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Title: Thermal Conductivity of Silicate Liquid Determined by Machine Learning Potentials
Abstract

Silicate liquids are important agents of thermal evolution, yet their thermal conductivity is largely unknown. Here, we determine the thermal conductivity of a silicate liquid by combining the Green‐Kubo method with a machine learning potential ofab initioquality over the entire pressure regime of the mantle. We find that the thermal conductivity of MgSiO3liquid is 1.1 W m−1 K−1at the 1 bar melting point, and 4.0 W m−1 K−1at core‐mantle boundary conditions. The thermal conductivity increases with compression, while remaining nearly constant on isochoric heating. The pressure dependence arises from the increasing bulk modulus on compression, and the weak temperature dependence arises from the saturation of the phonon mean free path due to structural disorder. The thermal conductivity of silicate liquids is less than that of ambient mantle, a contrast that may be important for understanding melt generation, and heat flux from the core.

 
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Award ID(s):
1853388
NSF-PAR ID:
10360623
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  
Publisher / Repository:
DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume:
48
Issue:
17
ISSN:
0094-8276
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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