Shigehiko Tateno

The Structure of Iron in Earth’s Inner Core

Packing the Core The packing and arrangement of atoms in Earths solid inner core can dictate processes such as core growth and rotation. Seismology and modeling suggest the inner core is composed primarily of iron, but the structure is less clear due to anisotropic splitting of seismic waves. Tateno et al. (p. 359) performed static compression experiments on pure iron at the extremely high pressures and temperatures found in the inner core and saw that iron prefers a hexagonal close-packed structure, as opposed to cubic structures. The results help to explain the observed seismic anisotropy, and also suggest that individual iron crystals in the core may prefer orienting themselves with their long crystallographic axes parallel to Earths rotation axis. Compression experiments indicate that the iron in Earth’s inner core has a hexagonal close-packed structure. Earth’s solid inner core is mainly composed of iron (Fe). Because the relevant ultrahigh pressure and temperature conditions are difficult to produce experimentally, the preferred crystal structure of Fe at the inner core remains uncertain. Static compression experiments showed that the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) structure of Fe is stable up to 377 gigapascals and 5700 kelvin, corresponding to inner core conditions. The observed weak temperature dependence of the c/a axial ratio suggests that hcp Fe is elastically anisotropic at core temperatures. Preferred orientation of the hcp phase may explain previously observed inner core seismic anisotropy.

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 ∼76 GPa, resulting in strong iron enrichment in melts. Additional X-ray emission spectroscopy measurements on (Mg0.95Fe0.05)SiO3 glass indicate a spin collapse around 70 GPa, 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 ∼1,800 km 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 ∼1,000 km 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.

Stability and equation of state of MgGeO3 post-perovskite phase

Abstract A phase transition of MgGeO3 perovskite was examined at high-pressure and -temperature using synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements. The results demonstrate that it transforms to a CaIrO3- type post-perovskite phase above 63 GPa at 1800 K. The density increase is 1.5% at the transition pressure. These observations confirm that MgGeO3 is a low-pressure analogue to MgSiO3, for which a similar phase transition was recently found above 125 GPa and 2500 K. The unit-cell parameters of MgGeO3 post-perovskite phase obtained at 300 K during decompression from 79 to 6 GPa show that the b-axis is significantly more compressible than are the a- and c-axes, which could be due to the GeO6-octahedral sheet stacking structure along b. The bulk modulus was determined to be K0 = 192(±5) GPa with a fixed pressure derivative of the bulk modulus, K’, of 4.

Melting experiments on peridotite to lowermost mantle conditions

Melting experiments on a pyrolitic mantle material were performed in a pressure range from 34 to 179 GPa based on laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (DAC) techniques. The textural and chemical characterizations of quenched samples were made by using field-emission-type electron microprobe (FE-EPMA). Melts formed by 46 to 77 wt.% partial melting in this study were ultrabasic in composition and became more depleted in SiO2 and more enriched in FeO with increasing pressure. Melting textures indicate that the liquidus phase changed from ferropericlase to MgSiO3-rich perovskite at least above 34 GPa and further to post-perovskite. The first phase to melt (disappear) changed from CaSiO3 perovskite to (Mg,Fe)O ferropericlase between 68 and 82 GPa. The stability of ferropericlase above solidus temperature shrinks with increasing pressure (melting last below 34 GPa and first 82 GPa), resulting in higher (MgO + FeO)/SiO2 ratio in partial melt at higher pressure. Additionally, the Fe-Mg distribution coefficients (KD) between perovskite/post-perovskite and melt decreased considerably with increasing pressure, leading to strong Fe-enrichment in partial melts. It supports dense partial melts in a deep lower mantle, which migrate downward to the core mantle boundary (CMB).

The advanced ion-milling method for preparation of thin film using ion slicer: Application to a sample recovered from diamond-anvil cell

The advanced argon ion-milling technique using a new instrument called ion slicer was newly developed for preparation of thin foil. Compared to the conventional ion-milling methods, this technique facilitates very wide area to be homogeneously thinned by rocking the ion beam source with low angle and the specimen during milling. Here we applied this technique to a sample recovered from a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (DAC). We obtained the thin film of almost entire cross section of the DAC sample along the compression axis, which possesses of approximately (10x50) microm(2). The laser-heated sample is often heterogeneous due to a large temperature gradient. However the chemical analyses are obtained from the whole hot spot under the transmission electron microscope by preparing the thin foil using the ion slicer.

