Metal-silicate partitioning during core formation on super-Earths

Abstract:

Separation of the Earth into a rocky mantle and metallic Fe core is a problem long studied in the planetary science community (e.g. [1]). The timing of core formation influences the abundances of the siderophile elements found in the Earth’s mantle, and the mechanism of core formation influences the degree of chemical equilibration between the rocky mantle and the core at the time of metal separation. However, limited work has been done on formation of metallic cores and its effects on mantle chemistry in rocky planets larger than the Earth. Super-Earths, exoplanets with masses up to ~ 5 Earth masses and radii up to ~1.6-1.7 Earth radii, have significantly larger internal pressures and consequently higher internal temperatures than the Earth, therefore conclusions from Earth-centric studies of core formation may be erroneous. Partitioning coefficients for many of the relevant elements (e.g. Fe, Ni, Si, O, etc.) are available in the literature, but only to relatively low pressures. The relevant pressures for super-Earths are significantly larger. However, data on Fe-O-Ni-Si partitioning at pressures (200-500 GPa) and temperatures relevant to super-Earths have been measured by laser-induced shocks with the ZBL laser at Sandia National Laboratory with a method described in [2]. We will present a model which integrates this data with lower pressure partition coefficients from the literature (e.g. [3],[4],[5]), with special emphasis on Fe and O, to describe partitioning behavior at high pressures and discuss its implications for core size and composition on rocky super-Earths. [1] Ringwood, A.E. (1977) Geochem. J. 11, 111-135. [2] Remo, J.L., Petaev, M.I., Jacobsen, S. B. (2008) LPSC abstract, 1420. [3] Frost, D.J. et al. (2010) JGR, B02202. [4] Kombayashi, T. (2014) JGR, 4164-4177. [5] Rubie, D.C. et al. (2011) EPSL, 301, 31-42. [5]