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Solid Earth
Shock-induced melting of MgSiO3 perovskite and implications for melts in Earth's lowermost mantle
Article first published online: 30 JUL 2004
DOI: 10.1029/2004GL020237
Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.
Additional Information
How to Cite
, , , and (2004), Shock-induced melting of MgSiO3 perovskite and implications for melts in Earth's lowermost mantle, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L14612, doi:10.1029/2004GL020237.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 30 JUL 2004
- Article first published online: 30 JUL 2004
- Manuscript Accepted: 2 JUL 2004
- Manuscript Revised: 23 JUN 2004
- Manuscript Received: 12 APR 2004
[1] New shock wave equation of state (EOS) data for enstatite and MgSiO3 glass constrain the density change upon melting of Mg-silicate perovskite up to 200 GPa. The melt becomes denser than perovskite near the base of Earth's lower mantle. This inference is confirmed by shock temperature data suggesting a negative pressure-temperature slope along the melting curve at high pressure. Although melting of Earth's mantle involves multiple phases and chemical components, this implies that the partial melts invoked to explain anomalous seismic velocities in the lowermost mantle may be dynamically stable.