IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-43154-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Melting and defect transitions in FeO up to pressures of Earth’s core-mantle boundary

Author

Listed:
  • Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic

    (Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
    Now at Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science)

  • Dongzhou Zhang

    (University of Hawai’i at Mānoa)

  • Wolfgang Sturhahn

    (Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology)

  • Stella Chariton

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Vitali B. Prakapenka

    (The University of Chicago)

  • Jiyong Zhao

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Thomas S. Toellner

    (Argonne National Laboratory)

  • Olivia S. Pardo

    (Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
    Physical & Life Sciences Directorate)

  • Jennifer M. Jackson

    (Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology)

Abstract

The high-pressure melting curve of FeO controls key aspects of Earth’s deep interior and the evolution of rocky planets more broadly. However, existing melting studies on wüstite were conducted across a limited pressure range and exhibit substantial disagreement. Here we use an in-situ dual-technique approach that combines a suite of >1000 x-ray diffraction and synchrotron Mössbauer measurements to report the melting curve for Fe1-xO wüstite to pressures of Earth’s lowermost mantle. We further observe features in the data suggesting an order-disorder transition in the iron defect structure several hundred kelvin below melting. This solid-solid transition, suggested by decades of ambient pressure research, is detected across the full pressure range of the study (30 to 140 GPa). At 136 GPa, our results constrain a relatively high melting temperature of 4140 ± 110 K, which falls above recent temperature estimates for Earth’s present-day core-mantle boundary and supports the viability of solid FeO-rich structures at the roots of mantle plumes. The coincidence of the defect order-disorder transition with pressure-temperature conditions of Earth’s mantle base raises broad questions about its possible influence on key physical properties of the region, including rheology and conductivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic & Dongzhou Zhang & Wolfgang Sturhahn & Stella Chariton & Vitali B. Prakapenka & Jiyong Zhao & Thomas S. Toellner & Olivia S. Pardo & Jennifer M. Jackson, 2023. "Melting and defect transitions in FeO up to pressures of Earth’s core-mantle boundary," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-43154-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43154-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43154-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-43154-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. T. Kimura & H. Ohfuji & M. Nishi & T. Irifune, 2017. "Melting temperatures of MgO under high pressure by micro-texture analysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, August.
    2. Sebastian Rost & Edward J. Garnero & Quentin Williams & Michael Manga, 2005. "Seismological constraints on a possible plume root at the core–mantle boundary," Nature, Nature, vol. 435(7042), pages 666-669, June.
    3. S. Labrosse & J. W. Hernlund & N. Coltice, 2007. "A crystallizing dense magma ocean at the base of the Earth’s mantle," Nature, Nature, vol. 450(7171), pages 866-869, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wai-Ga D. Ho & Peng Zhang & Kristjan Haule & Jennifer M. Jackson & Vladimir Dobrosavljević & Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic, 2024. "Quantum critical phase of FeO spans conditions of Earth’s lower mantle," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Suraj K. Bajgain & Aaron Wolfgang Ashley & Mainak Mookherjee & Dipta B. Ghosh & Bijaya B. Karki, 2022. "Insights into magma ocean dynamics from the transport properties of basaltic melt," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Li Zhang & Yongjin Chen & Ziqiang Yang & Lu Liu & Yanping Yang & Philip Dalladay-Simpson & Junyue Wang & Ho-kwang Mao, 2024. "Pressure stabilizes ferrous iron in bridgmanite under hydrous deep lower mantle conditions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Stuart Russell & Jessica C. E. Irving & Robert Myhill & Sanne Cottaar, 2024. "The emerging picture of a complex core-mantle boundary," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-3, December.
    4. Laura Cobden & Jingyi Zhuang & Wenjie Lei & Renata Wentzcovitch & Jeannot Trampert & Jeroen Tromp, 2024. "Full-waveform tomography reveals iron spin crossover in Earth’s lower mantle," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Zhi Li & Kuangdai Leng & Jennifer Jenkins & Sanne Cottaar, 2022. "Kilometer-scale structure on the core–mantle boundary near Hawaii," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-43154-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.