Carbon-depleted outer core revealed by sound velocity measurements of liquid iron–carbon alloy

The relative abundance of light elements in the Earths core has long been controversial. Recently, the presence of carbon in the core has been emphasized, because the density and sound velocities of the inner core may be consistent with solid Fe7C3. Here we report the longitudinal wave velocity of liquid Fe84C16 up to 70 GPa based on inelastic X-ray scattering measurements. We find the velocity to be substantially slower than that of solid iron and Fe3C and to be faster than that of liquid iron. The thermodynamic equation of state for liquid Fe84C16 is also obtained from the velocity data combined with previous density measurements at 1 bar. The longitudinal velocity of the outer core, about 4% faster than that of liquid iron, is consistent with the presence of 4–5 at.% carbon. However, that amount of carbon is too small to account for the outer core density deficit, suggesting that carbon cannot be a predominant light element in the core.

High pressure generation using double-stage diamond anvil technique: problems and equations of state of rhenium

ABSTRACT We have developed a double stage diamond anvil cell (ds-DAC) technique for reproducible pressure by precisely fabricating 2nd stage anvils using a focused ion beam system. We used 2nd stage micro-anvils made of ultra-fine (< 10 nm) nano-polycrystalline diamond with various shapes and dimensions synthesized from glassy carbon at high pressure and temperature. The X-ray diffraction patterns from the rhenium sample always showed very broad peaks due to large pressure gradients in the culet of the micro-anvils. Deconvolution of the broad 101 diffraction peak results in compression of rhenium to V/V0 = 0.633 for the smallest d-spacing. The calculated pressure for this minimum volume varies from 430 to 630 GPa, depending on the choice of the equation of state of rhenium. We conclude that the most likely pressure achieved for the minimum volume of rhenium is in a range of 430–460 GPa based on a calibration using the platinum pressure scale to 280 GPa and the latter value of 630 GPa is unreasonably high, suggesting that the pressures in an earlier study for the equation of state of rhenium would have been significantly overestimated.

Sound velocity of liquid Fe–Ni–S at high pressure

The sound velocity of liquid Fe47Ni28S25 and Fe63Ni12S25 was measured up to 52 GPa/2480 K in externally-resistance-heated and laser-heated diamond-anvil cells (DACs) using high-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering. From these experimental data, we obtained the elastic parameters of liquid Fe47Ni28S25, KS0 = 96.1 ± 2.7 GPa and KS0’ = 4.00 ± 0.13, where KS0 and KS0’ are the adiabatic bulk modulus and its pressure derivative at 1 bar, when the density is fixed at ρ0 = 5.62 ± 0.09 g/cm3 for 1 bar and 2000 K. With these parameters, the sound velocity and density of liquid Fe47Ni28S25 were calculated to be 8.41 ± 0.17 km/s and 8.93 ± 0.19 to 9.10 ± 0.18 g/cm3, respectively, at the core mantle boundary (CMB) conditions of 135 GPa and 3600 − 4300 K. These values are 9.4 % higher and 17–18 % lower than those of pure Fe respectively. Extrapolation of measurements and comparison with seismological models suggest the presence of 5.8–7.5 wt.% sulfur in the Earths outer core if it is the only light element.

Melting experiments on Fe–Si–S alloys to core pressures: Silicon in the core?

Abstract Melting and subsolidus experiments were carried out on Fe–Si–S alloys (2.2–2.7 wt% Si + 2.0–2.1 wt% S) up to 146 GPa in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell (DAC). The melting and subsolidus phase relations were examined on the basis of in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements and ex situ textural and chemical characterizations of recovered samples. The subsolidus phase assemblage changed from Fe-rich hexagonal closed-packed (hcp) phase + Fe3S into a single phase of hcp Fe–Si–S alloy above 80 GPa at ~2500 K. The melting curve was obtained on the basis of the appearance of diffuse X-ray scattering and/or melting texture found in the cross section of a recovered sample. Microprobe analyses of quenched molten samples showed that liquid Fe–Si–S coexisted with Fe-alloy solid, which is depleted in sulfur but enriched in silicon compared to the liquid. This result indicates that the liquid evolves toward a Si-poor and S-rich composition upon crystallization. Our data further suggest that the ternary eutectic liquid composition is Si-deficient and close to the tie line between the eutectic points in the Fe–Si and Fe–S binary systems at each pressure. The composition of Fe–Si–S liquid that accounts for the outer core density is outside the liquidus field of solid Fe at the inner core boundary (ICB) pressure. Accordingly, the solid alloy crystallizing from such an outer core liquid must be more enriched in silicon/sulfur than the coexisting liquid and thus cannot form the denser inner core required from seismic observations. Furthermore, neither liquid Fe–Si–C nor Fe–Si–O can crystallize a dense solid at the ICB. These results reinforce the conclusion that silicon is not an important light element in the core.