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The seismic anisotropy of the Earth’s solid inner core has been the topic of much research. It could be explained by the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) developing during convection. The likely phase is hexagonal close-packed iron (hcp), alloyed with nickel and some lighter elements. Here we use high energy synchrotron X-rays to study CPO in Fe-9wt%Si, uniaxially compressed in a diamond anvil cell in radial geometry. The experiments reveal that strong preferred orientation forms in the low-pressure body-centred cubic (bcc) phase that appears to be softer than pure iron. CPO is attributed to dominant {110}<111>slip. The onset of the bcc→hcp transition occurs at a pressure of ≈15 GPa, and the alloy remains in a two phase bcc+hcp state up to 40 GPa. The hcp phase forms first with a distinct {11¯20} maximum perpendicular to compression. Modelling shows that this is a transformation texture, which can be described by Burgers orientation relationship with variant selection. Experimental results suggest that bcc grains oriented with <100> parallel to compression transform into hcp first. The CPO of the hcp changes only slowly during further pressure and deviatoric stress increase at ambient temperature. After heating to 1600 K, a change in the hcp CPO is observed with alignment of (0001) planes perpendicular to compression that can be interpreted as dominant (0001)<11¯20> slip, combined with {10¯12}<¯1011> mechanical twinning, which is similar to the deformation modes suggested previously for pure hcp iron at inner core conditions.
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Two-step nucleation of the Earth’s inner core
The Earth's inner core started forming when molten iron cooled below the melting point. However, the nucleation mechanism, which is a necessary step of crystallization, has not been well understood. Recent studies have found that it requires an unrealistic degree of undercooling to nucleate the stable, hexagonal, close-packed (hcp) phase of iron that is unlikely to be reached under core conditions and age. This contradiction is referred to as the inner core nucleation paradox. Using a persistent embryo method and molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that the metastable, body-centered, cubic (bcc) phase of iron has a much higher nucleation rate than does the hcp phase under inner core conditions. Thus, the bcc nucleation is likely to be the first step of inner core formation, instead of direct nucleation of the hcp phase. This mechanism reduces the required undercooling of iron nucleation, which provides a key factor in solving the inner core nucleation paradox. The two-step nucleation scenario of the inner core also opens an avenue for understanding the structure and anisotropy of the present inner core.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1918134
- PAR ID:
- 10324424
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Volume:
- 119
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0027-8424
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract There has been a long debate on the stable phase of iron under the Earth’s inner core conditions. Because of the solid‐liquid coexistence at the inner core boundary, the thermodynamic stability of solid phases directly relates to their melting temperatures, which remains considerable uncertainty. In the present study, we utilized a semi‐empirical potential fitted to high‐temperatureab initiodata to perform a thermodynamic integration from classical systems described by this potential toab initiosystems. This method provides a smooth path for thermodynamic integration and significantly reduces the uncertainty caused by the finite‐size effect. Our results suggest the hcp phase is the stable phase of pure iron under the inner core conditions, while the free energy difference between the hcp and bcc phases is tiny, on the order of 10 s meV/atom near the melting temperature.more » « less
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SUMMARY The seismic anisotropy of the Earth's solid inner core has been the topic of much research. It could be explained by the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) developing during convection. The likely phase is hexagonal close-packed iron (hcp), alloyed with nickel and some lighter elements. Here we use high energy synchrotron X-rays to study CPO in Fe-9wt%Si, uniaxially compressed in a diamond anvil cell in radial geometry. The experiments reveal that strong preferred orientation forms in the low-pressure body-centred cubic (bcc) phase that appears to be softer than pure iron. CPO is attributed to dominant {110}<111> slip. The onset of the bcc→hcp transition occurs at a pressure of ≈15 GPa, and the alloy remains in a two phase bcc + hcp state up to 40 GPa. The hcp phase forms first with a distinct {11$$\bar{2}$$0} maximum perpendicular to compression. Modelling shows that this is a transformation texture, which can be described by Burgers orientation relationship with variant selection. Experimental results suggest that bcc grains oriented with <100> parallel to compression transform into hcp first. The CPO of the hcp changes only slowly during further pressure and deviatoric stress increase at ambient temperature. After heating to 1600 K, a change in the hcp CPO is observed with alignment of (0001) planes perpendicular to compression that can be interpreted as dominant (0001)<11$$\bar{2}$$0> slip, combined with {10$$\bar{1}$$2}<$$\bar{1}$$011> mechanical twinning, which is similar to the deformation modes suggested previously for pure hcp iron at inner core conditions.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Understanding the effect of carbon on the density of hcp (hexagonal-close-packed) Fe-C alloys is essential for modeling the carbon content in the Earth’s inner core. Previous studies have focused on the equations of state of iron carbides that may not be applicable to the solid inner core that may incorporate carbon as dissolved carbon in metallic iron. Carbon substitution in hcp-Fe and its effect on the density have never been experimentally studied. We investigated the compression behavior of Fe-C alloys with 0.31 and 1.37 wt % carbon, along with pure iron as a reference, by in-situ X-ray diffraction measurements up to 135 GPa for pure Fe, and 87 GPa for Fe-0.31C and 109 GPa for Fe-1.37C. The results show that the incorporation of carbon in hcp-Fe leads to the expansion of the lattice, contrary to the known effect in body-centered cubic (bcc)-Fe, suggesting a change in the substitution mechanism or local environment. The data on axial compressibility suggest that increasing carbon content could enhance seismic anisotropy in the Earth’s inner core. The new thermoelastic parameters allow us to develop a thermoelastic model to estimate the carbon content in the inner core when carbon is incorporated as dissolved carbon hcp-Fe. The required carbon contents to explain the density deficit of Earth’s inner core are 1.30 and 0.43 wt % at inner core boundary temperatures of 5000 K and 7000 K, respectively.more » « less
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Abstract Earth’s inner core exhibits strong seismic anisotropy, often attributed to the alignment of hexagonal close‐packed iron (hcp‐Fe) alloy crystallites with the Earth’s poles. How this alignment developed depends on material properties of the alloy and is important to our understanding of the core’s crystallization history and active geodynamical forcing. Previous studies suggested that hcp‐Fe is weak under deep Earth conditions but did not investigate the effects of the lighter elements known to be part of the inner core alloy. Here, we present results from radial X‐ray diffraction experiments in a diamond anvil cell that constrain the strength and deformation properties of iron‐nickel‐silicon (Fe–Ni–Si) alloys up to 60 GPa. We also show the results of laser heating to 1650 K to evaluate the effect of temperature. Observed alloy textures suggest different relative activities of the various hcp deformation mechanisms compared to pure Fe, but these textures could still account for the theorized polar alignment. Fe–Ni–Si alloys are mechanically stronger than Fe and Fe–Ni; extrapolated to inner core conditions, Si‐bearing alloys may be more than an order of magnitude stronger. This enhanced strength proportionally reduces the effectivity of dislocation creep as a deformation mechanism, which may suggest that texture developed during crystallization rather than as the result of postsolidification plastic flow.more » « less
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2113059119
