Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Phase relations in the carbon-saturated C–Mg–Fe–Si–O system and C and Si solubility in liquid Fe at high pressure and temperature: implications for planetary interiors

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Physics and Chemistry of Minerals Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The phase and melting relations of the C-saturated C–Mg–Fe–Si–O system were investigated at high pressure and temperature to understand the role of carbon in the structure of the Earth, terrestrial planets, and carbon-enriched extraterrestrial planets. The phase relations were studied using two types of experiments at 4 GPa: analyses of recovered samples and in situ X-ray diffractions. Our experiments revealed that the composition of metallic iron melts changes from a C-rich composition with up to about 5 wt.% C under oxidizing conditions (ΔIW = −1.7 to −1.2, where ΔIW is the deviation of the oxygen fugacity (fO2) from an iron-wüstite (IW) buffer) to a C-depleted composition with 21 wt.% Si under reducing conditions (ΔIW < −3.3) at 4 GPa and 1,873 K. SiC grains also coexisted with the Fe–Si melt under the most reducing conditions. The solubility of C in liquid Fe increased with increasing fO2, whereas the solubility of Si decreased with increasing fO2. The carbon-bearing phases were graphite, Fe3C, SiC, and Fe alloy melt (Fe–C or Fe–Si–C melts) under the redox conditions applied at 4 GPa, but carbonate was not observed under our experimental conditions. The phase relations observed in this study can be applicable to the Earth and other planets. In hypothetical reducing carbon planets (ΔIW < −6.2), graphite/diamond and/or SiC exist in the mantle, whereas the core would be an Fe–Si alloy containing very small amount of C even in the carbon-enriched planets. The mutually exclusive nature of C and Si may be important also for considering the light elements of the Earth’s core.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anders E, Grevesse N (1989) Abundances of the elements: meteoritic and solar. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:197–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chipman J (1972) Thermodynamics and phase diagram of the Fe–C system. Metall Mater Trans B 3:55–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chipman J, Fulton JC, Gokcen N, Caskey GR (1954) Activity of silicon in liquid Fe–Si and Fe–C–Si alloys. Acta Metall 2:439–450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corgne A, Keshav S, Wood BJ, McDonough WF, Fei YW (2008a) Metal–silicate partitioning and constraints on core composition and oxygen fugacity during Earth accretion. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:574–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corgne A, Wood BJ, Fei Y (2008b) C- and S-rich molten alloy immiscibility and core formation of planetesimals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:2409–2416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM (2010) The deep carbon cycle and melting in Earth’s interior. Earth Planet Sci Lett 298:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Walker D (2008) Carbon solubility in core melts in a shallow magma ocean environment and distribution of carbon between the Earth’s core and the mantle. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:4627–4641

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM, Withers AC (2004) Deep global cycling of carbon constrained by the solidus of anhydrous, carbonated eclogite under upper mantle conditions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 227:73–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Buono A, Whelan G, Walker D (2009) High-pressure melting relations in Fe–C–S systems: Implications for formation, evolution, and structure of metallic cores in planetary bodies. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 73:6678–6691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta R, Chi H, Shimizu N, Buono AS, Walker D (2013) Carbon solution and partitioning between metallic and silicate melts in a shallow magma ocean: implications for the origin and distribution of terrestrial carbon. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 102:191–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dick HJB (1974) Terrestrial nickel iron from the Josephine Peridotite, its geologic occurrence, associations, and origin. Phys Earth Planet Inter 24:291–298

    Google Scholar 

  • Fei Y, Mao H, Mysen BO (1991) Experimental determination of element partitioning and calculation of phase relations in the MgO–FeO–SiO2 system at high pressure and high temperature. J Geophys Res 96:2157–2169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost DJ, McCammon CA (2008) The redox state of Earth’s mantle. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 36:389–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost DJ, Liebske C, Langenhorst F, McCammon CA, Tronnes RG, Rubie DC (2004) Experimental evidence for the existence of iron-rich metal in the Earth’s lower mantle. Nature 428:409–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frost DJ, Asahara Y, Rubie DC, Miyajima N, Dubrovinsky LS, Holzapfel C, Ohtani E, Miyahara M, Sakai T (2010) Partitioning of oxygen between the Earth’s mantle and core. J Geophys Res 115:B02202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gessmann CK, Wood BJ, Rubie DC, Kilburn MR (2001) Solubility of silicon in liquid metal at high pressure: implications for the composition of the Earth’s core. Earth Planet Sci Lett 184:367–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayashi H, Ohtani E, Terasaki H, Ito Y (2009) The partitioning of Pt–Re–Os between solid and liquid metal in the Fe–Ni–S system at high pressure: implications for inner core fractionation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 73:4836–4842

