Published March 14, 1997
| public
Journal Article
Melting of (Mg,Fe)_2SiO_4 at the Core-Mantle Boundary of the Earth
- Creators
- Holland, Kathleen G.
- Ahrens, Thomas J.
Abstract
The lower mantle of the Earth is believed to be largely composed of (Mg,Fe)O (magnesiowüstite) and (Mg,Fe)SiO_3 (perovskite). Radiative temperatures of single-crystal olivine [(Mg_(0.9),Fe_(0.1))_2SiO_4] decreased abruptly from 7040 ± 315 to 4300 ± 270 kelvin upon shock compression above 80 gigapascals. The data indicate that an upper bound to the solidus of the magnesiowüstite and perovskite assemblage at 4300 ± 270 kelvin is 130 ± 3 gigapascals. These conditions correspond to those for partial melting at the base of the mantle, as has been suggested occurs within the ultralow-velocity zone beneath the central Pacific.
Additional Information
© 1997 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 20 May 1996; accepted 24 January 1997. Research supported by NSF. Division of Geological and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, contribution 5672. We thank A. Scherer for the use of his sputtering apparatus, and G. Rossman for the use for of his optical transmission apparatus. We thank P. Wyllie, E. Ohtani, D. Stevenson, M. Gurnis, D. Helmberger, and the reviewers for comments. We also thank E. Gelle, M. Long, and A. Devora for their help in conducting the laboratory experiments.Additional details
- Alternative title
- Melting of (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 at the Core-Mantle Boundary of the Earth
- Eprint ID
- 50767
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20141024-085011066
- NSF
- Created
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2014-10-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Other Numbering System Name
- Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 5672