Open AccessExperimental evidence for silica-enriched Earth’s lower mantle with ferrous iron dominant bridgmanite
Author(s) -
Izumi Mashino,
Motohiko Murakami,
Nobuyoshi Miyajima,
Sylvain Petitgirard
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.1917096117
Subject(s) - silicate perovskite , mantle (geology) , geology , mineralogy , transition zone , materials science , geophysics
Determination of the chemical composition of the Earth's mantle is of prime importance to understand the evolution, dynamics, and origin of the Earth. However, there is a lack of experimental data on sound velocity of iron-bearing Bridgmanite (Brd) under relevant high-pressure conditions of the whole mantle, which prevents constraints on the mineralogical model of the lower mantle. To uncover these issues, we have conducted sound-velocity measurement of iron-bearing Brd in a diamond-anvil cell (DAC) up to 124 GPa using Brillouin scattering spectroscopy. Here we show that the sound velocities of iron-bearing Brd throughout the whole pressure range of lower mantle exhibit an apparent linear reduction with the iron content. Our data fit remarkably with the seismic structure throughout the lower mantle with Fe 2+ -enriched Brd, indicating that the greater part of the lower mantle could be occupied by Fe 2+ -enriched Brd. Our lower-mantle model shows a distinctive Si-enriched composition with Mg/Si of 1.14 relative to the upper mantle (Mg/Si = 1.25), which implies that the mantle convection has been inefficient enough to chemically homogenize the Earth's whole mantle.