CSEDI Collaborative Research: Experimental Study of Trace-Element Partitioning between the Core and Mantle

研究人员提议在加州大学伯克利分校的高压实验地球物理学家和伍兹霍尔海洋研究所的分析地球化学家之间进行为期两年的合作研究。本研究将通过实验验证在~100 GPa和4000 K的地球深部地幔和地核的高压和高温下测量金属和硅酸盐之间痕量元素分配的可行性和有效性。将评估将激光加热的金刚石细胞复制行星内部条件的能力与次级离子质谱法（SIMS）的能力相结合的可能性，后者用于在毫秒的空间尺度上测量ppm水平及以下的同位素丰度。如果成功，这些组合工具可以作为解决地球化学和地球物理主要问题的手段，这些问题依赖于对地幔和地核中微量元素分布的了解。这样的研究对于确定地核和地幔在地质时期的化学相互作用的潜在后果，更一般地说，对于破译地球深层内部的演化是至关重要的。这里提出的实验旨在帮助开发元素划分研究的方法，以在未来进行。

Shimizu EAR-0112244The investigators propose to conduct a 2-year collaborative study between high-pressure experimental geophysicists at the University of California at Berkeley and analytical geochemists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This research will experimentally evaluate the feasibility and validate the measurement of trace-element partitioning between metal and silicate at the high pressures and temperatures of the Earth's deep mantle and core, ~100 GPa and 4000 K. The possibility of combining the capability of the laser-heated diamond cell, to reproduce conditions of the planetary interior, with that of secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), for measuring isotopic abundances at the ppm level and below on spatial scales of ms, will be evaluated. If successful, these combined tools can be used as a means of resolving major issues in geochemistry and geophysics that depend on understanding the distribution of trace elements within the mantle and core. Such studies are crucial for determining the potential consequences of chemical interactions between the core and mantle over geological time and, more generally, for deciphering the evolution of the Earth's deep interior. The experiments proposed here are intended to help develop methodologies for element-partitioning studies to be pursued in the future.