John Hernlund

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

The distribution of geochemical species in the Earth’s interior is largely controlled by fractional melting and crystallization processes that are intimately linked to the thermal state and evolution of the mantle. The existence of patches of dense partial melt at the base of the Earth’s mantle, together with estimates of melting temperatures for deep mantle phases and the amount of cooling of the underlying core required to maintain a geodynamo throughout much of the Earth’s history, suggest that more extensive deep melting occurred in the past. Here we show 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 (most notably the missing budget of heat-producing elements) for an initial basal magma ocean thickness of about 1,000u2009km. Differences in 142Nd/144Nd ratios between chondrites and terrestrial rocks can be explained by fractional crystallization with a decay timescale of the order of 1u2009Gyr. These combined constraints yield thermal evolution models in which radiogenic heat production and latent heat exchange prevent early cooling of the core and possibly delay the onset of the geodynamo to 3.4–4u2009Gyr ago.

A doubling of the post-perovskite phase boundary and structure of the Earth's lowermost mantle.

The thermal structure of the Earths lowermost mantle—the D″ layer spanning depths of ∼2,600–2,900u2009kilometres—is key to understanding the dynamical state and history of our planet. Earths temperature profile (the geotherm) is mostly constrained by phase transitions, such as freezing at the inner-core boundary or changes in crystal structure within the solid mantle, that are detected as discontinuities in seismic wave speed and for which the pressure and temperature conditions can be constrained by experiment and theory. A recently discovered phase transition at pressures of the D″ layer is ideally situated to reveal the thermal structure of the lowermost mantle, where no phase transitions were previously known to exist. Here we show that a pair of seismic discontinuities observed in some regions of D″ can be explained by the same phase transition as the result of a double-crossing of the phase boundary by the geotherm at two different depths. This simple model can also explain why a seismic discontinuity is not observed in some other regions, and provides new constraints for the magnitude of temperature variations within D″.

A Post-Perovskite Lens and D'' Heat Flux Beneath the Central Pacific

Temperature gradients in a low-shear-velocity province in the lowermost mantle (D″ region) beneath the central Pacific Ocean were inferred from the observation of a rapid S-wave velocity increase overlying a rapid decrease. These paired seismic discontinuities are attributed to a phase change from perovskite to post-perovskite and then back to perovskite as the temperature increases with depth. Iron enrichment could explain the occurrence of post-perovskite several hundred kilometers above the core-mantle boundary in this warm, chemically distinct province. The double phase-boundary crossing directly constrains the lowermost mantle temperature gradients. Assuming a standard but unconstrained choice of thermal conductivity, the regional core-mantle boundary heat flux (∼85 ± 25 milliwatts per square meter), comparable to the average at Earths surface, was estimated, along with a lower bound on global core-mantle boundary heat flow in the range of 13 ± 4 terawatts. Mapped velocity-contrast variations indicate that the lens of post-perovskite minerals thins and vanishes over 1000 kilometers laterally toward the margin of the chemical distinct region as a result of a ∼500-kelvin temperature increase.

Spin crossover and iron-rich silicate melt in the Earth/'s deep mantle

A melt has greater volume than a silicate solid of the same composition. But this difference diminishes at high pressure, and the possibility that a melt sufficiently enriched in the heavy element iron might then become more dense than solids at the pressures in the interior of the Earth (and other terrestrial bodies) has long been a source of considerable speculation. The occurrence of such dense silicate melts in the Earths lowermost mantle would carry important consequences for its physical and chemical evolution and could provide a unifying model for explaining a variety of observed features in the core–mantle boundary region. Recent theoretical calculations combined with estimates of iron partitioning between (Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite and melt at shallower mantle conditions suggest that melt is more dense than solids at pressures in the Earths deepest mantle, consistent with analysis of shockwave experiments. Here we extend measurements of iron partitioning over the entire mantle pressure range, and find a precipitous change at pressures greater than ∼76u2009GPa, resulting in strong iron enrichment in melts. Additional X-ray emission spectroscopy measurements on (Mg0.95Fe0.05)SiO3 glass indicate a spin collapse around 70u2009GPa, suggesting that the observed change in iron partitioning could be explained by a spin crossover of iron (from high-spin to low-spin) in silicate melt. These results imply that (Mg,Fe)SiO3 liquid becomes more dense than coexisting solid at ∼1,800u2009km depth in the lower mantle. Soon after the Earths formation, the heat dissipated by accretion and internal differentiation could have produced a dense melt layer up to ∼1,000u2009km in thickness underneath the solid mantle. We also infer that (Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite is on the liquidus at deep mantle conditions, and predict that fractional crystallization of dense magma would have evolved towards an iron-rich and silicon-poor composition, consistent with seismic inferences of structures in the core–mantle boundary region.

