MR41B-4392:
Elasticity of Single-Crystal Phase D across the Spin Transitions of Ferrous and Ferric Iron in the Lower Mantle

Thursday, 18 December 2014
Xiang Wu1, Jung-Fu Lin2, Jin Liu2, Zhu Mao3, Xinzhuan Guo4, Takashi Yoshino5, Catherine A McCammon6, Yuming Xiao7 and Vitali Prakapenka8, (1)Peking University, Beijing, China, (2)University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States, (3)University Science & Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China, (4)ISEI, Misasa, Tottori, Japan, (5)Okayama University, Okayama, Japan, (6)University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany, (7)Geophysical Laboratory, Washington Dc, DC, United States, (8)University of Chicago, Argonne, IL, United States
Abstract:
Phase D, the densest hydrous magnesium silicate synthesized at the Earth’s mantle P-T conditions thus far, has been proposed to be a potential candidate for transportation of H2O into the lower mantle by subduction of the hydrated oceanic lithosphere. A certain amount of iron, the most abundant transition metal element in the Earth’s interior, is expected to be incorporated into the phase D. Here we synthesized high-quality single-crystal Fe,Al-bearing Phase D (Mg0.89Fe0.11Al0.37Si1.55H2.65O6, ~13.3wt% H2O) with grain sizes of ~200 micron using the Kawai multianvil apparatus at 21 GPa and 1200 °C at the Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, University of Oakayama, Japan. Conventional Mössbauer results indicate that the sample contains both ferrous and ferric iron that occupy the octahedral sites of the hexagonal structure. In situ high-pressure single crystal XRD and NFS experiments were performed up to megabar pressures at 13IDD beamline (GSECARS) and 16IDD beamline (HPCAT) of the Advanced Photon Source, respectively. Both experimental results clearly show that both Fe2+ and Fe3+ undergo a HS-LS transition at high pressures. High-resolution XRD results further indicate an abnormal compression behavior at approximately 37 GPa that can be linked with the previously proposed hydrogen bond symmetrization. Elasticity of phase D has a marked influence by the two-step spin transitions of both Fe2+ and Fe3+ and the hydrogen bond symmetrization, presenting in the seismic wave model, which is of implication for our understanding of the deep-Earth geophysics and geochemistry especially along the subducted slabs.