Phase relations of Fe3C and Fe7C3 up to 185 GPa and 5200 K: Implication for the stability of iron carbide in the Earth's core

Liu, Jin; Lin, Jung-Fu; Prakapenka, Vitali B.; Prescher, Clemens; Yoshino, Takashi

doi:10.1002/2016GL071353

Title: Phase relations of Fe₃C and Fe₇C₃ up to 185 GPa and 5200 K: Implication for the stability of iron carbide in the Earth's core

Journal Article · Wed Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071353· OSTI ID:1465341

^[1];

^[2];

^[3];

^[4]

Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Jackson School of Geosciences, Dept. of Geological Sciences; Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Jackson School of Geosciences, Dept. of Geological Sciences; Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Shanghai (China)
Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources
Okayama Univ., Okayama (Japan). Inst. for Planetary Materials

We have investigated phase relations and melting behavior of Fe₃C and Fe₇C₃ using X-ray diffraction in a laser-heated diamond cell up to 185 GPa and 5200 K. Our results show that the starting Fe₃C sample decomposes into a mixture of solid orthorhombic Fe₇C₃ and hcp-Fe at above 145 GPa upon laser heating and then transforms into Fe-C liquid and solid Fe₇C₃ at temperatures above 3400 K. Using the intensity of the diffuse scattering as a primary criteria for detecting melting, the experimentally derived liquidus for a bulk composition of Fe₃C fitted with the Simon-Glatzel equation is T_m(K) = 1800 × [1 + (P_m-5.7)/15.10 ± 2.55]^{1/2.41 ± 0.17} at 24–185 GPa, which is ~500 K higher than the melting curve of iron reported by Anzellini et al. (2013) at Earth's core pressures. The higher melting point and relative stability of Fe₇C₃ in Fe-rich Fe-C system at Earth's core conditions indicate that Fe₇C₃ could solidify out of the early Earth's molten core to become a constituent of the innermost inner core.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-94ER14466

OSTI ID:: 1465341

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 24; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 33 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (42)

