Seismological investigations yield the most precise information on the velocities of sound waves in the Earth's interior. Laboratory measurements of the sound velocities in minerals at simultaneous high pressures and temperatures enable these seismic data to be interpreted in terms of chemical composition, mineralogy and temperature. This project will include experimental determinations of elastic properties of minerals in the Earth's mantle.
Over the past decade, with the support of the NSF Division of Earth Sciences, ultrasonic interferometric techniques have been developed for use in combination with multi-anvil, high-pressure apparatus and in conjunction with synchrotron X-radiation facilities at the national laboratories of the Department of Energy. This research program also takes advantage of the special opportunities for research that are provided by the multi-anvil, large-volume facilties of the Stony Brook High Pressure Laboratory and the associate analytical facilities of the Mineral Physics Institute at Stony Brook University. Some of these facilities were developed under the auspices of the NSF Science and Technology Center for High Pressure Research [CHiPR] from 1991-2002.
These experiments will be conducted using high-pressure, multi-anvil apparatus, installed on the superconducting wiggler beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) of the Brookhaven National Laboratory; the operation of this apparatus at NSLS is supported by the Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences (COMPRES). Other experiments will be performed using the multi-anvil facilities operated by GeoSoilEnviroCARS [GSECARS] at the Advanced Photon Source of the Argonne National Laboratory.
Specific minerals which are currently being studied include : (1) Orthopyroxene, the second most abundant mineral in upper mantle rocks. Previous experiments have revealed anomalous elastic behavior at high pressures when this mineral transforms to the monoclinic structure. Such phase transformations in pyroxenes may help to explain discontinuities in seismic velocities observed at depths of 200-300 kilometers inside the Earth.
(2) Perovskite-structure minerals with compositions CaTiO3 and CaSiO3. In mixtures of these minerals, there are transitions from orthorhombic to tetragonal symmetry which are accompanied by changes in the elastic properties.
(3) Ferropericlase is the second most abundant mineral in the lower mantle of the Earth. Previous studies at high pressure and room temperature are being extended to high temperatures and pressures for comparison with seismic models in this region.
