Constraints on Earth's inner core composition inferred from measurements of the sound velocity of hcp-iron in extreme conditions.

Hexagonal close-packed iron (hcp-Fe) is a main component of Earth's inner core. The difference in density between hcp-Fe and the inner core in the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) shows a density deficit, which implies an existence of light elements in the core. Sound velocities then provide an important constraint on the amount and kind of light elements in the core. Although seismological observations provide density-sound velocity data of Earth's core, there are few measurements in controlled laboratory conditions for comparison. We report the compressional sound velocity (V P) of hcp-Fe up to 163 GPa and 3000 K using inelastic x-ray scattering from a laser-heated sample in a diamond anvil cell. We propose a new high-temperature Birch's law for hcp-Fe, which gives us the V P of pure hcp-Fe up to core conditions. We find that Earth's inner core has a 4 to 5% smaller density and a 4 to 10% smaller V P than hcp-Fe. Our results demonstrate that components other than Fe in Earth's core are required to explain Earth's core density and velocity deficits compared to hcp-Fe. Assuming that the temperature effects on iron alloys are the same as those on hcp-Fe, we narrow down light elements in the inner core in terms of the velocity deficit. Hydrogen is a good candidate; thus, Earth's core may be a hidden hydrogen reservoir. Silicon and sulfur are also possible candidates and could show good agreement with PREM if we consider the presence of some melt in the inner core, anelasticity, and/or a premelting effect.

Crystallographic preferred orientation of akimotoite and seismic anisotropy of Tonga slab.

The mineral akimotoite, ilmenite-structured MgSiO(3), exists at the bottom of the Earth's mantle transition zone and within the uppermost lower mantle, especially under low-temperature conditions. Akimotoite is thought to be a major constituent of the harzburgite layer of subducting slabs, and the most anisotropic mineral in the mantle transition zone. It has been predicted that if akimotoite crystals are preferentially oriented by plastic deformation, a cold subducted slab would be extremely anisotropic. However, there have been no studies of crystallographic preferred orientations and very few reports of plastic deformation experiments for MgSiO(3) ilmenite. Here we present plastic deformation experiments on polycrystalline akimotoite, which were conducted at confining pressures of 20-22 GPa and temperatures of 1,000-1,300 degrees C. We found a change in crystallographic preferred orientation pattern of akimotoite with temperature, where the c-axis maximum parallel to the compression direction develops at high temperature, whereas the c axes are preferentially oriented parallel to the shear direction or perpendicular to the compression direction at lower temperature. The previously reported difference in compressional-wave seismic anisotropy between the northern and southern segments of the Tonga slab at depths of the mantle transition zone can conceivably be attributed to the difference in the crystallographic preferred orientation pattern of akimotoite at varying temperature within the slab.