Thermal equation of state of hcp-iron: Constraint on the density deficit of Earth's solid inner core: THERMAL EQUATION OF STATE OF HCP-IRON Fei, Yingwei; Murphy, Caitlin; Shibazaki, Yuki Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069456	journal	July 2016
Elastic softening in Fe ₇ C ₃ with implications for Earth's deep carbon reservoirs : ELASTIC SOFTENING IN FE Liu, Jiachao; Li, Jie; Ikuta, Daijo Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 121, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JB012701	journal	March 2016
Melting in the Fe–C system to 70 GPa Lord, O. T.; Walter, M. J.; Dasgupta, R. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 284, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.04.017	journal	June 2009
Magnetic Instabilities in ${F e}_{3} C$ Cementite Particles Observed with Fe $K$ -Edge X-Ray Circular Dichroism under Pressure Duman, E.; Acet, M.; Wassermann, E. F. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 94, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.075502	journal	February 2005
Phase relations in the Fe–FeSi system at high pressures and temperatures Fischer, Rebecca A.; Campbell, Andrew J.; Reaman, Daniel M. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 373 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2013.04.035	journal	July 2013
Carbon-depleted outer core revealed by sound velocity measurements of liquid iron–carbon alloy Nakajima, Yoichi; Imada, Saori; Hirose, Kei Nature Communications, Vol. 6, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9942	journal	November 2015
EXPGUI , a graphical user interface for GSAS Toby, Brian H. Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 34, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1107/S0021889801002242	journal	April 2001
Carbon in the Core: Its Influence on the Properties of Core and Mantle Wood, B. J.; Li, J.; Shahar, A. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, Vol. 75, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2013.75.8	journal	January 2013
High-pressure melting relations in Fe–C–S systems: Implications for formation, evolution, and structure of metallic cores in planetary bodies Dasgupta, Rajdeep; Buono, Antonio; Whelan, Geoff Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 73, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.08.001	journal	November 2009
High-pressure behavior of iron carbide (Fe ₇ C ₃ ) at inner core conditions Mookherjee, Mainak; Nakajima, Yoichi; Steinle-Neumann, Gerd Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 116, Issue B4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JB007819	journal	January 2011
Advanced flat top laser heating system for high pressure research at GSECARS: application to the melting behavior of germanium Prakapenka, V. B.; Kubo, A.; Kuznetsov, A. High Pressure Research, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/08957950802050718	journal	September 2008
Hidden carbon in Earth’s inner core revealed by shear softening in dense Fe ₇ C ₃ Chen, Bin; Li, Zeyu; Zhang, Dongzhou Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 111, Issue 50 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1411154111	journal	December 2014
Temperatures in the Earth's core from melting-point measurements of iron at high static pressures Boehler, R. Nature, Vol. 363, Issue 6429 https://doi.org/10.1038/363534a0	journal	June 1993
Magneto-elastic coupling in compressed Fe ₇ C ₃ supports carbon in Earth's inner core : MAGNETO-ELASTIC COUPLING IN Fe Chen, Bin; Gao, Lili; Lavina, Barbara Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 39, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL052875	journal	September 2012
“Carbon in the core” revisited Nakajima, Yoichi; Takahashi, Eiichi; Suzuki, Toshihiro Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 174, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2008.05.014	journal	May 2009
Measurement of temperature distributions across laser heated samples by multispectral imaging radiometry Campbell, Andrew J. Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 79, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2827513	journal	January 2008
Experimental study and thermodynamic calculations of phase relations in the Fe–C system at high pressure Fei, Yingwei; Brosh, Eli Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 408 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.09.044	journal	December 2014
Origins of ultralow velocity zones through slab-derived metallic melt Liu, Jiachao; Li, Jie; Hrubiak, Rostislav Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1519540113	journal	May 2016
Fe - C and Fe - H systems at pressures of the Earth's inner core [Системы Fe -- C и Fe - H при давлениях внутреннего ядра Земли] Bazhanova, Zulfiya G.; Oganov, Artem R.; Gianola, Omar Uspekhi Fizicheskih Nauk, Vol. 182, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.3367/UFNr.0182.201205c.0521	journal	January 2012
The innermost inner core of the earth: Evidence for a change in anisotropic behavior at the radius of about 300 km Ishii, M.; Dziewonski, A. M. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 99, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.172508499	journal	October 2002
High Poisson's ratio of Earth's inner core explained by carbon alloying Prescher, C.; Dubrovinsky, L.; Bykova, E. Nature Geoscience, Vol. 8, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2370	journal	February 2015
High-pressure melting of wustite Fischer, R. A.; Campbell, A. J. American Mineralogist, Vol. 95, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2010.3463	journal	September 2010
The Melting Curve of Iron to 250 Gigapascals: A Constraint on the Temperature at Earth's Center Williams, Q.; Jeanloz, R.; Bass, J. Science, Vol. 236, Issue 4798 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.236.4798.181	journal	April 1987
High-pressure–high-temperature equation of state of KCl and KBr Dewaele, A.; Belonoshko, A. B.; Garbarino, G. Physical Review B, Vol. 85, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.214105	journal	June 2012
Compression of Fe 3 C to 30 GPa at room temperature Li, J.; Mao, H. K.; Fei, Y. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, Vol. 29, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-001-0224-4	journal	April 2002
DIOPTAS : a program for reduction of two-dimensional X-ray diffraction data and data exploration Prescher, Clemens; Prakapenka, Vitali B. High Pressure Research, Vol. 35, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/08957959.2015.1059835	journal	May 2015
Bemerkungen zur Schmelzdruckkurve Simon, Franz; Glatzel, Gunther Zeitschrift f�r anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, Vol. 178, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/zaac.19291780123	journal	January 1929
Thermoelastic property and high-pressure stability of Fe7C3: Implication for iron-carbide in the Earth's core Nakajima, Y.; Takahashi, E.; Sata, N. American Mineralogist, Vol. 96, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2011.3703	journal	June 2011
Stability and equation of state of Fe ₃ C to 73 GPa: Implications for carbon in the Earth's core Scott, Henry P.; Williams, Quentin; Knittle, Elise Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 28, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL012606	journal	May 2001
Magnetic transition in compressed ${Fe}_{3} C$ from x-ray emission spectroscopy Lin, Jung-Fu; Struzhkin, Viktor V.; Mao, Ho-kwang Physical Review B, Vol. 70, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.70.212405	journal	December 2004
Thermal equation of state and thermodynamic properties of iron carbide Fe ₃ C to 31 GPa and 1473 K : THERMAL EQUATION OF STATE OF Fe Litasov, Konstantin D.; Sharygin, Igor S.; Dorogokupets, Peter I. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 118, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JB010270	journal	October 2013
Structurally hidden magnetic transitions in Fe $_{3}$ C at high pressures Prescher, C.; Dubrovinsky, L.; McCammon, C. Physical Review B, Vol. 85, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.140402	journal	April 2012
Partial melting in the iron–sulfur system at high pressure: A synchrotron X-ray diffraction study Campbell, Andrew J.; Seagle, Christopher T.; Heinz, Dion L. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 162, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2007.04.001	journal	June 2007
Pressure-induced magnetic transition and sound velocities of Fe ₃ C: Implications for carbon in the Earth's inner core Gao, Lili; Chen, Bin; Wang, Jingyun Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 35, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL034817	journal	January 2008
Melting of Iron at Earth's Inner Core Boundary Based on Fast X-ray Diffraction Anzellini, S.; Dewaele, A.; Mezouar, M. Science, Vol. 340, Issue 6131 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1233514	journal	April 2013
The Structure of Iron in Earth's Inner Core Tateno, S.; Hirose, K.; Ohishi, Y. Science, Vol. 330, Issue 6002 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1194662	journal	October 2010
Equatorial anisotropy in the inner part of Earth’s inner core from autocorrelation of earthquake coda Wang, Tao; Song, Xiaodong; Xia, Han H. Nature Geoscience, Vol. 8, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2354	journal	February 2015
Melting, thermal expansion, and phase transitions of iron at high pressures Boehler, R.; von Bargen, N.; Chopelas, A. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 95, Issue B13 https://doi.org/10.1029/JB095iB13p21731	journal	January 1990
Compression of FeSi, Fe ₃ C, Fe _0.95 O, and FeS under the core pressures and implication for light element in the Earth's core Sata, Nagayoshi; Hirose, Kei; Shen, Guoyin Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115, Issue B9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JB006975	journal	January 2010
Carbon in the core Wood, Bernard J. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 117, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(93)90105-I	journal	June 1993
Structure of Liquid Iron at Pressures up to 58 GPa Shen, Guoyin; Prakapenka, Vitali B.; Rivers, Mark L. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 92, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.185701	journal	May 2004
The melting curve of iron to 250 gigapascals: a constraint on the temperature at Earth's center : Williams, Quentin, Raymond Jeanloz, Jay Bass, Bob Svendsen and T.J. Ahrens, 1987. Science, 236(4798):181–182 Deep Sea Research Part B. Oceanographic Literature Review, Vol. 34, Issue 9, p. 771 https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-0254(87)90259-7	journal	January 1987

