Structure, Composition, and Evolution

Earth's Deep Mantle Structure, Composition, and Evolution

obert D. v a n der Hilst, Jay D. Bass, Jan Matas, and Jeannot Trampert, Editors

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Geophysical Monograph 160

Earth's Deep Mantle: Structure, Composition, and Evolution Robert D. van der Hilst Jay D. Bass Jan Matas Jeannot Trampert Editors

§8 American Geophysical Union Washington, DC

Published under the aegis of the A G U Books Board Jean-Louis Bougeret, Chair, Gray E. Bebout, Cari T. Friedrichs, James L. Horwitz, Lisa A. Levin, W. Berry Lyons, Kenneth R. Minschwaner, Andy Nyblade, Darrell Strobel, and William R. Young, members.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Earth's deep mantle : structure, composition, and evolution / Robert D. van der Hilst... [et al.], editors. p. cm. - (Geophysical monograph, ISSN 0065-8448 ; 160) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-0-87590-425-2 ISBN-10: 0-87590-425-4 1. Earth—Mantle—Research. 2. Thermochemistry—Research. 3. Seismology—Research. 4. Heat—Convection, Natural—Research. I. Hilst, Robert Dirk van der, 1961- I I . Series. QE509.4.E27 2005 551.1'16-dc22

2005028262

ISBN-10:0-87590-425-4 (hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-87590-425-2 (hardcover) ISSN 0065-8448

Back Cover: Images modified after a cartoon published in F. Albarede and R. D. van der Hilst,

EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 45, 535-539, 1999.

Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20009

Figures, tables, and short excerpts may be reprinted in scientific books and journals i f the source is properly cited. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or for the internal or personal use of specific clients, is grant­ ed by the American Geophyscial Union for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) Transactional Reporting Service, provided that the base fee of $1.50 per copy plus $0.35 per page is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, M A 01923. 0065-8448/05/$01.50+0.35. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for creating new collective works or for resale. The reproduction of multiple copies and the use of full articles or the use of extracts, including figures and tables, for commercial purposes requires permission from the American Geophysical Union. Printed in the United States of America.

CONTENTS Preface Robert

D. van der Hilst, Jay D. Bass, Jan Matas,

and Jean not Trampert

vii

Earth's Deep Mantle: Structure, Composition, and Evolution—An Introduction Robert

D. van der Hilst, Jay D. Bass, Jan Matas,

and Jeannot

Trampert

1

Noble Gas Models of Mantle Structure and Reservoir Mass Transfer Darrell

Harrison

and Chris J. Ballentine

9

The Survival of Mantle Geochemical Heterogeneities Francis Albarede

27

Towards a Quantitative Interpretation of Global Seismic Tomography Jeannot

Trampert

and Robert

D. van der Hilst

47

Seismic Modeling Constraints on the South African Super Plume Don

V. Helmberger

and Sidao Ni

63

Numerical and Laboratory Studies of Mantle Convection: Philosophy, Accomplishments, and Thermochemical Structure and Evolution Paul J. Tackley, Shunxing

Xie, Takashi Nakagawa,

and John

W. Hern I und

83

Heterogeneous Lowermost Mantle: Compositional Constraints and Seismological Observables H. Samuel,

C.G. Farnetani,

and D, Andrault

101

Numerical Study of the Origin and Stability of Chemically Distinct Reservoirs Deep in Earth's Mantle P. van Thienen,

J. van Summeren,

R. D. van der Hilst, A. P. van den Berg, and N. ) . Vlaar

117

Self-Gravity, Self-Consistency, and Self-Organization in Geodynamics and Geochemistry Don L Anderson

137

The Role of Theoretical Mineral Physics in Modeling the Earth's Interior Mark S. T. Bukowinski

and Sofia Akber-Knutson

165

The Uncertain Major Element Bulk Composition of Earth's Mantle Q. Williams

and E. Knittle

187

Highly Siderophile Elements: Constraints on Earth Accretion and Early Differentiation Kevin Righter

201

Mantle Oxidation State and Oxygen Fugacity: Constraints on Mantle Chemistry, Structure, and Dynamics Catherine

A. McCammon

219

Thermochemical State of the Lower Mantle: New Insights From Mineral Physics James

Badro,

Guillaume

Fiquet,

and Frangois

Guyot

241

Stability of MgSiO Perovskite in the Lower Mantle s

Sang-Heon

Shim

261

Synthetic Tomographic Images of Slabs From Mineral Physics Y. Ricard, E. Mattern,

and J. Matas

283

Compositional Dependence of the Elastic Wave Velocities of Mantle Minerals: Implications for Seismic Properties of Mantle Rocks Sergio

Speziale,

Fuming Jiang, and Thomas S. Duffy

301

Recent Progress in Experimental Mineral Physics: Phase Relations of Hydrous Systems and the Role of Water in Slab Dynamics Fiji Ohtani

