Effect of water on the rheology of enstatite

Abstract:

The influence of water on the rheological properties of enstatite, the second principal constituent of the upper mantle, was investi­gated by performing high-temperature creep experiments under both hydrous and anhydrous conditions. Samples were fabricated from fine powered Bamble enstatite (Mg_0.85Fe_0.15SiO₃) from Norway. Deformation experiments were carried out using a gas-medium apparatus at a confining pressure of 300 MPa and temperatures between 1123 and 1473 K. For experiments conducted under hydrous conditions, samples were encapsulated with a talc sleeve, which supplied water by the dehydration near 1075 K. Under our experimental conditions, deformation was dominated by diffusion creep as indicated by a stress exponent of ~1 for both anhydrous and hydrous conditions. Furthermore, our data yields activation energies of ~200 and ~400 kJ/mol for hydrous and anhydrous conditions, respectively. These values are smaller than those reported for enstatite deformed in the dislocation creep regime (820 kJ/mol, Mackwell, 1992; 600 kJ/mol, Lawlis, 1997). Importantly, our results demonstrate a strong influence of water on the diffusion creep of enstatite. Samples deformed under hydrous conditions crept ~1.5 order of magnitude faster than those deformed under anhydrous conditions at similar differential stresses and temperatures. This water-weakening effect is more than ten times greater than determined for olivine. Such results provide critical constraints needed for understanding the rheological behavior of Earth’s interior.