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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Dominant effect of anharmonicity on the equation of state and thermal conductivity of MgO under extreme conditions

Understanding heat transfer in the earth mantle region is of great scientific interest but highly challenging due to dissimilar conditions from our daily lives. Thermal conductivity of highly pressured and thermally activated materials can be completely different from that at ambient condition. In this study we calculate the equation of state and thermal conductivity of cubic crystalline MgO, a major component of the mantle, in such an environment. It is shown that the material properties are not accurately captured unless rigorous treatment of anharmonicity of phonon vibrational motion is explicitly applied. To predict renormalized phonon dispersion relations, interatomic force constants of high-order expansion are required, especially at elevated temperature. The anharmonicity plays an increasingly substantial role for regulating volume expansion as temperature rises, because the Gibbs free energy of MgO considerably deviates from what was predicted by the quasiharmonic approximation. We find that the lattice thermal conductivity of MgO and the heat transfer of the earth's mantle are reliably estimated only when both the temperature-dependent renormalization of phonon frequencies and four-phonon scattering effects are taken into consideration. We map the characteristics at Geotherm into contour diagrams in which equilibrium volumes and the thermal conductivities are described as functions of temperature and pressure. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity values of MgO in this study are smaller than those in previous theoretical studies due to the additional incorporation of four-phonon scatterings in the calculations. Specifically, deviation between the values in previous studies and in this study becomes larger as thermodynamic variables reach those near the core-mantle boundary. For instance, thermal conductivities of 52.15 and 23.67 Wm -1 K -1 are estimated at ambient and extreme conditions (T = 4000K and P = 135 GPa), respectively.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1987

Thermally induced phase changes, lateral heterogeneity of the mantle, continental roots, and deep slab anomalies

Factors which influence the lateral heterogeneity in density and seismic velocity with depth in the upper earth mantle are discussed. It is emphasized that most of the increases in density and seismic velocity with depth are caused by pressure-induced solid-solid phase changes in the high-density high-velocity phases of mineral assemblage, due to variations in temperature. In particular, the ilmenite form of MgSiO3 and the gamma-spinel form of Mg2SiO4 have broad stability fields in cold mantle and are not stable in hotter mantle. It is emphasized that the density and velocity anomalies associated with temperature-induced phase changes in mineral assemblage must be taken into account in the thermal models of the slabs; when these effects are accounted for, the geoid and seismic anomalies associated with subducted slabs are consistent with slab confinement to the upper mantle and with layered models of mantle convection.

Anderson, Don L.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Krypton storage capacity of the Earth's lower mantle

Noble gases are important geochemical tracers allowing reconstructing global volatile cycles in Earth's reservoirs. To constrain these fundamental processes, precise data on their partitioning behavior at deep Earth conditions are needed. Such data are only available at moderate pressures up to 25 GPa due to experimental challenges. We have investigated the possibility of noble gas storage in the Earth's lower mantle up to 115 GPa. We studied the incorporation of krypton in the second most abundant lower mantle mineral (Mg 1-x ,Fe x )O (ferropericlase) as well as in liquid metal-alloys by performing experiments up to 115 GPa and 3700 K using the laser-heated diamond anvil cell coupled to post-mortem EMPA analysis and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The results reveal that, at these extreme conditions, up to 3 wt.% of krypton can be stored in (Mg 1-x ,Fe x )O and 3000 ppm in the Fe-rich liquid metal. For both phases the storage capacities increase with pressure (between 40 GPa and 60 GPa) at a constant high temperature of 2300 K. Fpc has never been considered as a NG host, despite being the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's LM. Using recent accurate compressibility data, we demonstrate that a substitution of krypton into the anion site of (Mg 1-x ,Fe x )O in form of neutral oxygen Schottky defects at diluted lower mantle conditions is possible. This noble gas incorporation mechanism is in agreement with a previous study on bridgmanite. We show that (Mg 1-x ,Fe x )O exhibits higher noble gas storage capacities than bridgmanite through the lower mantle using lattice strain modeling and including experimental solubility and thermoelastic data for neon, argon, krypton and xenon. We also demonstrate that both phases exhibit the highest solubilities for argon and krypton. We used the solubility data from lattice strain modeling to predict noble gas abundances stored in the solid lower mantle after magma ocean crystallization. The modeled abundances show apparent similarities with estimates for the deep noble gas reservoir that are based on either 3He abundances in ocean island basalts or radiogenic 40Ar abundances in the bulk Earth. This strongly indicates that the crystalline lower mantle may play an important role as deep noble gas storage reservoir. We propose, based on considerations on noble gas replenishment from the lower mantle to the atmosphere, that the lower mantle can only contribute to a small fraction of the present-day atmospheric noble gases. This suggests that the lower mantle is an un-degassed reservoir.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Full-waveform tomography reveals iron spin crossover in Earth’s lower mantle

