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Fe2O3produced in a deep magma ocean in equilibrium with core-destined alloy sets the early redox budget and atmospheric composition of terrestrial planets. Previous experiments (≤28 gigapascals) and first-principles calculations indicate that a deep terrestrial magma ocean produces appreciable Fe3+but predict Fe3+/ΣFe ratios that conflict by an order of magnitude. We present Fe3+/ΣFe of glasses quenched from melts equilibrated with Fe alloy at 38 to 71 gigapascals, 3600 to 4400 kelvin, analyzed by synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy. These indicate Fe3+/ΣFe of 0.056 to 0.112 in a terrestrial magma ocean with mean alloy-silicate equilibration pressures of 28 to 53 gigapascals, producing sufficient Fe2O3to account for the modern bulk silicate Earth redox budget and surficial conditions near or more oxidizing than the iron-wüstite buffer, which would stabilize a primitive CO- and H2O-rich atmosphere.
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This content will become publicly available on April 1, 2026
Impact‐Driven Redox Stratification of Earth's Mantle
Abstract Planetary formation involves highly energetic collisions, the consequences of which set the stage for the ensuing planetary evolution. During accretion, Earth's mantle was largely molten, a so‐called magma ocean, and its oxidation state was determined by equilibration with metal‐rich cores of infalling planetesimals through redox buffering reactions. We test two proposed mechanisms (metal layer and metal droplets) for equilibration in a magma ocean and the resulting oxidation state (Fe3+/ΣFe). Using scaling laws on convective mixing, we find that the metal layer could promote oxidation of a magma ocean, but this layer is too short‐lived to reproduce present‐day mantle Fe3+/ΣFe (2%–6%). Metal droplets produced by the fragmentation of impactor cores can also promote oxidation of a magma ocean. We use Monte Carlo sampling on two possible accretion scenarios to determine the likely range of oxidation states by metal droplets. We find that equilibration between silicate and metal droplets tends toward higher mantle Fe3+/ΣFe than presently observed. To achieve present‐day mantle Fe3+/ΣFe and maintain the degree of equilibration suggested by Hf‐W and U‐Pb systematics (30%–70%), the last (Moon‐forming) giant impact likely did not melt the entire mantle, therefore leaving the mantle stratified in terms of oxidation state after main accretion completes. Furthermore, late accretion impacts during the Hadean (4.5–4.0 Ga) could generate reduced domains in the shallow upper mantle, potentially sustaining surface environments conducive for prebiotic chemistry.
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- PAR ID:
- 10587544
- Publisher / Repository:
- AGU
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth
- Volume:
- 130
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2169-9313
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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