Chemical Convention in the Lunar Core from Melting Experiments on the Ironsulfur System
- Michigan
By reanalyzing Apollo lunar seismograms using array-processing methods, a recent study suggests that the Moon has a solid inner core and a fluid outer core, much like the Earth. The volume fraction of the lunar inner core is 38%, compared with 4% for the Earth. The pressure at the Moon's core-mantle boundary is 4.8 GPa, and that at the ICB is 5.2 GPa. The partially molten state of the lunar core provides constraints on the thermal and chemical states of the Moon: The temperature at the inner core boundary (ICB) corresponds to the liquidus of the outer core composition, and the mass fraction of the solid core allows us to infer the bulk composition of the core from an estimated thermal profile. Moreover, knowledge on the extent of core solidification can be used to evaluate the role of chemical convection in the origin of early lunar core dynamo. Sulfur is considered an antifreeze component in the lunar core. Here we investigate the melting behavior of the Fe-S system at the pressure conditions of the lunar core, using the multi-anvil apparatus and synchrotron and laboratory-based analytical methods. Our goal is to understand compositionally driven convection in the lunar core and assess its role in generating an internal magnetic field in the early history of the Moon.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- NSFDOE - BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES
- OSTI ID:
- 1036316
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXXIII;March 19-23, 2012;Woodlands, TX
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
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