The properties of materials at high pressure and temperature are essential for understanding the Earth's deep interior. This project is extending our understanding of the equations of state (pressure - volume - temperature relationships) of several geophysically important materials, through in situ measurement of unit cell volumes under high pressure, high temperature conditions (up to 100 GPa and 2500 K). Simultaneous pressure - volume - temperature measurements of a metal and its coexisting oxide provide a more precise measure of their relative equations of state than measurements of each phase separately. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction is used to measure volumes of both phases, and high pressures and temperatures are generated using a laser heated diamond anvil cell. Complementary studies using a multi-anvil press are also underway; these strengthen the data set in the lower pressure range (< 25 GPa). The experimental methodologies for both sets of experiments was successfully demonstrated in earlier investigations, but had not been broadly applied. Metals and oxides are being studied primarily, including iron-iron oxide, nickel-nickel oxide, and rhenium-rhenium oxide. There are several applications of these data to studies of the Earth's interior. One is the improved extension of oxygen fugacity buffers to high pressures, by integration of precise, experimentally determined relative volumes of coexisting metal-oxide phases. These results allow one to better quantify the oxygen potential at high pressures, which is needed to understand, for example, core-mantle interaction and elemental partitioning in the mantle. Furthermore, the oxygen fugacity conditions of many high pressure geochemical studies are either controlled by, or referenced to, these metal-oxide buffers. Precise comparison of experimental results that are based on different buffers requires knowledge of the relative shifts of those buffers with increasing pressure. Finally, these studies facilitate direct comparison of experimentally determined densities of candidate core constituents with the observed, seismologically constrained density profiles of the core. More data have been needed here to improve precision and reduce extrapolations, especially at high temperature. The information gained from this project will benefit our understanding of the chemical evolution of the planet and the formation of the core.