Abstract Three-dimensional models of Earth’s seismic structure can be used to identify temperature-dependent phenomena, including mineralogical phase and spin transformations, that are obscured in 1-D spherical averages. Full-waveform tomography maps seismic wave-speeds inside the Earth in three dimensions, at a higher resolution than classical methods. By providing absolute wave speeds (rather than perturbations) and simultaneously constraining bulk and shear wave speeds over the same frequency range, it becomes feasible to distinguish variations in temperature from changes in composition or spin state. We present a quantitative joint interpretation of bulk and shear wave speeds in the lower mantle, using a recently published full-waveform tomography model. At all depths the diversity of wave speeds cannot be explained by an isochemical mantle. Between 1000 and 2500 km depth, hypothetical mantle models containing an electronic spin crossover in ferropericlase provide a significantly better fit to the wave-speed distributions, as well as more realistic temperatures and silica contents, than models without a spin crossover. Below 2500 km, wave speed distributions are explained by an enrichment in silica towards the core-mantle boundary. This silica enrichment may represent the fractionated remains of an ancient basal magma ocean.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1983

The minimum mantle viscosity of an accreting earth

The minimum mantle viscosity in an earth accreting from planetesimals is estimated. A plausible distribution of planetesimal sizes deposits enough energy to melt the outer nine-tenths of earth's mass; however, vigorous convection keeps temperatures near the solidus. Viscosity is significantly lower than prevails now. The temperature-dependent viscosity provides self-regulation so there is a continuing balance between accretional energy input and heat transfer out. This allows calculation of the minimum viscosity necessary to transfer out heat by a Nu/Ra-number relation. Typical viscosities are 0.1 to a million sq m/sec, lowest at mid-accretion when the mass growth rate is largest. Terrestrial planets are compared, and minimum iron descent times to central lithospheres are calculated.

Cooperman, S. A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mineralogy of the Martian Mantle Inferred from Bulk Chemical Compositions of Mars

The mineralogical composition of a planet’s mantle determines the composition of the volcanism that plays an important role in the composition of the surface environment: crust, atmosphere and hydrosphere or biosphere. On Earth, mantle xenoliths and peridotite outcrops provide essential clues to the mineralogical composition of the mantle. The mineralogical composition of Mars’ mantle is not known from direct samples. In this study, the mineralogy of the martian mantle is constrained by using the MELTS code to model the solidus mineralogy of published estimates of the bulk composition of the martian mantle. Phase compositions from experimental studies of the melting of putative martian mantle compositions are used to validate the MELTS output.

mars↗
NASA NTRS1983

Archean crust-mantle geochemical differentiation

Isotope measurements on carbonatite complexes and komatiites can provide information on the geochemical character and geochemical evolution of the mantle, including the sub-continental mantle. Measurements on young samples establish the validity of the method. These are based on Sr, Nd and Pb data from the Tertiary-Mesozoic Gorgona komatiite and Sr and Pb data from the Cretaceous Oka carbonatite complex. In both cases the data describe a LIL element-depleted source similar to that observed presently in MORB. Carbonatite data have been used to study the mantle beneath the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield one billion years (1 AE) ago. The framework for this investigation was established by Bell et al., who showed that large areas of the province appear to be underlain by LIL element-depleted mantle (Sr-85/Sr-86=0.7028) at 1 AE ago. Additionally Bell et al. found four complexes to have higher initial Sr ratios (Sr-87/Sr-86=0.7038), which they correlated with less depleted (bulk earth?) mantle sources, or possibly crustal contamination. Pb isotope relationships in four of the complexes have been studied by Bell et al.

Tilton, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Constraints on the origin of the Moon from molybdenum and other siderophile elements

New data on the concentration of molybdenum in the mantle of the Earth and in lunar rocks confirm that most siderophile elements in lunar crustal rocks and lunar basalts derived from the interior have significantly lower concentrations than in the Earth's mantle and much lower concentrations compared to chrondritic meteorites. Different but correlated depletions of Co and P have been found in different lunar samples. The Mo data appear to be correlated with the P and Co depletions. The variations siderophile contents may be explained by small variations in the segregation of the siderophile element data which are consistent with theories for either a terrestrial gran independent origin for the Moon. It is suggested that the Moon formed from the Earth's mantle (depleted in siderophile elements) and segregation of metal within the Moon further lowered the concentrations compared to the Earth's mantle. The Mo data support evidence from other siderophile elements that the Moon almost certainly contains a metal core or pools of segregated metal.

