DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Insufficient Energy From MgO Exsolution to Power Early Geodynamo

Abstract

The origin of Earth's ancient magnetic field is an outstanding problem. It has recently been proposed that exsolution of MgO from the core may provide sufficient energy to drive an early geodynamo. Here, in this work, we present new experiments on Mg partitioning between iron-rich liquids and silicate/oxide melts. Our results indicate that Mg partitioning depends strongly on the oxygen content in the iron-rich liquid, in contrast to previous findings that it depends only on temperature. Consequently, MgO exsolution during core cooling is drastically reduced and insufficient to drive an early geodynamo alone. Using the new experimental data, our thermal model predicts inner core nucleation at ~850 Ma and a nearly constant paleointensity.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Washington, DC (United States)
  2. Carnegie Inst. of Washington, Washington, DC (United States); Smithsonian Inst., Washington, DC (United States). National Museum of Natural History
  3. Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
  4. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States). Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Sponsoring Org.:
Carnegie Fellowship; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division
OSTI Identifier:
1423342
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1410579
Grant/Contract Number:  
EAR-1447311; EAR-1321956; EAR-1551348; EAR-1128799; FG02-94ER14466; AC02-06CH11357; AC02‐06CH11357
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Geophysical Research Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 44; Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; high pressure; laser‐heated diamond anvil cell; core dynamo; elemental partitioning; paleomagnetism; magnetic field

Citation Formats

Du, Zhixue, Jackson, Colin, Bennett, Neil, Driscoll, Peter, Deng, Jie, Lee, Kanani K. M., Greenberg, Eran, Prakapenka, Vitali B., and Fei, Yingwei. Insufficient Energy From MgO Exsolution to Power Early Geodynamo. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1002/2017GL075283.
Du, Zhixue, Jackson, Colin, Bennett, Neil, Driscoll, Peter, Deng, Jie, Lee, Kanani K. M., Greenberg, Eran, Prakapenka, Vitali B., & Fei, Yingwei. Insufficient Energy From MgO Exsolution to Power Early Geodynamo. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075283
Du, Zhixue, Jackson, Colin, Bennett, Neil, Driscoll, Peter, Deng, Jie, Lee, Kanani K. M., Greenberg, Eran, Prakapenka, Vitali B., and Fei, Yingwei. Mon . "Insufficient Energy From MgO Exsolution to Power Early Geodynamo". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075283. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1423342.
@article{osti_1423342,
title = {Insufficient Energy From MgO Exsolution to Power Early Geodynamo},
author = {Du, Zhixue and Jackson, Colin and Bennett, Neil and Driscoll, Peter and Deng, Jie and Lee, Kanani K. M. and Greenberg, Eran and Prakapenka, Vitali B. and Fei, Yingwei},
abstractNote = {The origin of Earth's ancient magnetic field is an outstanding problem. It has recently been proposed that exsolution of MgO from the core may provide sufficient energy to drive an early geodynamo. Here, in this work, we present new experiments on Mg partitioning between iron-rich liquids and silicate/oxide melts. Our results indicate that Mg partitioning depends strongly on the oxygen content in the iron-rich liquid, in contrast to previous findings that it depends only on temperature. Consequently, MgO exsolution during core cooling is drastically reduced and insufficient to drive an early geodynamo alone. Using the new experimental data, our thermal model predicts inner core nucleation at ~850 Ma and a nearly constant paleointensity.},
doi = {10.1002/2017GL075283},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
number = 22,
volume = 44,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 13 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Mon Nov 13 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 24 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

The New Core Paradox
journal, October 2013


Terrestrial Accretion Under Oxidizing Conditions
journal, January 2013


Thermodynamic description for concentrated metallic solutions using interaction parameters
journal, February 2001


Core formation and the oxidation state of the Earth
journal, July 2005


Palaeomagnetic field intensity variations suggest Mesoproterozoic inner-core nucleation
journal, October 2015

  • Biggin, A. J.; Piispa, E. J.; Pesonen, L. J.
  • Nature, Vol. 526, Issue 7572
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature15523

The intensity of the geomagnetic field in the late-Archaean: new measurements and an analysis of the updated IAGA palaeointensity database
journal, January 2009

  • Biggin, Andrew J.; Strik, Geert H. M. A.; Langereis, Cor G.
  • Earth, Planets and Space, Vol. 61, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1186/BF03352881

A Hadean to Paleoarchean geodynamo recorded by single zircon crystals
journal, July 2015


High pressure metal–silicate partitioning of Ni, Co, V, Cr, Si, and O
journal, October 2015

  • Fischer, Rebecca A.; Nakajima, Yoichi; Campbell, Andrew J.
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 167
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2015.06.026

