We investigated aspects of the kinetics of tungsten chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) in iodate-based slurries. Specifically, we performed experiments in which we measured the tungsten polish rate and process temperature as a function of alumina concentration, potassium iodate concentration, platen temperature, polish pressure, polish rotation rate, and pad type. We found that the polish rate data fit a multiterm regression model better than the empirical Preston equation. Polish rate was found to vary with all of me factors investigated. Process temperature varied with all of the factors except potassium iodate concentration. These results, in combination with an energy balance on the entire process, indicate the change in temperature due to alumina concentration is mostly due to energy input from increased shaft work. This implies that the chemical and physical interactions between the alumina and tungsten surfaces are complex and play an important role in the mechanism of tungsten removal during CMP.