, within the stability range of the substance, has a negligible influence on intracrystalline disorder. 5) As ancillary results, the model confirms the defect scheme of Nakamura and Schmalzried (1983) for the investigated solids. Moreover, it shows that cationic vacancies are always created on M 1 site at the expense of Mg ions, while trivalent iron is always stabilized on M2 site. This explains the marked anisotropies observed in Fe-Mg interdiffusion (Buening and Busek 1973; Misener 1974; Schock et al. 1989).
