Pierre Beck

Radiative conductivity in the Earth's lower mantle

Iron in crustal and mantle minerals adopts several possible oxidation states: this has implications for biogeochemical processes, oxygenation of the atmosphere and the oxidation state of the mantle. In the deep Earth, iron in silicate perovskite, (Mg0.9Fe0.1)SiO3, and ferropericlase, (Mg0.85Fe0.15)O, influences the thermal conductivity of the lower mantle and therefore heat flux from the core. Little is known, however, about the effect of iron oxidation states on transport properties. Here we show that the radiative component of thermal conductivity in the dominant silicate perovskite material of Earth’s lower mantle is controlled by the amount of ferric iron, Fe3+. We obtained the optical absorption spectra of silicate perovskite and ferropericlase at pressures up to 133 GPa, corresponding to pressures at the core–mantle boundary. Absorption spectra of ferropericlase up to 800 K and 60 GPa exhibit minimal temperature dependence. The results on silicate perovskite show that optical absorption in the visible and near-infrared spectral range is dominated by O–Fe3+ charge transfer and Fe3+–Fe2+ intervalence transitions, whereas a contribution from the Fe2+ crystal-field transitions is substantially smaller. The estimated pressure-dependent radiative conductivity, krad, from these data is 2–5 times lower than previously inferred from model extrapolations, with implications for the evolution of the mantle, such as generation and stability of thermo-chemical plumes in the lower mantle.

Measurement of thermal diffusivity at high pressure using a transient heating technique

We describe a flash-heating procedure designed to measure thermal diffusivity of materials at high pressure and temperature in diamond anvil cells. This technique involves time-resolved radiometry combined with a pulsed IR laser source. Results for MgO, NaCl, and KCl are presented (to P=32GPa and T=2600K). These measurements agree with previous studies at low pressure and high temperature and enable to test models for the combined P-T dependence of thermal conductivity. This technique can be extended to a broader range of pressures and can be used to address a variety of problems in geoscience, planetary sciences, and materials science.

Cubic boron nitride as a primary calibrant for a high temperature pressure scale

We present results establishing a new high pressure scale at high temperature based on the thermal equation of state and elastic properties of cubic boron nitride (cBN). This scale is derived from simultaneous measurements of density and sound velocities at high pressure and temperature independent of any previous pressure scale. The present results obtained at room temperature to 27 GPa suggest the validity of the current ruby scale (within±4% at 100 GPa). At high temperature, data obtained at 16 GPa to 723 K are in fair agreement with the thermal equation of state of cBN reported in our previous work. We have also shown that cBN can serve as a convenient pressure gauge in X-ray and optical studies using the laser heated diamond anvil cell.

Optical properties of deep-earth minerals

Earths lower mantle contains vast amounts of rock, extending from just beneath the 660-km seismic d…