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Fundamentals of elasticity of (Mg 1− x , Fe x ) 2 SiO 4 olivine
Author(s) -
NúñezValdez M.,
Umemoto K.,
Wentzcovitch R. M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2010gl044205
Subject(s) - olivine , elasticity (physics) , shear (geology) , mantle (geology) , mineralogy , supercell , materials science , moduli , elastic modulus , shear modulus , geology , geophysics , physics , composite material , thunderstorm , oceanography , quantum mechanics
We study the influence of iron on the elasticity of (Mg 1− x , Fe x ) 2 SiO 4 olivine (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.125), a major constituent of the Earth's upper mantle. We calculate static elastic properties by first principles for this solid solution and investigate the effect of atomic arrangement, an artifact of supercell calculations, on all single crystal and poly‐crystalline elastic moduli. From calculated wave propagation velocities we find the heterogeneity ratios of shear to compressional wave velocity, and bulk sound to shear wave velocity. Their values are, though limited to composition considerations, marginally consistent with seismic tomography.