Cited By (3)

Phase Stability and Thermal Equation of State of Iron Carbide Fe ₃ C to 245 GPa Hu, Xiaojun; Fei, Yingwei; Yang, Jing Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl084545	journal	October 2019
Effect of silicon on activity coefficients of Bi, Cd, Sn, and Ag in liquid Fe‐Si, and implications for differentiation and core formation Righter, K.; Pando, K.; Ross, D. K. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, Vol. 54, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13285	journal	March 2019
Thermal Equation of State of Fe3C to 327 GPa and Carbon in the Core Takahashi, Suguru; Ohtani, Eiji; Ikuta, Daijo Minerals, Vol. 9, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.3390/min9120744	journal	November 2019

Similar Records

Stability and breakdown of Ca{sup 13}CO{sub 3} melt associated with formation of {sup 13}C-diamond in static high pressure experiments up to 43 GPa and 3900 K

Journal Article · Sun Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012 · Journal of Solid State Chemistry · OSTI ID:1465341

Litvin, Yu A; Ovsyannikov, S V; Dubrovinskaia, N A; +1 more

Spin Transitions and Compressibility of ε-Fe₇N₃ and γ'-Fe₄N: Implications for Iron Alloys in Terrestrial Planet Cores

Journal Article · Sat Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth · OSTI ID:1465341

Lv, Mingda; Liu, Jiachao; Zhu, Feng; +4 more

Experimental constraints on the sound velocities of cementite Fe₃C to core pressures

Journal Article · Thu May 17 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · OSTI ID:1465341

Chen, Bin; Lai, Xiaojing; Li, Jie; +6 more

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES

Title: Phase relations of Fe3C and Fe7C3 up to 185 GPa and 5200 K: Implication for the stability of iron carbide in the Earth's core

Citation Formats

References (42)

Cited By (3)

Similar Records

Related Subjects

Title: Phase relations of Fe₃C and Fe₇C₃ up to 185 GPa and 5200 K: Implication for the stability of iron carbide in the Earth's core