Upside-down differentiation and generation of a primordial lower mantle

Except for the first 50–100 million years or so of the Earth’s history, when most of the mantle may have been subjected to melting, the differentiation of Earth’s silicate mantle has been controlled by solid-state convection. As the mantle upwells and decompresses across its solidus, it partially melts. These low-density melts rise to the surface and form the continental and oceanic crusts, driving the differentiation of the silicate part of the Earth. Because many trace elements, such as heat-producing U, Th and K, as well as the noble gases, preferentially partition into melts (here referred to as incompatible elements), melt extraction concentrates these elements into the crust (or atmosphere in the case of noble gases), where nearly half of the Earth’s budget of these elements now resides. In contrast, the upper mantle, as sampled by mid-ocean ridge basalts, is highly depleted in incompatible elements, suggesting a complementary relationship with the crust. Mass balance arguments require that the other half of these incompatible elements be hidden in the Earth’s interior. Hypotheses abound for the origin of this hidden reservoir. The most widely held view has been that this hidden reservoir represents primordial material never processed by melting or degassing. Here, we suggest that a necessary by-product of whole-mantle convection during the Earth’s first billion years is deep and hot melting, resulting in the generation of dense liquids that crystallized and sank into the lower mantle. These sunken lithologies would have ‘primordial’ chemical signatures despite a non-primordial origin.

A numerical model for steady-state temperature distributions in solid-medium high-pressure cell assemblies

Abstract We present a numerical model for calculating the temperature distribution inside resistance-heated high-pressure solid-medium axi-symmetric cell assemblies that incorporates both composition- and temperature-dependent thermal conductivity. The code was validated using both analytic solutions of simplified thermal diffusion problems and comparisons to actual laboratory experiments and was found to be reliable in matching the temperature characteristics of multi-anvil experiments. Calculations for various cell assembly designs resulted in temperature fields that are consistent with experimental measurements of thermal gradients. These calculations also illustrated the influence of temperature-dependence of thermal conductivity, an important and often-overlooked property, on the thermal profiles. This model may be used to fine-tune the design of cell assemblies, either to minimize thermal gradients or to produce a desired temperature distribution. The four typical multi-anvil cells that we used to demonstrate this technique have temperature profiles across the sample that range from 25 to 75 °C when the thermocouple temperature is 1200 °C. The thermocouple in all four is in a region where the temperature gradient is on the order of 100 °C per millimeter, which could lead to experimental temperature uncertainties that are correlated with the thermocouple location.

Thermodynamic Limits on Magnetodynamos in Rocky Exoplanets

To ascertain whether magnetic dynamos operate in rocky exoplanets more massive or hotter than the Earth, we developed a parametric model of a differentiated rocky planet and its thermal evolution. Our model reproduces the established properties of Earths interior and magnetic field at the present time. When applied to Venus, assuming that planet lacks plate tectonics and has a dehydrated mantle with an elevated viscosity, the model shows that the dynamo shuts down or never operated. Our model predicts that at a fixed planet mass, dynamo history is sensitive to core size, but not to the initial inventory of long-lived, heat-producing radionuclides. It predicts that rocky planets larger than 2.5 Earth masses will not develop inner cores because the temperature-pressure slope of the iron solidus becomes flatter than that of the core adiabat. Instead, iron snow will condense near or at the top of these cores, and the net transfer of latent heat upward will suppress convection and a dynamo. More massive planets can have anemic dynamos due to core cooling, but only if they have mobile lids (plate tectonics). The lifetime of these dynamos is shorter with increasing planet mass but longer with higher surface temperature. Massive Venus-like planets with stagnant lids and more viscous mantles will lack dynamos altogether. We identify two alternative sources of magnetic fields on rocky planets: eddy currents induced in the hot or molten upper layers of planets on very short-period orbits, and dynamos in the ionic conducting layers of ocean planets with ~10% mass in an upper mantle of water (ice).

