scholarly journals Evidence for Fe-Si-O liquid immiscibility at deep Earth pressures

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 10238-10243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Arveson ◽  
Jie Deng ◽  
Bijaya B. Karki ◽  
Kanani K. M. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Iron Alloy ◽  
Liquid Immiscibility ◽  
Outer Core ◽  
Core Mantle Boundary ◽  
The Core ◽  
Earth Pressures ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Diamond Anvil ◽  
Dynamics Simulations ◽  
Laser Heated

Seismic observations suggest that the uppermost region of Earth’s liquid outer core is buoyant, with slower velocities than the bulk outer core. One possible mechanism for the formation of a stably stratified layer is immiscibility in molten iron alloy systems, which has yet to be demonstrated at core pressures. We find immiscibility between liquid Fe-Si and Fe-Si-O persisting to at least 140 GPa through a combination of laser-heated diamond-anvil cell experiments and first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. High-pressure immiscibility in the Fe-Si-O system may explain a stratified layer atop the outer core, complicate differentiation and evolution of the deep Earth, and affect the structure and intensity of Earth’s magnetic field. Our results support silicon and oxygen as coexisting light elements in the core and suggest that SiO2 does not crystallize out of molten Fe-Si-O at the core-mantle boundary.

Multiple inner core reflections from a Novaya Zemlya explosion

1972 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063-1071 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Lower Bound ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Nuclear Explosion ◽  
Outer Core ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Mantle Boundary ◽  
Core Mantle Boundary ◽  
Novaya Zemlya ◽  
The Core ◽  
Velocity Channel

Abstract The phases P2KP, P3KP, and P4KP are well recorded from the Novaya Zemlya nuclear explosion of October 14, 1970, with the branch AB at distances of up to 20° beyond the theoretical end point A. This extension is attributed to diffraction around the core-mantle boundary. A slowness dT/dΔ = 4.56±0.02 sec/deg is determined for the AB branch of P4KP, in excellent agreement with recent determinations of the slowness of diffracted P. This slowness implies a velocity of 13.29±0.06 km/sec at the base of the mantle, and confirms recent suggestions of a low-velocity channel above the core-mantle boundary. There is evidence that arrivals recorded before the AB branch of P2KP may lie on two branches, with different slownesses. The ratio of amplitudes of successive orders of multiple inner core reflections gives a lower bound of about 2200 for Q in the outer core.

Between a rock and a hot place: the core–mantle boundary

2008 ◽  
Vol 366 (1885) ◽  
pp. 4543-4557 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Wookey ◽  
David P Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Iron Core ◽  
Mantle Boundary ◽  
Core Mantle Boundary ◽  
Important Region ◽  
Deformation Properties ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Diamond Anvil ◽  
New Phase

The boundary between the rocky mantle and iron core, almost 2900 km below the surface, is physically the most significant in the Earth's interior. It may be the terminus for subducted surface material, the source of mantle plumes and a control on the Earth's magnetic field. Its properties also have profound significance for the thermochemical and dynamic evolution of the solid Earth. Evidence from seismology shows that D″ (the lowermost few hundred kilometres of the mantle) has a variety of anomalous features. Understanding the origin of these observations requires an understanding of the elastic and deformation properties of the deep Earth minerals. Core–mantle boundary pressures and temperatures are achievable in the laboratory using diamond anvil cell (DAC) apparatus. Such experiments have led to the recent discovery of a new phase, ‘post-perovskite’, which may explain many hitherto poorly understood properties of D″. Experimental work is also done using analogue minerals at lower pressures and temperatures; these circumvent some of the limits imposed by the small sample size allowed by the DAC. A considerable contribution also comes from theoretical methods that provide a wealth of otherwise unavailable information, as well as verification and refinement of experimental results. The future of the study of the lowermost mantle will involve the linking of the ever-improving seismic observations with predictions of material properties from theoretical and experimental mineral physics in a quantitative fashion, including simulations of the dynamics of the deep Earth. This has the potential to dispel much of the mystery that still surrounds this remote but important region.

