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Abstract Fe‐Al‐bearing bridgmanite may be the dominant host for ferric iron in Earth's lower mantle. Here we report the synthesis of (Mg0.5Fe3+0.5)(Al0.5Si0.5)O3bridgmanite (FA50) with the highest Fe3+‐Al3+coupled substitution known to date. X‐ray diffraction measurements showed that at ambient conditions, the FA50 adopted the LiNbO3structure. Upon compression at room temperature to 18 GPa, it transformed back into the bridgmanite structure, which remained stable up to 102 GPa and 2,600 K. Fitting Birch‐Murnaghan equation of state of FA50 bridgmanite yieldsV0 = 172.1(4) Å3,K0 = 229(4) GPa withK0′ = 4(fixed). The calculated bulk sound velocity of the FA50 bridgmanite is ~7.7% lower than MgSiO3bridgmanite, mainly because the presence of ferric iron increases the unit‐cell mass by 15.5%. This difference likely represents the upper limit of sound velocity anomaly introduced by Fe3+‐Al3+substitution. X‐ray emission and synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements showed that after laser annealing, ~6% of Fe3+cations exchanged with Al3+and underwent the high‐ to low‐spin transition at 59 GPa. The low‐spin proportion of Fe3+increased gradually with pressure and reached 17–31% at 80 GPa. Since the cation exchange and spin transition in this Fe3+‐Al3+‐enriched bridgmanite do not cause resolvable unit‐cell volume reduction, and the increase of low‐spin Fe3+fraction with pressure occurs gradually, the spin transition would not produce a distinct seismic signature in the lower mantle. However, it may influence iron partitioning and isotopic fractionation, thus introducing chemical heterogeneity in the lower mantle.
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This content will become publicly available on July 4, 2025
Phase transformation of ferric-iron-rich silicate in Earth’s mid-mantle
Abstract Incorporation of ferric iron in mantle silicates stabilizes different crystal structures and changes phase transition conditions, thus impacting seismic wave speeds and discontinuities. In MgSiO3-Fe2O3 mixtures, recent experiments indicate the coexistence of fully oxidized iron-rich (Mg0.5Fe0.53+)(Fe0.53+Si0.5)O3 with Fe-poor silicate (wadsleyite or bridgmanite) and stishovite at 15 to 27 GPa and 1773 to 2000 K, conditions relevant to subducted lithosphere in the Earth’s transition zone and uppermost lower mantle. X-ray diffraction measurements show that (Mg0.5Fe0.53+)(Fe0.53+Si0.5)O3 recovered from these conditions adopts the R3c LiNbO3-type structure, which transforms to the bridgmanite structure again between 18.3 GPa and 24.7 GPa at 300 K. Diffraction observations are used to obtain the equation of state of the LiNbO3-type phase up to 18.3 GPa. These observations combined with multi-anvil experiments suggest that the stable phase of (Mg0.5Fe0.53+)(Fe0.53+Si0.5)O3 is bridgmanite at 15-27 GPa, which transforms on decompression to LiNbO3-type structure. Our calculation revealed that ordering of the ferric ion reduces the kinetic energy barrier of the transition between (Mg0.5Fe0.53+)(Fe0.53+Si0.5)O3 LiNbO3 structure and bridgmanite relative to the MgSiO3 akimotoite-bridgmanite system. Dense Fe3+-rich bridgmanite structure is thus stable at substantially shallower depths than MgSiO3 bridgmanite and would promote subduction.
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- PAR ID:
- 10526903
- Publisher / Repository:
- Mineralogical Society of America
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Mineralogist
- ISSN:
- 0003-004X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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