Buoyant melting instabilities beneath extending lithosphere. 1. Numerical models

Buoyant decompression melting instabilities in regions of partially molten upper mantle have been proposed to be an important process that might account for some characteristics of intraplate volcanism on Earth and other terrestrial planets. The instability is driven by variations in the melting rate within a partially molten layer whenever a relative decrease in density accompanies decompression melting of ascending mantle. Here, the development of buoyant decompression melting instabilities in a plane layer of passively upwelling and partially melting mantle beneath diffusely extending lithosphere is studied using numerical convection models covering a wide range of physical parameters. We find that the occurrence and nature of these instabilities in such a scenario is strongly affected by the rate of extension and melt percolation, as well as depth distribution of solid density variations arising from melt depletion. In some cases, instabilities do not occur during extension, but only develop after extension has slowed or stopped completely. This behavior creates two pulses of magma generation due to passive upwelling accompanying extension followed by the subsequent instability and is favored by a faster rate of extension, higher mantle viscosity, higher rate of melt percolation, and smaller amount of solid residuum depletion‐derived buoyancy. Larger degrees of solid density changes accompanying melt depletion can enhance the instability of partially molten mantle during extension but decrease the cumulative volume of generated melt. This kind of behavior modifies the conventional expectation of spatially and temporally correlated volcanism and extension and may lend insight into the observed increase in localized volcanic activity following Miocene Basin and Range extension in the western United States.

Geophysically consistent values of the perovskite to post‐perovskite transition Clapeyron slope

The double‐crossing hypothesis posits that post‐perovskite bearing rock in Earths D″ layer exists as a layer above the core‐mantle boundary bounded above and below by intersections between a curved thermal boundary layer geotherm and a relatively steep phase boundary. Increasing seismic evidence for the existence of pairs of discontinuities predicted to occur at the top and bottom of this layer motivates an examination of the consistency of this model with mineral physics constraints for the Clapeyron slope of this phase transition. Using independent constraints for a lower bound on temperature in Earths deep mantle and the temperature of Earths inner core boundary, we show that a post‐perovskite double‐crossing is inconsistent with plausible core temperatures for a Clapeyron slope less than about 7 MPa/K, with the higher range of experimental values yielding better agreement with recent estimates of the melting temperature of Earths core.

Crystallization of silicon dioxide and compositional evolution of the Earth’s core

The Earth’s core is about ten per cent less dense than pure iron (Fe), suggesting that it contains light elements as well as iron. Modelling of core formation at high pressure (around 40–60 gigapascals) and high temperature (about 3,500 kelvin) in a deep magma ocean predicts that both silicon (Si) and oxygen (O) are among the impurities in the liquid outer core. However, only the binary systems Fe–Si and Fe–O have been studied in detail at high pressures, and little is known about the compositional evolution of the Fe–Si–O ternary alloy under core conditions. Here we performed melting experiments on liquid Fe–Si–O alloy at core pressures in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell. Our results demonstrate that the liquidus field of silicon dioxide (SiO2) is unexpectedly wide at the iron-rich portion of the Fe–Si–O ternary, such that an initial Fe–Si–O core crystallizes SiO2 as it cools. If crystallization proceeds on top of the core, the buoyancy released should have been more than sufficient to power core convection and a dynamo, in spite of high thermal conductivity, from as early on as the Hadean eon. SiO2 saturation also sets limits on silicon and oxygen concentrations in the present-day outer core.