321

PREFACE

Understanding the inner workings of our planet and its re­ lationship to processes closer to the surface remains a fron­ tier in the geosciences. Manmade probes barely reach -10 km depth and volcanism rarely brings up samples from deeper than -150 km. These distances are dwarfed by Earth's di­ mensions, and our knowledge of the deeper realms is pieced together from a range of surface observables, meteorite and solar atmosphere analyses, experimental and theoretical mineral physics and rock mechanics, and computer simula­ tions. A major unresolved issue concerns the nature of man­ tle convection, the slow (1-5 cm/year) solid-state stirring that helps cool the planet by transporting radiogenic and primor­ dial heat from Earth's interior to its surface. Expanding our knowledge here requires input from a range of geoscience disciplines, including seismology, geodynamics, mineral physics, and mantle petrology and chemistry. At the same time, with better data sets and faster computers, seismologists are producing more detailed mod­ els of 3-D variations in the propagation speed of different types of seismic waves; new instrumentation and access to state-of-the-art community facilities such as synchrotrons have enabled mineral physicists to measure rock and min­ eral properties at ever larger pressures and temperatures; new generations of mass spectrometers are allowing geochemists to quantify minute concentrations of diagnostic isotopes; and with supercomputers geodynamicists are making increasingly realistic simulations of dynamic pro­ cesses at conditions not attainable in analogue experiments. But many questions persist. What causes the lateral varia­ tions in seismic wavespeed that we can image with mount­ ing accuracy? How reliable are extrapolations of laboratory measurements on simple materials over many orders of magnitude of pressure and temperature? What are the ef­ fects of volatiles and minor elements on rock and mineral properties under extreme physical conditions? Can ab initio calculations help us understand material behavior in condi­ tions that are still out of reach of laboratory measurement? What was the early evolution of our planet and to what ex­ tent does it still influence present-day dynamics? And how well do we know such first-order issues as the average bulk composition of Earth?

In the last decade geoscientists have begun to respond to such questions with more quantitative integrations of ob­ servations and constraints from different lines of inquiry— an approach that is changing our views on the structure, composition, and evolution of Earth's deep mantle. Studies within and across traditional disciplinary boundaries have inspired many special sessions at annual meetings of the main professional societies as well as many topical work­ shops. The Union Session on Geophysical and Geochemical Models for the Structure and Composition of Earth's Mantle at the joint E G S - E U G - A G U meeting (Nice, France, April 7-11, 2003) and a workshop on Mantle Composition, Structure, and Phase Transitions (Frejus, France, April 2 - 6 , 2003) brought together seismologists, geodynami­ cists, mineral physicists, and geochemists to discuss new observations and changing views on Earth's mantle. The current volume derives from these meetings, along with other invited contributions. Most contributors have com­ bined a review component with a presentation of new de­ velopments in the respective disciplinary fields. We hope, therefore, that readers will consider this volume both as an overview of achievements made during the recent past and as a source of inspiration for new investigations. We thank the coorganizers of the two workshops that in­ spired the production of this volume and Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientific (CNRS), the Institut Nationale des Sciences de TUnivers (INSU), the French Ministry of Research and Technology, the U.S. National Science Foun­ dation (NSF), the Consortium for Materials Properties Re­ search in Earth Sciences (COMPRES), and the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, France, for their financial support of the workshop in Frejus, which enabled the broad par­ ticipation of students and post-docs and of scientists from Japan and the USA. We thank the authors for their contribu­ tions and also the more than 40 reviewers for their invalu­ able help with evaluating and improving the manuscripts. Robert D. van der Hilst Jay D. Bass Jan Matas Jeannot Trampert

Earth's Deep Mantle: Structure, Composition, and Evolution Geophysical Monograph Series Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union 10.1029/160GM01 vii

Earth's mantle is a complex geosystem, which scientists are n o w investigating with an increasingly cross-disciplinary approach, including a quantitative integration of input from seismology, geodynamics, geochemistry, and mineral physics. In order to constrain intersecting interpretations and reconcile a range of different observations - and recognizing the i m p o r t a n c e of compositional heterogeneity in Earth's deep mantle - traditional views are challenged a n d hybrid models of thermo-chemical mantle convection have c o m e to the lore. Earth's Deep Mantle: Structure, Composition, and Evolution d o c u m e n t s current views and controversies while assessing evidence from the different types of research pursued. The v o l u m e : • Breaks from the more traditional, single-discipline views of the mantle with integrated research perspectives. • Reassesses c o m m o n issues a n d assumptions in light of recently acquired data and numerical simulations. • Presents evidence for, and maps of, chemical heterogeneity revealed by joint interpretation of evidence from seismology and mineral physics, with major implications for u n d e r s t a n d i n g convection processes. • Features c o m p u t e r simulations of thermo-chemical mantle convection. • Supports the recognition that m i n o r elements (e.g., volatiles, a l u m i n u m ) , the oxidation state (e.g., the ratio of Fe-' with respect to total iron), a n d mineralogy a n d lithology have i m p o r t a n t effects on the properties of mantle materials a n d geodynamical processes at various depths. 4

Solid earth scientists a n d students w h o work in seismology, geodynamics, geochemistry, and mineral physics, as well as non-specialists with an interest in the inner workings of o u r planet, will find this volume a significant resource, n o w a n d in the years to come.

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