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The Macquarie University Deformation-DIA (MQ D-DIA) multi-anvil apparatus at the Australian Synchrotron provides a new experimental facility that enables simultaneous high-pressure and high-temperature in situ synchrotron experimentation in Australia. The MQ D-DIA can be easily deployed at any of a number of beamlines at the Australian Synchrotron, and we describe its installation at the x-ray absorption spectroscopy beamline, which enables in situ x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy and energy-scanning x-ray diffraction. A simple, reliable, and x-ray transparent high-pressure cell assembly has been developed for the D-DIA for which load/pressure and heater power/temperature relationships have been calibrated using in situ x-ray diffraction and "offline" mineral equilibration experiments. Additionally, we have mapped temperature distribution within the assembly using a new quantitative electron microprobe mapping technique developed for fine-grained polyphase samples. We are now investigating the speciation of geologically important trace elements in silicate melts (e.g., Zr, U, and Th) measured in situ under high pressure and temperature conditions corresponding to the Earth's mantle. Pressure-dependent changes in speciation influence partitioning behavior, and therefore the distribution in the Earth, of many trace elements. However, previous ex situ investigations are hampered by uncertainty as to whether high-pressure speciation can be faithfully recorded in samples recovered to ambient conditions. We present preliminary results showing an increase in the coordination number of Zr dissolved as a trace component of a sodium-rich silicate melt with pressure. These results also indicate that silicate melt composition exerts a strong influence on Zr speciation.

Determining the oxidation state of Fe through parameterization of X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectral features is highly dependent on accurate and repeatable energy calibration between spectra. Small errors in energy calibration can lead to vastly different interpretations. While simultaneous measurement of a reference foil is often undertaken on X-ray spectroscopy beamlines, other beamlines measure XANES spectra without a reference foil and therefore lack a method for correcting energy drift. Here a method is proposed that combines two measures of Fe oxidation state taken from different parts of the spectrum to iteratively correct for an unknown energy offset between spectra, showing successful iterative self-calibration not only during individual beam time but also across different beamlines.

Subduction zone or arc magmas are known to display a characteristic depletion of High Field Strength Elements (HFSE) relative to other similarly incompatible elements, which can be attributed to the presence of the accessory mineral rutile (TiO2) in the residual slab. Here we show that the partitioning behavior of vanadium between rutile and silicate melt varies from incompatible (∼0.1) to compatible (∼18) as a function of oxygen fugacity. We also confirm that the HFSE are compatible in rutile, with D(Ta)> D(Nb)>> (D(Hf)>/∼ D(Zr), but that the level of compatibility is strongly dependent on melt composition, with partition coefficients increasing about one order of magnitude with increasing melt polymerization (or decreasing basicity). Our partitioning results also indicate that residual rutile may fractionate U from Th due to the contrasting (over 2 orders of magnitude) partitioning between these two elements. We confirm that, in addition to the HFSE, Cr, Cu, Zn and W are compatible in rutile at all oxygen fugacity conditions.