Evidence for the stability of ultrahydrous stishovite in Earth’s lower mantle

Y. Lin, Q. Hu, Y. Meng, M. Walter, H.-K. Mao

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

© 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.The distribution and transportation of water in Earth’s interior depends on the stability of water-bearing phases. The transition zone in Earth’s mantle is generally accepted as an important potential water reservoir because its main constituents, wadsleyite and ringwoodite, can incorporate weight percent levels of H2O in their structures at mantle temperatures. The extent to which water can be transported beyond the transition zone deeper into the mantle depends on the water carrying capacity of minerals stable in subducted lithosphere. Stishovite is one of the major mineral components in subducting oceanic crust, yet the capacity of stishovite to incorporate water beyond at lower mantle conditions remains speculative. In this study, we combine in situ laser heating with synchrotron X-ray diffraction to show that the unit cell volume of stishovite synthesized under hydrous conditions is ∼2.3 to 5.0% greater than that of anhydrous stishovite at pressures of ∼27 to 58 GPa and temperatures of 1,240 to 1,835 K. Our results indicate that stishovite, even at temperatures along a mantle geotherm, can potentially incorporate weight percent levels of H2O in its crystal structure and has the potential to be a key phase for transporting and storing water in the lower mantle.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)184-189
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume117
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jan 2020
Externally publishedYes

Funding

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We acknowledge Jinfu Shu, Emma Bullock, Suzy Vitale, Lili Zhang, Dongzhou Zhang, and Jingui Xu for experimental assistance and measurements help. This work was performed at HPCAT (Sector 16), Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). HPCAT operations are supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)’s Office of Experimental Sciences. The APS is a US DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. XRD measurements were performed at the 16ID-B of HPCAT and 13BM-C of GeoSoilEnviroCARS (GSECARS), APS, ANL; the 13BM-C operation is supported by Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences through the Partnership for Extreme Crystallography project under NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR 11-57758. Y.L. and H.-K.M. are supported by NSF Grant EAR-1722515. The Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research is supported by National Science Foundation of China Grants U1530402 and U1930401. Part of the experiment was performed at the BL15U1 beamline, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility in China. We acknowledge Jinfu Shu, Emma Bullock, Suzy Vitale, Lili Zhang, Dongzhou Zhang, and Jingui Xu for experimental assistance and measurements help. This work was performed at HPCAT (Sector 16), Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). HPCAT operations are supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)?s Office of Experimental Sciences. The APS is a US DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. XRD measurements were performed at the 16ID-B of HPCAT and 13BM-C of GeoSoilEnviroCARS (GSECARS), APS, ANL; the 13BM-C operation is supported by Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences through the Partnership for Extreme Crystallography project under NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR 11-57758. Y.L. and H.-K.M. are supported by NSF Grant EAR-1722515. The Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research is supported by National Science Foundation of China Grants U1530402 and U1930401. Part of the experiment was performed at the BL15U1 beamline, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility in China.

FundersFunder number
Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences
DOE Office of ScienceDE-AC02-06CH11357
Office of Experimental Sciences
National Science FoundationEAR-1722515, EAR 11-57758
U.S. Department of Energy
Directorate for Geosciences1722515
National Sleep Foundation
National Nuclear Security Administration
Argonne National Laboratory
American Pain Society
National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaU1930401, U1530402

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