In addition to measurements on molten core materials, the PI will measure compressional and bulk wave velocities of preheated samples of selected mantle minerals and analogs, including MgO, MgA12O4, A12O3 and CaTiO3 (in the perovskite structure). He will conduct more measurements on core materials and to increase the present 2-4% accuracy of these types of measurements by upgrading recording electronics to the state-of-the-art. Such measurements are required because at present the high-temperature, low-pressure measurements of parameters, for the above mantle minerals are discrepant with variations inferred from seismic tomography and correlations of the velocity structure with the low order harmonics of the geoid.
