Crystal Structure of Pure and Aluminous Calcium Silicate Perovskites at Mantle Related Pressure and Temperature

Abstract:

CaSiO₃-perovskite (CaPv) is believed to be the third most abundant mineral (5 wt%) in the Earth’s lower mantle (LM). Subducted slabs contain 23 wt% CaPv at the LM related pressure (P) and temperature (T), where Al₂O₃ could be incorporated into the crystal structure of CaPv (AlCaPv). However, there remains important discrepancy between computations and experiments on the crystal structure of CaPv at high P and low T. Some computations have predicted a tetragonal I4/mcm structure with a pseudo-cubic axial ratio (c_p/a_p) greater than 1, while X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies have suggested a tetragonal P4/mmm structure with c_p/a_p ~ 0.995. Using Ne as a pressure medium, we conducted in-situ XRD of CaSiO₃ and 5 wt% Al-bearing CaSiO₃ in the laser heated diamond anvil cell at the GSECARS and HPCAT sectors of the Advanced Photon Source. Rietveld refinements are performed on the diffraction patterns of CaPv at 300 K and 20-60 GPa. Similar to previous studies, we observed splitting of the 200 and 211 peaks after T-quench in pure CaPv. However, unlike previous experiments, diffraction patterns were more consistent with a tetragonal I4/mcm structure with c_p/a_p ~ 1.005 than P4/mmm. All the previous diffraction patterns have been measured with an Ar or MgO medium, or even without a medium, while we used more hydrostatic Ne medium. Considering the small free energy differences among different perovskite structures, the crystal structure of CaPv may be very sensitive to non-hydrostatic stresses. In runs with AlCaPv, asymmetrical 200 peaks are found up to 60 GPa and 2200 K, showing that non-cubic could be still stable at mantle geotherm temperatures in AlCaPv. The extreme sensitivity of CaPv on deviatoric stresses may have important implications for the elastic properties of the mantle regions with strong deformations, because the elastic anisotropy can change with the crystal structure of CaPv.