Thermal and electrical conductivity of iron at Earth’s core conditions
journal, April 2012

  • Pozzo, Monica; Davies, Chris; Gubbins, David
  • Nature, Vol. 485, Issue 7398
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature11031

The influence of potassium on core and geodynamo evolution
journal, February 2004


Crystallization of silicon dioxide and compositional evolution of the Earth’s core
journal, February 2017

  • Hirose, Kei; Morard, Guillaume; Sinmyo, Ryosuke
  • Nature, Vol. 543, Issue 7643
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature21367

Heterogeneous accretion, composition and core–mantle differentiation of the Earth
journal, January 2011

  • Rubie, David C.; Frost, Daniel J.; Mann, Ute
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 301, Issue 1-2
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2010.11.030

Simulating 2 Ga of geodynamo history: SIMULATING GEODYNAMO HISTORY
journal, June 2016


The influence of wavelength-dependent absorption and temperature gradients on temperature determination in laser-heated diamond-anvil cells
journal, January 2017

  • Deng, Jie; Du, Zhixue; Benedetti, Laura Robin
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4973344

On the thermal and magnetic histories of Earth and Venus: Influences of melting, radioactivity, and conductivity
journal, November 2014


An early geodynamo driven by exsolution of mantle components from Earth’s core
journal, July 2016

  • Badro, James; Siebert, Julien; Nimmo, Francis
  • Nature, Vol. 536, Issue 7616
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature18594

How much potassium is in the Earth's core? New insights from partitioning experiments
journal, April 2007

  • Corgne, Alexandre; Keshav, Shantanu; Fei, Yingwei
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 256, Issue 3-4
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2007.02.012

Electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of liquid Fe alloys at high P and T, and heat flux in Earth's core
journal, February 2012

  • de Koker, N.; Steinle-Neumann, G.; Vlcek, V.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1111841109

Evidence for an oxygen-depleted liquid outer core of the Earth
journal, November 2011

  • Huang, Haijun; Fei, Yingwei; Cai, Lingcang
  • Nature, Vol. 479, Issue 7374
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature10621

Powering Earth’s dynamo with magnesium precipitation from the core
journal, January 2016

  • O’Rourke, Joseph G.; Stevenson, David J.
  • Nature, Vol. 529, Issue 7586
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature16495

Partitioning of potassium between iron and silicate at the core-mantle boundary
journal, January 2006

  • Hirao, Naohisa; Ohtani, Eiji; Kondo, Tadashi
  • Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1029/2005GL025324

Thermal evolution of Earth with magnesium precipitation in the core
journal, January 2017

  • O'Rourke, Joseph G.; Korenaga, Jun; Stevenson, David J.
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 458
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.057

Core formation and core composition from coupled geochemical and geophysical constraints
journal, September 2015

  • Badro, James; Brodholt, John P.; Piet, Hélène
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 40
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1505672112

Direct measurement of thermal conductivity in solid iron at planetary core conditions
journal, June 2016

  • Konôpková, Zuzana; McWilliams, R. Stewart; Gómez-Pérez, Natalia
  • Nature, Vol. 534, Issue 7605
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature18009

Experimental determination of the electrical resistivity of iron at Earth’s core conditions
journal, June 2016

  • Ohta, Kenji; Kuwayama, Yasuhiro; Hirose, Kei
  • Nature, Vol. 534, Issue 7605
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature17957

Metal–silicate partitioning of U: Implications for the heat budget of the core and evidence for reduced U in the mantle
journal, February 2017

  • Chidester, Bethany A.; Rahman, Zia; Righter, Kevin
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Vol. 199
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.11.035

A sulfur-poor terrestrial core inferred from metal–silicate partitioning experiments
journal, July 2017

  • Suer, Terry-Ann; Siebert, Julien; Remusat, Laurent
  • Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 469
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2017.04.016

Works referencing / citing this record:

Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Investigation of Molten Fe–Si–O in Earth's Core
journal, June 2019

  • Huang, Dongyang; Badro, James; Brodholt, John
  • Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1029/2019gl082722

Heat Flow in Earth's Core From Invariant Electrical Resistivity of Fe‐Si on the Melting Boundary to 9 GPa: Do Light Elements Matter?
journal, June 2019

  • Silber, Reynold E.; Secco, Richard A.; Yong, Wenjun
  • Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 124, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1029/2019jb017375

Rotating double-diffusive convection in stably stratified planetary cores
journal, August 2019

  • Monville, R.; Vidal, J.; Cébron, D.
  • Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 219, Issue Supplement_1
  • DOI: 10.1093/gji/ggz347

FeO Content of Earth’s Liquid Core
journal, October 2019