Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4677076 Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2013 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

•Density measurements of liquid iron alloys up to megabar conditions.•An Earth's core containing 6 wt% S and 2 wt% Si best matches the geophysical constraints.•Silicon cannot be the only light element in the Earth's core.

High-pressure, high-temperature in situ X-ray diffraction has been measured in liquid iron alloys (Fe–5 wt% Ni–12 wt% S and Fe–5 wt% Ni–15 wt% Si) up to 94 GPa and 3200 K in laser-heated diamond anvil cells. From the analysis of the X-ray diffuse scattering signal of the metallic liquids, we determined density and bulk modulus of the two liquid alloys. Comparison with a reference Earth model indicates that a core composition containing 6% of sulfur and 2% of silicon by weight would best match the geophysical data. Models with 2.5% of sulfur and 4–5% of silicon are still consistent with geophysical constraints whereas silicon only compositions are not. These results suggest only moderate depletion of sulfur in the bulk Earth.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Earth and Planetary Sciences (General)
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