Silicate melts coordination sites

Concerning cation coordination in silicate melts, most work in the past has concentrated on partitioning of elements between the melt and various numbers of silicates in equilibrium with it. Bums has analyzed these phenomena in detail in terms of crystal field stabilization energies pertaining to the solid phases. However, only a few studies on coordination sites in the melt have been reported and much of our knowledge of these systems is based on theoretical consideration of potential geometries developed in random rigid-sphere assemblies. 

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