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Abstract High pressure and temperature experiments were carried out on the oxide mixtures corresponding to the bridgmanite stoichiometry under the hydrous shallow lower mantle conditions (24–25 GPa and 1673–1873 K with 5–10 wt. % of water in the starting material). Oxide mixtures investigated correspond to MgSiO3, (Mg, Fe)SiO3, (Mg, Al, Si)O3, and (Mg, Fe, Al, Si)O3. Melting was observed in all runs. Partitioning of various elements, including Mg, Fe, Si, and H is investigated. Melting under hydrous lower mantle conditions leads to increased (Mg + Fe)O/SiO2in the melt compared to the residual solids. The residual solids often contain a large amount of stishovite, and the melt contains higher (Mg,Fe)O/SiO2ratio than the initial material. (Mg + Fe)O‐rich hydrous melt could explain the low‐velocity anomalies observed in the shallow lower mantle and a large amount of stishovite in the residual solid may be responsible for the scattering of seismic waves in the mid‐lower mantle and may explain the “stishovite paradox. Since stishovite‐rich materials are formed only when silica‐rich source rock (MORB) is melted (not a typical peridotitic rock [bulk silicate Earth]), seismic scattering in the lower mantle provides a clue on the circulation of subducted MORB materials. To estimate hydrogen content, we use a new method of estimating the water content of unquenchable melts, and also propose a new interpretation of the significance of superhydrous phase B inclusions in bridgmanite. The results provide revised values of water partitioning between solid minerals and hydrous melts that are substantially higher than previous estimates.
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Behavior of Hydrogarnet‐Type Defects in Hydrous Stishovite at Various Temperatures and Pressures
Abstract Dense polymorphs of silica have been demonstrated experimentally to incorporate from 1.5 wt% to as much as 11.6 wt% H2O as OH groups, with implications for the hydrogen budgets of Earth and other planets. This OH is thought to enter the SiO2structure via a charge‐balanced substitution in which silicon vacancies (VSi) are compensated by protonating four of the surrounding six oxygen atoms, often referred to as a hydrogarnet‐type defect. There are many possible configurations for this defect structure in dense silica, but the nature of these configurations and whether they can be distinguished experimentally is unknown. We present here density functional theory calculations that systematically assess the possible configurations of a hydrogarnet‐type defect in stishovite (rutile‐type SiO2), with direct comparisons to experimental vibrational spectroscopy data. We predict that stishovite synthesized at 450 K and 10 GPa quenched to room temperature is dominated by a single defect type with tetrahedral geometry. This leads to OH stretching modes (2,500–3,000 cm−1) and SiOH bending modes (∼1,400–1,450 cm−1) largely consistent with experimentally observed modes. One remaining issue is that our calculations produce results compatible with experimental data on H to D exchange, but do not explain why a considerable fraction of the 1,420 cm−1mode shifts by only 40 cm−1in deuterated samples. At elevated pressures and temperatures, we find that a second square planar defect configuration also becomes favorable, leading to modes that should allow differentiation from the tetrahedral configuration.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2149559
- PAR ID:
- 10393763
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Volume:
- 128
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2169-9313
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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