Nucleation delay in the anorthite-diopside binary system: Models and experiments

•Nucleation delay of crystallization has been calculated by classical nucleation theory in the binary system anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8) – diopside (CaMgSi2O6).•The necessary parameters were extracted from previously published thermodynamic models of the system and diffusion and viscosity measurements in the literature.•Comparison with experimental data required an adjustment of the activation energy for transport across the melt-diopside nucleus for pure diopside, but the adjustment was within uncertainty of diffusion measurements in diopside melt.•The nucleation delay model reproduced nucleation delays in the two end-members and three intermediate compositions in the binary to within approximately a factor of 10.•Differences between modelled and measured nucleation delays are attributed to uncertainties in the underlying thermodynamic and transport properties of the system, particularly those related to the activation energy for transport across the melt-diopside nucleus.