Shock-Induced Chemical Reaction between Iron and Enstatite

2013 ◽  
Vol 703 ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Xiu Fang Chen ◽  
Chao Ping Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Iron ◽  
Outer Core ◽  
Middle Section ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Initial Sample ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Core Mantle Boundary ◽  
The Core ◽  
Gas Gun ◽  
Shock Recovery Experiments

By using a two-stage light gas gun, two experiments of shock recovery experiments with initial sample of Fe+(Mg, Fe)SiO3 (En) were conducted between 78 and 113 GPa shock pressure (the corresponding temperature is estimated as 3000~5000K). The recovered samples were analyzed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD).The XRD observation at the middle section of two recovered samples illustrates the new composition of recovered samples is (Mg, Fe)2SiO4.Comparing with the recovery experiments of MgO+SiO2 ,we can infer that iron and perovskite react to form SiO2 and (Mg, Fe)O. The experiments result indicates that reaction between liquid iron and (Mg, Fe)SiO3 perovskite may occur at the core-mantle boundary in geological history. The reaction creates a very heterogeneous zone at the base of the mantle. Si and O dissolved in liquid iron are rapidly dispersed by the flow of the liquid outer core.

scholarly journals The niobium and tantalum concentration in the mantle constrains the composition of Earth’s primordial magma ocean

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (45) ◽  
pp. 27893-27898
Author(s):  
Dongyang Huang ◽  
James Badro ◽  
Julien Siebert
Keyword(s):  
Diamond Anvil Cell ◽  
Magma Ocean ◽  
Core Formation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Bulk Silicate Earth ◽  
Reducing Conditions ◽  
Metal Silicate ◽  
Diamond Anvil ◽  
Laser Heated ◽  
Tantalum Concentration

The bulk silicate Earth (BSE), and all its sampleable reservoirs, have a subchondritic niobium-to-tantalum ratio (Nb/Ta). Because both elements are refractory, and Nb/Ta is fairly constant across chondrite groups, this can only be explained by a preferential sequestration of Nb relative to Ta in a hidden (unsampled) reservoir. Experiments have shown that Nb becomes more siderophile than Ta under very reducing conditions, leading the way for the accepted hypothesis that Earth’s core could have stripped sufficient amounts of Nb during its formation to account for the subchondritic signature of the BSE. Consequently, this suggestion has been used as an argument that Earth accreted and differentiated, for most of its history, under very reducing conditions. Here, we present a series of metal–silicate partitioning experiments of Nb and Ta in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell, at pressure and temperature conditions directly comparable to those of core formation; we find that Nb is more siderophile than Ta under any conditions relevant to a deep magma ocean, confirming that BSE’s missing Nb is in the core. However, multistage core formation modeling only allows for moderately reducing or oxidizing accretionary conditions, ruling out the need for very reducing conditions, which lead to an overdepletion of Nb from the mantle (and a low Nb/Ta ratio) that is incompatible with geochemical observations. Earth’s primordial magma ocean cannot have contained less than 2% or more than 18% FeO since the onset of core formation.

scholarly journals Persistent westward drift of the geomagnetic field at the core–mantle boundary linked to recurrent high-latitude weak/reverse flux patches

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (2) ◽  
pp. 1423-1432
Author(s):  
Andreas Nilsson ◽  
Neil Suttie ◽  
Monika Korte ◽  
Richard Holme ◽  
Mimi Hill
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Geomagnetic Field ◽  
Outer Core ◽  
Mantle Boundary ◽  
Core Mantle Boundary ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
Convection Rolls ◽  
Westward Drift

SUMMARY Observations of changes in the geomagnetic field provide unique information about processes in the outer core where the field is generated. Recent geomagnetic field reconstructions based on palaeomagnetic data show persistent westward drift at high northern latitudes at the core–mantle boundary (CMB) over the past 4000 yr, as well as intermittent occurrence of high-latitude weak or reverse flux patches. To further investigate these features, we analysed time-longitude plots of a processed version of the geomagnetic field model pfm9k.1a, filtered to remove quasi-stationary features of the field. Our results suggest that westward drift at both high northern and southern latitudes of the CMB have been a persistent feature of the field over the past 9000 yr. In the Northern Hemisphere we detect two distinct signals with drift rates of 0.09° and 0.25° yr−1 and dominant zonal wavenumbers of m = 2 and 1, respectively. Comparisons with other geomagnetic field models support these observations but also highlight the importance of sedimentary data that provide crucial information on high-latitude geomagnetic field variations. The two distinct drift signals detected in the Northern Hemisphere can largely be decomposed into two westward propagating waveforms. We show that constructive interference between these two waveforms accurately predicts both the location and timing of previously observed high-latitude weak/reverse flux patches over the past 3–4 millennia. In addition, we also show that the 1125-yr periodicity signal inferred from the waveform interference correlates positively with variations in the dipole tilt over the same time period. The two identified drift signals may partially be explained by the westward motion of high-latitude convection rolls. However, the dispersion relation might also imply that part of the drift signal could be caused by magnetic Rossby waves riding on the mean background flow.

