Dehydration of δ-AIOOH in earth’s deep lower mantle

Hélène Piet, Kurt D. Leinenweber, Jacqueline Tappan, Eran Greenberg, Vitali B. Prakapenka, Peter R. Buseck, Shim Sang-Heon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

δ-AlOOH has been shown to be stable at the pressure–temperature conditions of the lower mantle. However, its stability remains uncertain at the conditions expected for the lowermost mantle where temperature is expected to rise quickly with increasing depth. Our laser-heated diamonδ-anvil cell experiments show that δ-AlOOH undergoes dehydration at ~2000 K above 90 GPa. This dehydration temperature is lower than geotherm temperatures expected at the bottom ~700 km of the mantle and suggests that δ-AlOOH in warm slabs would dehydrate in this region. Our experiments also show that the released H2O from dehydration of δ-AlOOH can react with metallic iron, forming iron oxide, iron hydroxide, and possibly iron hydride. Our observations suggest that H2O from the dehydration of subducting slabs, if it occurs, could alter the chemical composition of the surrounding mantle and core regions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number384
JournalMinerals
Volume10
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2020

Keywords

  • Dehydration
  • Hydrogen cycle
  • Hydrous minerals
  • Lowermost mantle
  • δ-AlOOH

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Geology

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