Experimental petrology of oxides to replicate the chemistry of the rock/system in question) in an apparatus capable of creating and sustaining high pressures and temperatures such as a Diamond anvil cell. In general, it is ideal if the enclosing capsule is relatively nonreactive, such as diamond or platinum/gold alloys . Experimental igneous petrology is the subset of experimental petrology concerned with quantifying the behavior of magmas and their associated igneous rocks at depth. Standard procedure generally involves the creation of a synthetic magma (often corresponding to a real world analog) which is then cooled to a target temperature. After crystallization, the products
Experimental petrology are analyzed - qualities of interest include mineral assemblage (which minerals crystallized and how much), mineral chemistry, and liquid (the remainder of the synthetic magma base) composition. Equilibrium crystallization studies are those in which a starting liquid is cooled until fully crystalline. This is taken to be the "equilibrium state" of the composition under those particular P/T conditions. Criticisms of equilibrium crystallization include the observation that real-world systems are believed to rarely sit still during crystallization and thus would not be able to properly equilibrate. Fractional crystallization studies represent a fairly recent trend in experimental petrology, gaining popularity as a