Zircon is widely used to simulate melt generation, migration and evolution within the crust and mantle. The achievable performance of melt modelling generally depends on the availability of reliable trace element partition coefficients (D). However, a large range of DREE values for zircon from natural samples and experimental studies has been reported, with values spanning up to 3 orders of magnitude. Unfortunately, a gap of knowledge on this variability is evident. In this study we model the crystallization processes of common REE-bearing minerals from granitic melts and show that the measured zircon DREE would be elevated if there is crystallization of REE-enriched minerals subsequent to zircon. Nevertheless, compared to zircon DREE values measured from experimental studies, this mechanism appears to have a less significant influence on those from natural granite samples since the quantity of crystallized REE-enriched minerals is very low in natural magmatic systems and/or most of them crystallize prior to zircon. Combined with recently published studies, this work supports that analysis of natural zircon/host groundmass pairs provides more robust DREE values applicable to natural systems than those measured from experimental studies, which can be used to constrain the provenance of detrital zircons.This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. It is available as an open access article under a Creative Commons Licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
