Stabilization of body-centred cubic iron under inner-core conditions | Zendy

A. B. Belonoshko | Zendy; Timofei Lukinov | Zendy; Jie Fu | Zendy; Jijun Zhao | Zendy; Sergio Davis | Zendy; S. I. Simak | Zendy

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Stabilization of body-centred cubic iron under inner-core conditions

Author(s) -

A. B. Belonoshko,

Timofei Lukinov,

Jie Fu,

Jijun Zhao,

Sergio Davis,

S. I. Simak

Publication year - 2017

Publication title -

nature geoscience

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 5.435

H-Index - 200

eISSN - 1752-0908

pISSN - 1752-0894

DOI - 10.1038/ngeo2892

Subject(s) - inner core , materials science , core (optical fiber) , anisotropy , phase (matter) , chemical physics , outer core , instability , cubic crystal system , crystal structure , crystal (programming language) , molecular dynamics , thermodynamics , crystallography , chemistry , physics , computational chemistry , mechanics , composite material , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language

The Earths solid core is mostly composed of iron. However, despite being central to our understanding of core properties, the stable phase of iron under inner-core conditions remains uncertain. The two leading candidates are hexagonal close-packed and body-centred cubic (bcc) crystal structures, but the dynamic and thermodynamic stability of bcc iron under inner-core conditions has been challenged. Here we demonstrate the stability of the bcc phase of iron under conditions consistent with the centre of the core using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the bcc phase is stabilized at high temperatures by a diffusion mechanism that arises due to the dynamical instability of the phase at lower temperatures. On the basis of our simulations, we reinterpret experimental data as support for the stability of bcc iron under inner-core conditions. We suggest that the diffusion of iron atoms in solid state may explain both the anisotropy and the low shear modulus of the inner core.

Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (VR) [2013-5767, 2014-4750]; National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program of China [2015GB118000]; China Scholarship Council; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009 00971]

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