Comptes Rendus Geoscience最新文献

The sound velocity of Fe₃C was measured at pressures from 33 to 86 GPa and at ambient and high temperatures up to 2300 K using inelastic X-ray scattering (IXS) from laser-heated samples in diamond anvil cells (DACs). The compressional velocity (V_P) and density of Fe₃C at room temperature were observed to follow a linear relationship (Birch's law). The temperature dependency of Birch's law was not clearly observed and can be ignored. Birch's law for Fe₃C is expressed by: $V_{\text{P}}=1.09\left(\pm 0.14\right)\times \rho -1.79\left(\pm 1.26\right)$. The result indicates that V_P and V_S (shear velocity) of the preliminary reference Earth model (PREM) inner core at the Inner Core Boundary (ICB) were by 12% and 48% smaller than those of Fe₃C, which could be accounted for by the premelting effect by analogy from pure Fe or by partial melting of the Fe–Fe₃C mixture in the inner core.

We present a synchrotron-based, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy study of natural green dioptase (Cu₆Si₆O₁₈·6H₂O) up to ∼30 GPa at room temperature. The lattice parameters of dioptase exhibit continuous compression behavior up to ∼14.5 GPa, whereupon a structural transition is observed. Pressure–volume data below 14.5 GPa were fitted to a second-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state with V₀ = 1440(2) ų and K₀ = 107(2) GPa, with K₀′ = 4(fixed). The low-pressure form of dioptase exhibits anisotropic compression with axial compressibility β_a > β_c in a ratio of 1.14:1.00. Based on the diffraction data and Raman spectroscopy, the new high-pressure phase could be regarded as a dehydrated form of dioptase in the same symmetry group. Pressure-induced dehydration of dioptase contributes broadly to our understanding of the high-pressure crystal chemistry of hydrous silicates containing molecular water groups.

In this report, we demonstrate that combining the laser heating system in a diamond anvil cell (LH-DAC) with a tandem acoustic-optical tunable filter (LH-DAC–TAOTF) allows for the simultaneous measurement of (a) the relative infrared (IR, 1070 nm) power distribution on a specimen surface in the DAC; (b) the temperature distribution under laser heating of a specimen under high-pressure in a DAC; it also (c) provides an opportunity to control the shape of the IR laser spot on the surface of the heated specimen. The effect of the π-shaper on the shape and the position of the focus of the IR laser beam on a specimen using a TAOTF is also presented. For a 10× long-working distance objective, the smallest diameter of the IR laser was found to be around 10 μm, when the focal plane coincides with that of the imaging optical system of LH-DAC. The highest diameter of the IR laser was shown to be 20 μm when the rim of the π-shaper was set at 3 μm. It is demonstrated also that the TAOFT not only permits to measure the two-dimensional (2-D) distribution of the IR laser power, but also allows for the alignment of the laser before each heating event at different pressures.

A technique for density measurement under high pressure and high temperature was developed using the X-ray absorption imaging method combined with an externally heated diamond anvil cell. The densities of solid and liquid In were measured in the pressure and temperature ranges of 3.2–18.6 GPa and 294–719 K. The densities obtained through the X-ray absorption imaging method were in good agreement (less than 2.0% difference) with those obtained through X-ray diffraction. Based on the measured density, the isothermal bulk modulus of solid In is determined as 48.0 ± 1.1−40.9 ± 0.8 GPa at 500 K, assuming K′ = 4 to 6. The compression curve of liquid In approaches that of solid In at higher pressures and does not cross over the solid compression curve in the measurement range. The present technique enables us to determine the densities of both solids and liquids precisely in a wide pressure and temperature range.

We investigate the influence of the deep mantle water cycle incorporating dehydration reactions with subduction fluxes and degassing events on the thermal evolution of the Earth as a consequence of core–mantle thermal coupling. Since, in our numerical modeling, the mantle can have ocean masses ∼12 times larger than the present-day surface ocean, it seems that more than 13 ocean masses of water are at the maximum required within the planetary system overall to partition one ocean mass at the surface of the present-day Earth. This is caused by effects of water-dependent viscosity, which works at cooling down the mantle temperature significantly so that the water can be absorbed into the mantle transition zone and the uppermost lower mantle. This is a result similar to that without the effects of the thermal evolution of the Earth's core (Nakagawa et al., 2018). For the core's evolution, it seems to be expected for a partially molten state in the deep mantle over 2 billion years. Hence, the metal–silicate partitioning of hydrogen might have occurred at least 2 billion years ago. This suggests that the hydrogen generated from the phase transformation of hydrous-silicate-hosted water may have contributed to the partitioning of hydrogen into the metallic core, but it is still quite uncertain because the partitioning mechanism of hydrogen in metal–silicate partitioning is still controversial. In spite of many uncertainties for water circulation in the deep mantle, through this modeling investigation, it is possible to integrate the co-evolution of the deep planetary interior within that of the surface environment.

