Experimental investigation of phase transformations of olivine and enstatite at the lower part of the mantle transition zone： Implica- tions for structure of the 660 km seismic discontinuity

• Published in: 中国科学：地球科学英文版 2014 (4), p.592-599
• Main Author: WU Yao ZHANG YanFei WANG YanBin JIN ZhenMin DONG ShuWen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ca系统; 下部; 不连续; 地幔过渡带; 地震; 橄榄石; 相变; 顽火辉石
• ISSN: 1674-7313; 1869-1897

High-pressure polymorphs of olivine and enstatite are major constituent minerals in the mantle transition zone （MTZ）. The phase transformations of olivine and enstatite at pressure and temperature conditions corresponding to the lower part of the MTZ are import for understanding the nature of the 660 km seismic discontinuity. In this study, we determine phase transfor- mations of olivine （MgSi204） and enstatite （MgSiO3） systematiclly at pressures between 21.3 and 24.4 GPa and at a constant temperature of 1600~C. The most profound discrepancy between olivine and enstatite phase transformation is the occurency of perovskite. In the olivine system, the post-spinel transformation occures at 23.8 GPa, corresponding to a depth of 660 km. In contrast, perovskite appears at 〈23 GPa （640 km） in the enstatite splitting of the 660 km seismic discountinuity under eastern China. system. The -1 GPa gap could explain the uplifting and/orsplitting of the 660 km seismic discountinuity under eastern China.