First-principles investigation of the concentration effect on equilibrium fractionation of Ca isotopes in forsterite

摘要

Previous theoretical studies have found that the concentration variations within a certain range have a prominent effect on inter-mineral equilibrium isotope fractionation(10^3 lna).Based on the density functional theory,we investigated how the average Ca–O bond length and the reduced partition function ratios(10^3 lnb)and103lna of 44 Ca/40 Ca in forsterite(Fo)are affected by its Ca concentration.Our results show that Ca–O bond length in forsterite ranges from 2.327 to 2.267 A with the Ca/(Ca+Mg)varying between a narrow range limited by an upper limit of 1/8 and a lower limit of 1/64.However,outside this narrow range,i.e.,Ca/(Ca+Mg)is lower than1/64 or higher than 1/8,Ca–O bond length becomes insensitive to Ca concentration and maintains to be a constant.Because the 10^3 lnb is negatively correlated with Ca–O bond length,the 10^3lnb significantly increases with decreasing Ca/(Ca+Mg)when 1/64