Partitioning experiments in the laser-heated diamond anvil cell: volatile content in the Earth's core

2008 ◽  
Vol 366 (1883) ◽  
pp. 4295-4314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P Jephcoat ◽  
M. Ali Bouhifd ◽  
Don Porcelli
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Diamond Anvil Cell ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Mantle Reservoir ◽  
History Of ◽  
Diamond Anvil ◽  
Laser Heated

The present state of the Earth evolved from energetic events that were determined early in the history of the Solar System. A key process in reconciling this state and the observable mantle composition with models of the original formation relies on understanding the planetary processing that has taken place over the past 4.5 Ga. Planetary size plays a key role and ultimately determines the pressure and temperature conditions at which the materials of the early solar nebular segregated. We summarize recent developments with the laser-heated diamond anvil cell that have made possible extension of the conventional pressure limit for partitioning experiments as well as the study of volatile trace elements. In particular, we discuss liquid–liquid, metal–silicate (M–Sil) partitioning results for several elements in a synthetic chondritic mixture, spanning a wide range of atomic number—helium to iodine. We examine the role of the core as a possible host of both siderophile and trace elements and the implications that early segregation processes at deep magma ocean conditions have for current mantle signatures, both compositional and isotopic. The results provide some of the first experimental evidence that the core is the obvious replacement for the long-sought, deep mantle reservoir. If so, they also indicate the need to understand the detailed nature and scale of core–mantle exchange processes, from atomic to macroscopic, throughout the age of the Earth to the present day.

Deep Earth mineralogy revealed by ultrahigh-pressure experiments

2014 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Hirose
Keyword(s):  
Phase Transition ◽  
Ultrahigh Pressure ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Deep Earth ◽  
Diamond Anvil ◽  
Lowermost Part ◽  
Fe Alloys ◽  
Laser Heated

AbstractUltrahigh-pressure and -temperature (P-T) experimental techniques have progressed rapidly in recent years. By combining them with X-ray diffraction measurements at synchrotron radiation facilities, it is now possible to examine deep Earth mineralogy in situ at relevant high P-T conditions in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell (DAC). The lowermost part of the mantle, known as the D″ layer, has long been enigmatic because of a number of unexplained seismological features. Nevertheless, the discovery of a phase transition from MgSiO3 perovskite to ‘post-perovskite’ above 120 GPa and 2400 K indicates that post-perovskite is a principal constituent in the lowermost mantle, which is compatible with seismic observations. The ultrahigh P-T conditions of the Earth’s core have not been accessible by static experiments, but the structure and phase transition of Fe and Fe-alloys are now being examined up to 400 GPa and 6000 K by laser-heated DAC studies.

scholarly journals Fate of MgSiO3 melts at core–mantle boundary conditions

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (46) ◽  
pp. 14186-14190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Petitgirard ◽  
Wim J. Malfait ◽  
Ryosuke Sinmyo ◽  
Ilya Kupenko ◽  
Louis Hennet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amorphous Materials ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics ◽  
Density Contrast ◽  
Mantle Boundary ◽  
Core Mantle Boundary ◽  
Liquid Silicate ◽  
Diamond Anvil ◽  
Pressure Regime ◽  
Dynamics Simulations

One key for understanding the stratification in the deep mantle lies in the determination of the density and structure of matter at high pressures, as well as the density contrast between solid and liquid silicate phases. Indeed, the density contrast is the main control on the entrainment or settlement of matter and is of fundamental importance for understanding the past and present dynamic behavior of the deepest part of the Earth’s mantle. Here, we adapted the X-ray absorption method to the small dimensions of the diamond anvil cell, enabling density measurements of amorphous materials to unprecedented conditions of pressure. Our density data for MgSiO3 glass up to 127 GPa are considerably higher than those previously derived from Brillouin spectroscopy but validate recent ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. A fourth-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state reproduces our experimental data over the entire pressure regime of the mantle. At the core–mantle boundary (CMB) pressure, the density of MgSiO3 glass is 5.48 ± 0.18 g/cm3, which is only 1.6% lower than that of MgSiO3 bridgmanite at 5.57 g/cm3, i.e., they are the same within the uncertainty. Taking into account the partitioning of iron into the melt, we conclude that melts are denser than the surrounding solid phases in the lowermost mantle and that melts will be trapped above the CMB.

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