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Journal ArticleDOI

Melting of Peridotite to 140 Gigapascals

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TLDR
Melting phase relations and element partitioning data show that these liquids could host many incompatible elements at the base of the mantle, such that seismically anomalous zones near the boundary between the core and the mantle may result from isolated pockets of melt.
Abstract
Interrogating physical processes that occur within the lowermost mantle is a key to understanding Earth's evolution and present-day inner composition. Among such processes, partial melting has been proposed to explain mantle regions with ultralow seismic velocities near the core-mantle boundary, but experimental validation at the appropriate temperature and pressure regimes remains challenging. Using laser-heated diamond anvil cells, we constructed the solidus curve of a natural fertile peridotite between 36 and 140 gigapascals. Melting at core-mantle boundary pressures occurs at 4180 ± 150 kelvin, which is a value that matches estimated mantle geotherms. Molten regions may therefore exist at the base of the present-day mantle. Melting phase relations and element partitioning data also show that these liquids could host many incompatible elements at the base of the mantle.

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Book ChapterDOI

Cosmochemical Estimates of Mantle Composition

TL;DR: The composition of the primitive mantle derived by as mentioned in this paper shows that Earth was assembled from material that shows many of the same chemical fractionation processes as chondritic meteorites. But the stable isotope record excludes chondrite meteorites as the ‘building blocks’ of Earth.
Journal ArticleDOI

Melting of Iron at Earth’s Inner Core Boundary Based on Fast X-ray Diffraction

TL;DR: In this article, the melting temperature of iron at the inner core boundary is estimated to be 6230 ± 500 kelvin with a possible partial melting of the mantle at the core-mantle boundary.
Journal ArticleDOI

Accretion and differentiation of the terrestrial planets with implications for the compositions of early-formed Solar System bodies and accretion of water

TL;DR: In this article, a multistage core-mantle differentiation model with N-body accretion simulations is proposed to test accretion simulation as well as planetary differentiation scenarios, and the model is refined by least squares minimization with up to five fitting parameters that consist of the metal-silicate equilibration pressure and 1-4 parameters that define the starting compositions of primitive bodies.
Journal ArticleDOI

The high conductivity of iron and thermal evolution of the Earth’s core

TL;DR: In this paper, the electrical resistivity of iron and iron-silicon alloy was measured to 100 GPa, which is significantly higher than conventional estimates, implying rapid secular core cooling, an inner core younger than 1 Ga, and ubiquitous melting of the lowermost mantle during the early Earth.
Journal ArticleDOI

Composition and State of the Core

TL;DR: The composition and state of Earth's core, located deeper than 2,900 km from the surface, remain largely uncertain this article, although some static experiments on iron and alloys performed up to inner core pressure and temperature conditions have revealed phase relations and properties of core materials.
References
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Multimodel ensemble simulations of present-day and near-future tropospheric ozone

TL;DR: In this article, an ensemble of 26 state-of-the-art atmospheric chemistry models have been compared and synthesized as part of a wider study into both the air quality and climate roles of ozone.
Journal ArticleDOI

Compositional stratification in the deep mantle

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Journal ArticleDOI

A crystallizing dense magma ocean at the base of the Earth’s mantle

TL;DR: It is shown that a stable layer of dense melt formed at the base of the mantle early in the Earth’s history would have undergone slow fractional crystallization, and would be an ideal candidate for an unsampled geochemical reservoir hosting a variety of incompatible species for an initial basal magma ocean thickness of about 1,000 km.
Journal ArticleDOI

142Nd Evidence for Early (>4.53 Ga) Global Differentiation of the Silicate Earth

TL;DR: New high-precision samarium-neodymium isotopic data for chondritic meteorites show that their 142Nd/144Nd ratio is 20 parts per million lower than that of most terrestrial rocks, indicating that most (70 to 95%) of Earth's mantle is compositionally similar to the incompatible element–depleted source of mid-ocean ridge basalts.
Journal ArticleDOI

Thermodynamic parameters in the Earth as determined from seismic profiles

TL;DR: In this article, a Debye model using two cut-off frequencies corresponding to compressional and shear velocities is used to calculate mineral entropies and temperature profiles along an isentrope.
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