Noble Gas Partitioning Into The Earth's Outer Core? Ab Initio Calculations On Noble Gas Partitioning Between Silicate and Liquid Iron

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Rocks from some oceanic islands, such as Iceland and Hawaii, show an unusual geochemical signature with the ratio of isotopes of helium (3He/4He) being very high. Because 3He cannot be produced from radioactive decay, all the 3He must have originated from the accreting solar system. This suggests that the source of these rocks comes from material within a deep isolated primordial reservoir that has been trapped within the Earth throughout its history and has not been affected by subsequent mantle mixing and dynamics. For many years, scientists have been "searching" for these primordial reservoirs and have come up with a number of potential locations, such as regions close to the core-mantle boundary (Large Low Shear Velocity Provinces - LLSVPs, and Ultra Low Velocity Zones - ULVZs) and even isolated zones higher up in the mantle (Bridgmanite Enriched Ancient Mantle Structures - BEAMS). But all these suggestions have their problems. However, one deep reservoir that has received relatively little attention is the Earth's liquid outer core. To establish whether the outer core could, indeed, host noble gases, such as helium, requires knowledge of the partitioning of noble gases between the silicate mantle and the liquid iron alloy outer core. In this proposal we will calculate the necessary partition coefficients in order to determine whether or not the sources of primitive noble gases are consistent with an outer core reservoir. Our results will directly influence our understanding of the origin, scale and survival of mantle heterogeneities, and the intrinsic link to mantle convection and core- mantle exchange. These are some of the biggest issues for understanding the evolution of the Earth from its accretion to present day.