Superionic effect and anisotropic texture in Earth’s inner core driven by geomagnetic field

Shichuan Sun, Yu He (), Junyi Yang, Yufeng Lin, Jinfeng Li, Duck Young Kim, Heping Li and Ho-kwang Mao
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Shichuan Sun: Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yu He: Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Junyi Yang: Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yufeng Lin: Southern University of Science and Technology
Jinfeng Li: Southern University of Science and Technology
Duck Young Kim: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research
Heping Li: Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ho-kwang Mao: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Seismological observations suggest that Earth’s inner core (IC) is heterogeneous and anisotropic. Increasing seismological observations make the understanding of the mineralogy and mechanism for the complex IC texture extremely challenging, and the driving force for the anisotropic texture remains unclear. Under IC conditions, hydrogen becomes highly diffusive like liquid in the hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) solid Fe lattice, which is known as the superionic state. Here, we reveal that H-ion diffusion in superionic Fe-H alloy is anisotropic with the lowest barrier energy along the c-axis. In the presence of an external electric field, the alignment of the Fe-H lattice with the c-axis pointing to the field direction is energetically favorable. Due to this effect, Fe-H alloys are aligned with the c-axis parallel to the equatorial plane by the diffusion of the north–south dipole geomagnetic field into the inner core. The aligned texture driven by the geomagnetic field presents significant seismic anisotropy, which explains the anisotropic seismic velocities in the IC, suggesting a strong coupling between the IC structure and geomagnetic field.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37376-1

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