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

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EAR-0112484Jeanloz Shimizu The 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.