The Speciation and Coordination of a Deep Earth Carbonate-Silicate-Metal Melt

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Davis ◽  
Natalia Solomatova ◽  
Andrew J. Campbell ◽  
Razvan Caracas
Keyword(s):  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nore Stolte ◽  
Junting Yu ◽  
Zixin Chen ◽  
Dimitri A. Sverjensky ◽  
Ding Pan

The water-gas shift reaction is a key reaction in Fischer-Tropsch-type synthesis, which is widely believed to generate hydrocarbons in the deep carbon cycle, but is little known at extreme pressure-temperature conditions found in Earth’s upper mantle. Here, we performed extensive ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to study the water-gas shift reaction. We found the direct formation of formic acid out of CO and supercritical water at 10∼13 GPa and 1400 K without any catalyst. Contrary to the common assumption that formic acid or formate is an intermediate product, we found that HCOOH is thermodynamically more stable than the products of the water-gas shift reaction above 3 GPa and at 1000∼1400 K. Our study suggests that the water-gas shift reaction may not happen in Earth’s upper mantle, and formic acid or formate may be an important carbon carrier, participating in many geochemical processes in deep Earth.<br>


Author(s):  
Nore Stolte ◽  
Junting Yu ◽  
Zixin Chen ◽  
Dimitri A. Sverjensky ◽  
Ding Pan

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. eabb4644
Author(s):  
Yuri N. Palyanov ◽  
Yuri M. Borzdov ◽  
Alexander G. Sokol ◽  
Yuliya V. Bataleva ◽  
Igor N. Kupriyanov ◽  
...  

Most natural diamonds are formed in Earth’s lithospheric mantle; however, the exact mechanisms behind their genesis remain debated. Given the occurrence of electrochemical processes in Earth’s mantle and the high electrical conductivity of mantle melts and fluids, we have developed a model whereby localized electric fields play a central role in diamond formation. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a diamond crystallization mechanism that operates under lithospheric mantle pressure-temperature conditions (6.3 and 7.5 gigapascals; 1300° to 1600°C) through the action of an electric potential applied across carbonate or carbonate-silicate melts. In this process, the carbonate-rich melt acts as both the carbon source and the crystallization medium for diamond, which forms in assemblage with mantle minerals near the cathode. Our results clearly demonstrate that electric fields should be considered a key additional factor influencing diamond crystallization, mantle mineral–forming processes, carbon isotope fractionation, and the global carbon cycle.


Eos ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 85 (15) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni

2021 ◽  
pp. 2100695
Author(s):  
Johannes Paul Schoß ◽  
Hanka Becker ◽  
Andreas Keßler ◽  
Andreas Leineweber ◽  
Gotthard Wolf

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Root ◽  
Javier Fullea ◽  
Jörg Ebbing ◽  
Zdenek Martinec

&lt;p&gt;Global gravity field data obtained by dedicated satellite missions is used to study the density distribution of the lithosphere. Different multi-data joint inversions are using this dataset together with other geophysical data to determine the physical characteristics of the lithosphere. The gravitational signal from the deep Earth is usually removed by high-pass filtering of the model and data, or by appropriately selecting insensitive gravity components in the inversion. However, this will remove any long-wavelength signal inherent to lithosphere. A clear choice on the best-suited approach to remove the sub-lithospheric gravity signal is missing.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another alternative is to forward model the gravitational signal of these deep situated mass anomalies and subtract it from the observed data, before the inversion. Global tomography provides shear-wave velocity distribution of the mantle, which can be transformed into density anomalies. There are difficulties in constructing a density model from this data. Tomography relies on regularisation which smoothens the image of the mantle anomalies. Also, the shear-wave anomalies need to be converted to density anomalies, with uncertain conversion factors related to temperature and composition. Understanding the sensitivity of these effects could help determining the interaction of the deep Earth and the lithosphere.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In our study the density anomalies of the mantle, as well as the effect of CMB undulations, are forward modelled into their gravitational potential field, such that they can be subtracted from gravity observations. The reduction in magnitude of the density anomalies due to the regularisation of the global tomography models is taken into account. The long-wavelength region of the density estimates is less affected by the regularisation and can be used to fix the mean conversion factor to transform shear wave velocity to density. We present different modelling approaches to add the remaining dynamic topography effect in lithosphere models. This results in new solutions of the density structure of the lithosphere that both explain seismic observations and gravimetric measurements. The introduction of these dynamic forces is a step forward in understanding how to properly use global gravity field data in joint inversions of lithosphere models.&lt;/p&gt;


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