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

Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic (), Dongzhou Zhang, Wolfgang Sturhahn, Stella Chariton, Vitali B. Prakapenka, Jiyong Zhao, Thomas S. Toellner, Olivia S. Pardo and Jennifer M. Jackson
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Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology
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
Jennifer M. Jackson: Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43154-w

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