Newsom, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Effects of lateral viscosity variations on long-wavelength geoid anomalies and topography

The effects of lateral variations in the earth mantle viscosity, due to temperature- or stress-dependent rheology, on the long-wavelength geoid anomalies are examined. Results from simple perturbation theory combined with findings from numerical models for convective flow led to a conclusion that the geoid due to the very longest wavelength convective patterns (l = 2,3) on earth is probably not seriously contaminated by lateral variations due either to temperature or stress dependence. Considerable contamination of the higher-degree geoid (l value of no less than 4) is to be expected due to lateral viscosity variations in phase with the fundamental convection scale length.

Richards, Mark A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The self-consistent dynamic pole tide in non-global oceans

The dynamic pole tide is determined by solving Laplace tide equations which take into account the presence of continents in oceans, oceanic self-gravitation and loading, and mantle elasticity. Dynamical effects are found to be only mild. It is shown that the dynamical pole tide contributes about one day more to the Chandler period than a static pole tide would, and dissipates wobble energy at a very weak rate. It is noted that, depending on the wobble period predicted for an oceanless elastic earth, mantle anelasticity at low frequencies may nevertheless contribute negligibly to the Chandler period.

Dickman, S. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Rubidium and cesium in the earth and the moon

The purpose of the study is to provide an alternative perspective on both the mass balance issue and on the issue of secular change in the Rb-Cs ratio in the earth mantle. In particular, it is argued that the apparent secular change in the Rb/Cs ratio may be simply an artifact of alteration of older rocks through weathering and/or metamorphism subsequent to formation. It is also shown that there is not necessarily a need for a hidden, undepleted reservoir, and the consistency of this result with other mass calculations is explored. New methods for estimating the Rb/Cs ratio of the bulk silicate earth are suggested.

Jones, John H.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Synthesis, Elasticity, and Spin State of an Intermediate MgSiO 3 -FeAlO 3 Bridgmanite: Implications for Iron in Earth's Lower Mantle

Fe-Al-bearing bridgmanite may be the dominant host for ferric iron in Earth's lower mantle. Here we report the synthesis of (Mg 0.5 Fe 3+ 0.5 )(Al 0.5 Si 0.5 )O 3 bridgmanite (FA50) with the highest Fe 3+ -Al 3+ coupled substitution known to date. X-ray diffraction measurements showed that at ambient conditions, the FA50 adopted the LiNbO 3 structure. 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 yields V 0 = 172.1(4) Å 3 , K 0 = 229(4) GPa with K 0 ' = 4(fixed). Furthermore, the calculated bulk sound velocity of the FA50 bridgmanite is ~7.7% lower than MgSiO 3 bridgmanite, 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 Fe 3+ -Al 3+ substitution. X-ray emission and synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements showed that after laser annealing, ~6% of Fe 3+ cations exchanged with Al 3+ and underwent the high- to low-spin transition at 59 GPa. The low-spin proportion of Fe 3+ increased gradually with pressure and reached 17–31% at 80 GPa. Since the cation exchange and spin transition in this Fe 3+ -Al 3+ -enriched bridgmanite do not cause resolvable unit-cell volume reduction, and the increase of low-spin Fe 3+ 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.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2014

Water Content of Earth's Continental Mantle Is Controlled by the Circulation of Fluids or Melts

A key mission of the ARES Directorate at JSC is to constrain models of the formation and geological history of terrestrial planets. Water is a crucial parameter to be measured with the aim to determine its amount and distribution in the interior of Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Most of that "water" is not liquid water per se, but rather hydrogen dissolved as a trace element in the minerals of the rocks at depth. Even so, the middle layer of differentiated planets, the mantle, occupies such a large volume and mass of each planet that when it is added at the planetary scale, oceans worth of water could be stored in its interior. The mantle is where magmas originate. Moreover, on Earth, the mantle is where the boundary between tectonic plates and the underlying asthenosphere is located. Even if mantle rocks in Earth typically contain less than 200 ppm H2O, such small quantities have tremendous influence on how easily they melt (i.e., the more water there is, the more magma is produced) and deform (the more water there is, the less viscous they are). These two properties alone emphasize that to understand the distribution of volcanism and the mechanism of plate tectonics, the water content of the mantle must be determined - Earth being a template to which all other terrestrial planets can be compared.

