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In situ strength measurements on natural upper-mantle minerals

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Abstract

Using in situ strength measurements at pressures up to 10 GPa and at room temperature, 400, 600, and 700°C, we examined rheological properties of olivine, orthopyroxene, and chromian-spinel contained in a mantle-derived xenolith. Mineral strengths were estimated using widths of X-ray diffraction peaks as a function of pressure, temperature, and time. Differential stresses of all minerals increase with increasing pressure, but they decrease with increasing temperature because of elastic strain on compression and stress relaxation during heating. During compression at room temperature, all minerals deform plastically at differential stress of 4–6 GPa. During subsequent heating, thermally induced yielding is observed in olivine at 600°C. Neither orthopyroxene nor spinel shows complete stress relaxation, but both retain some stress even at 700°C. The strength of the minerals decreases in the order of chromian-spinel ≈ orthopyroxene > olivine for these conditions. This order of strength is consistent with the residual pressure of fluid inclusions in mantle xenoliths.

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Acknowledgments

Drs. Matsui M., Nishihara Y. and an anonymous reviewer provided thoughtful comments to improve the manuscript. We appreciate Y. Higo, F. Kurio, T. Sanehira, Y. Sueda and colleagues at Ehime University for their help in creating the pressure cell. This study was supported by a Grant-in-aid for the twenty-first Century COE Program for KAGI21 (Kyoto University, G3) and for Frontiers in Fundamental Chemistry, and by Grants-in-aid for Scientific Research (Nos. 13554018, 14654096, 15340190, 18740344 and 19GS0205) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) and JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Research Abroad.

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Author notes

  1. Akihiro Yamada

    Present address: Department of Geology, University of California Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Junji Yamamoto

  2. Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Beppu, 874-0903, Japan

    Junji Yamamoto

  3. Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Kagami-yama 1-3-1, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8526, Japan

    Jun-ichi Ando

  4. Geochemical Laboratory, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Hiroyuki Kagi

  5. Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University, 2-5 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, 790-8577, Japan

    Toru Inoue, Akihiro Yamada, Daisuke Yamazaki & Tetsuo Irifune

  6. Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University, Yamada 827, Misasa, 682-0193, Japan

    Daisuke Yamazaki

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  1. Junji Yamamoto
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Correspondence to Junji Yamamoto.

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Yamamoto, J., Ando, Ji., Kagi, H. et al. In situ strength measurements on natural upper-mantle minerals. Phys Chem Minerals 35, 249–257 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-008-0218-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-008-0218-6

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