Shock-ramp compression of (Mg,Fe)O up to Earth's core conditions

Where Earth’s iron core and silicate mantle meet is a region of the Earth’s interior that is still poorly understood. Seismological results suggest the presence of ultra-low velocity zones sitting directly atop the core. One possible explanation for these features is that they are regions of highly iron-enriched ferropericlase (Mg,Fe)O (Wicks et al. 2010), however the thermodynamic properties at near-core conditions are poorly constrained. Here we present the results of shock-ramp measurements of (Mg,Fe)O containing 0, 25, and 50 mol% Fe performed on the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories.

SNL is managed and operated by NTESS under DOE NNSA contract DE-NA0003525

Wicks, J. K., Jackson, J. M., & Sturhahn, W. (2010) Very low sound velocities in iron‐rich (Mg, Fe) O: Implications for the core‐mantle boundary region. Geophysical Research Letters, 37(15).