Peslier, Anne↗
DOE OSTI2022

Synthesis and Stability of an Eight‐Coordinated Fe 3 O 4 High‐Pressure Phase: Implications for the Mantle Structure of Super‐Earths

Abstract Super‐Earths ranging up to 10 Earth masses (M E ) with Earth‐like density are common among the observed exoplanets thus far, but their measured masses and radii do not uniquely elucidate their internal structure. Exploring the phase transitions in the Mg‐silicates that define the mantle‐structure of super‐Earths is critical to characterizing their interiors, yet the relevant terapascal conditions are experimentally challenging for direct structural analysis. Here we investigated the crystal chemistry of Fe 3 O 4 as a low‐pressure analog to Mg 2 SiO 4 between 45–115 GPa and up to 3000 K using powder and single crystal X‐ray diffraction in the laser‐heated diamond anvil cell. Between 60–115 GPa and above 2000 K, Fe 3 O 4 adopts an 8‐fold coordinated Th 3 P 4 ‐type structure ( I ‐43d, Z = 4) with disordered Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ into one metal site. This Fe‐oxide phase is isostructural with that predicted for Mg 2 SiO 4 above 500 GPa in super‐Earth mantles and suggests that Mg 2 SiO 4 can incorporate both ferric and ferrous iron at these conditions. The pressure‐volume behavior observed in this 8‐fold coordinated Fe 3 O 4 indicates a maximum 4% density increase across the 6‐ to 8‐fold coordination transition in the analog Mg‐silicate. Reassessment of the FeO—Fe 3 O 4 fugacity buffer considering the Fe 3 O 4 phase relationships identified in this study reveals that increasing pressure and temperature to 120 GPa and 3000 K in Earth and planetary mantles drives iron toward oxidation.

Zurkowski, C. C.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Chemistry and P-V-T equation of state of FeO 2 H x at the base of Earth’s lower mantle and their geophysical implications

The hydrogen-absorbing ability of a mantle mineral in its structure determines the capacity of the water reservoirs hosted by the mineral. Water reservoirs at the base of Earth’s mantle directly influence the fate of water brought down by slab subduction and the seismic heterogeneity such as ultralow-velocity zones (ULVZs) at the core-mantle boundary. Pyrite-FeO 2 H x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) presents a possibility of such reservoirs in the deep mantle. Ever since the discovery of this mineral phase, however, its chemistry at the lower mantle conditions has been debated. We conducted kinetics experiments of pyrite-FeO 2 H x dehydrogenation at 110 GPa/2100 K, 110 GPa/2300 K, and 120 GPa/2300 K and P-V-T equation of state analysis using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. We found that x approaches 0.80, 0.75, and 0.79, respectively, at the above conditions. The collective P-V-T data yield K 0 = 241(13) GPa, K' = 4.2(4), dK/dT = –0.028(1) GPa/K, α 0 = 4.32(13) × 10 –5 K –1 , and α 1 = 0.31(10) × 10 –8 K –2 for the composition of x = 0.75 ± 0.04. Our first-principles calculations indicate that FeO 2 H 0.75 with a slightly distorted pyrite structure is stable at 100 GPa. These results indicate that this mineral is likely present in the deep mantle with rather a partially dehydrogenated composition than FeO 2 or FeOOH. Furthermore, the results also clarify the difference between the ULVZs originated from pyrite-FeO 2 H x and those from partial melting in terms of shear and compressional wave seismic velocity reduction ratio δlnV S /δlnV P .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1994

Volatiles, rheology, and mantle convection: Comparing Earth, Venus, and Mars

Silicate rheology is controlled in part by volatile content. The variation of viscosity with position in the mantle will influence the nature of mantle convection; hence, modeling mantle convection and its effect on surface observables such as the geoid places constraints on the viscosity structure of a planet's mantle and may indirectly constrain the volatile distribution. Models of viscous mantle flow and the Earth's geoid indicate that there is roughly a two order of magnitude variation in viscosity between the upper and lower mantles, although there is some disagreement over the depth of the viscosity minimum in the upper mantle. Some studies of post-glacial rebound also support such a viscosity contrast between the upper and lower mantles. On Venus, several highland regions appear to be supported by mantle plumes. Modeling of the geoid and topography of these regions indicates that if these features are plume-related, then the mantle of Venus can not have an Earth-like low viscosity zone in its upper mantle. On Mars, the Tharsis volcanic province has alternatively been explained as supported either by mantle convection or by flexure of a thick lithosphere. If the convective model is correct, then the large geoid anomaly requires that Mars can not have a low viscosity zone in its upper mantle.

Kiefer, Walter S.↗