Is the olivine-spinel phase transformation martensitic?

Olivine, the dominant mineral in the Earth's uppermost mantle, undergoes one, or possibly a series of phase transformations to adopt a spinel structure at pressures above ∼13 GPa. The mechanism by which the transformation is accomplished could have important implications for understanding mantl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1982-07, Vol.298 (5872), p.357-358
Main Authors: Vaughan, P. J, Green, H. W, Coe, R. S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:Olivine, the dominant mineral in the Earth's uppermost mantle, undergoes one, or possibly a series of phase transformations to adopt a spinel structure at pressures above ∼13 GPa. The mechanism by which the transformation is accomplished could have important implications for understanding mantle dynamics and deep focus earthquakes. Recently, it has been proposed that the transformation may proceed by a martensitic mechanism 1–5 . We discuss here the characteristic properties of martensitic transformations and present evidence that the analogous transformation in Mg 2 GeO 4 does not proceed by such a process.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/298357a0