A polycrystalline specimen of liebermannite [KAlSi₃O₈ hollandite] was synthesized at 14.5 GPa and 1473 K using glass starting material in a uniaxial split-sphere apparatus. The recovered specimen is pure tetragonal hollandite [SG: I4/m] with bulk density of within 98% of the measured X-ray value. The specimen was also characterized by Raman spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Sound velocities in this specimen were measured by ultrasonic interferometry to 13 GPa at room T in a uniaxial split-cylinder apparatus using Al₂O₃ as a pressure marker. Finite strain analysis of the ultrasonic data yielded K_S0 = 145(1) GPa, K₀′ = 4.9(2), G₀ = 92.3(3) GPa, G₀′ = 1.6(1) for the bulk and shear moduli and their pressure derivatives, corresponding to V_P0 = 8.4(1) km/s, V_S0 = 4.9(1) km/s for the sound wave velocities at room temperature. These elasticity data are compared to literature values obtained from static compression experiments and theoretical density functional calculations.

We measured the lattice thermal conductivities of Fe_0.98O wüstite and iron-rich (Mg,Fe)O magnesiowüstite using the pulsed light heating thermoreflectance technique with a diamond anvil cell up to 61 GPa at 300 K. We found that the thermal conductivity of wüstite does not show a monotonic increase as a function of pressure, contrary to that of MgO periclase. Rocksalt (B1) to rhombohedral B1 transition is likely to induce an abnormal pressure response in the conductivity of wüstite. Our results also show that magnesiowüstite has a lower conductivity than that of MgO and FeO endmembers due to a strong iron impurity effect, which is well reproduced by a model considering phonon-impurity scattering in a binary solid solution.

The ductile behavior of olivine-rich rocks is critical to constrain thermal convection in the Earth's upper mantle. Classical olivine flow laws for dislocation or diffusion creep fail to explain the fast post-seismic surface displacements observed by GPS, which requires a much weaker lithosphere than predicted by classical laws. Here we compare the plasticity of olivine aggregates deformed experimentally at mantle pressures and temperatures to that of single crystals and demonstrate that, depending on conditions of stress and temperature, strain accommodated through grain-to-grain interactions – here called intergranular strain – can be orders of magnitude larger than intracrystalline strain, which significantly weakens olivine strength. This result, extrapolated along mantle geotherms, suggests that intergranular plasticity could be dominant in most of the upper mantle. Consequently, the strength of olivine-rich aggregates in the upper mantle may be significantly lower than predicted by flow laws based on intracrystalline plasticity models.

A new experimental setup for simultaneous P-wave velocity (V_P) and density (ρ) measurements for liquid alloys is developed using ultrasonic and X-ray absorption methods combined with X-ray tomography at high pressures and high temperatures. The new setup allows us to directly determine adiabatic bulk moduli (K_S) and to discuss the correlation between the V_P and ρ of the liquid sample. We measured V_P and ρ of liquid Ni₆₈S₃₂ up to 5.6 GPa and 1045 K using this technique. The effect of pressure on the V_P and ρ values of liquid Ni₆₈S₃₂ is similar to that of liquid Fe₅₇S₄₃. (Both compositions correspond to near-eutectic ones.) The obtained K_S values are well fitted to the finite strain equation with a $K_{{\text{S}}_0}$ value (K_S at ambient pressure) of 31.1 GPa and a dK_S/dP value of 8.44. The measured V_P was found to increase linearly with increasing ρ, as approximated by the relationship: V_P [m/s] = 1.29 ρ [kg/m³] – 5726, suggesting that liquid Ni–S follows an empirical linear relationship, Birch's law. The dV_P/dρ slope is similar between Ni₆₈S₃₂ and Fe₅₇S₄₃ liquids, while the V_P–ρ plot of liquid Ni–S is markedly different from that of liquid Fe–S, which indicates that the effect of Ni on Birch's law is important for understanding the V_P–ρ relation of planetary and Moon's molten cores.