Subduction Factory 3: An Excel worksheet and macro for calculating the densities, seismic wave speeds, and H2O contents of minerals and rocks at pressure and temperature

An Excel macro to calculate mineral and rock physical properties at elevated pressure and temperature is presented. The workbook includes an expandable database of physical parameters for 52 rock-forming minerals stable at high pressures and temperatures. For these minerals the elastic moduli, densities, seismic velocities, and H2O contents are calculated at any specified P and T conditions, using basic thermodynamic relationships and third-order finite strain theory. The mineral modes of suites of rocks are also specifiable, so that their predicted aggregate properties can be calculated using standard solid mixing theories. A suite of sample rock modes taken from the literature provides a useful starting point. The results of these calculations can be applied to a wide variety of geophysical questions including estimating the alteration of the oceanic crust and mantle; predicting the seismic velocities of lower-crustal xenoliths; estimating the effects of changes in mineralogy, pressure and temperature on buoyancy; and assessing the H2O content and mineralogy of subducted lithosphere from seismic observations.