Single-crystal elasticity of MgAl2O4-spinel up to 10.9 GPa and 1000 K: Implication for the velocity structure of the top upper mantle

The combined effect of pressure and temperature on the single-crystal elasticity of MgAl2O4-spinel has been studied using Brillouin scattering and X-ray diffraction up to 10.9 GPa and 1000 K in externally-heated diamond anvil cells. The obtained single-crystal elastic moduli of MgAl2O4-spinel at ambient conditions are consistent with literature values and follow a linear increase with pressure at high temperatures. More importantly, the pressure dependence of the elastic moduli at high temperatures is much smaller than that at 300 K, indicating a stronger temperature effect on the elastic moduli of MgAl2O4-spinel at high pressures. Our new results were applied to model the sound velocity of MgAl2O4-spinel at relevant pressure and temperature conditions of the top upper mantle, showing that MgAl2O4-spinel has the greatest velocity and the VP/VS ratio among major mantle minerals. We further modeled the velocity of spinel-peridotite at the top upper mantle. Varying the composition of spinel-peridotite can lead to up to 2.1% variation in VP and 1.3% in VS. The top upper mantle with greater VP and VS should contain more olivine and spinel but less orthopyroxene. The velocity of the top upper mantle is thus strongly correlated with the composition of the region. Our results are thus important in understanding the composition and velocity of the top upper mantle.