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isshiki M, Irifune T, Hirose K, Ono S, Ohishi Y, Watanuki T, Nishibori E, Takata M, Sakata M (2004) Stability of magnesite and its high-pressure form in the lowermost mantle. Nature 427:60–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keil K (1968) Mineralogical and chemical relationships among enstatite chondrites. J Geophys Res 73:6945–6976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerrick DM, Connolly JAD (2001) Metamorphic devolatilization of subducted oceanic metabasalts: implications for seismicity, arc magmatism and volatile recycling. Earth Planet Sci Lett 189:19–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiseeva ES, Yaxley GM, Hermann J, Litasov KD, Rosenthal A, Kamenetsky VS (2012) An experimental study of carbonated eclogite at 3.5–5.5 GPa: implications for silicate and carbonate metasomatism in the cratonic mantle. J Petrol 53:727–759

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lagrange AM, Gratadour D, Chauvin G, Fusco T, Ehrenreich D, Mouillet D, Rousset G, Rouan D, Allard F, Gendron É, Charton J, Mugnier L, Rabou P, Montri J, Lacombe F (2009) A probable giant planet imaged in the β Pictoris disk VLT/NaCo deep L′-band imaging. Astron Astrophys 493:L21–L25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord OT, Walter MJ, Dasgupta R, Walker D, Clark SM (2009) Melting in the Fe–C system to 70 GPa. Earth Planet Sci Lett 284:157–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma Z (2001) Thermodynamic description for concentrated metallic solutions using interaction parameters. Metall Mater Trans B 32:87–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malavergne V, Siebert J, Guyot F, Gautron L, Combes R, Hammouda T, Borenstajn S, Frost DJ, Martinez I (2004) Si in the core? New high-pressure and high-temperature experimental data. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68:4201–4211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann U, Frost DJ, Rubie DC (2009) Evidence for high-pressure core–mantle differentiation from the metal–silicate partitioning of lithophile and weakly-siderophile elements. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 73:7360–7386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molina JF, Poli S (2000) Carbonate stability and fluid composition in subducted oceanic crust: an experimental study on H2O–CO2-bearing basalts. Earth Planet Sci Lett 176:295–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakajima Y, Takahashi E, Suzuki T, Funakoshi K (2009) “Carbon in the core” revisited. Phys Earth Planet Inter 174:202–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ohtani M (1955) On the activities of Si and C in molten Fe–Si–C alloys. The 70th Report of the Research Institute of Mineral Dressing and Metallurgy, pp 487–501

  • Roberge A, Feldman PD, Weinberger AJ, Deleuil M, Bouret JC (2006) Stabilization of the disk around β Pictoris by extremely carbon-rich gas. Nature 441:724–726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seager S, Kuchner M, Hier-Majumder CA, Militzer B (2007) Mass–radius relationships for solid exoplanets. Astrophys J 669:1279–1297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert J, Guyot F, Malavergne V (2005) Diamond formation in metal–carbonate interactions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 229:205–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebert J, Corgne A, Ryerson FJ (2011) Systematics of metal–silicate partitioning for many siderophile elements applied to Earth’s core formation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 75:1451–1489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trumbull RB, Yang J, Robinson PT, Di Pierro S, Vennemann T, Wiedenbeck M (2009) The carbon isotope composition of natural SiC (moissanite) from the Earth’s mantle: new discoveries from ophiolites. Lithos 113:612–620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urakawa S, Morishima M, Kato T, Suzuki A, Shimomura O (1993) Equation of state for h–BN. Photon Factory Activity Report G 275:383

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Vechten JA (1973) Quantum dielectric theory of electronegativity in covalent systems. III. Pressure–temperature phase diagrams, heats of mixing, and distribution coefficients. Phys Rev B 7:1479–1507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wade J, Wood BJ, Tuff J (2012) Metal–silicate partitioning of Mo and W at high pressures and temperatures: evidence for late accretion of sulphur to the Earth. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 85:58–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner C (1952) Thermodynamics of Alloys. Addison-Wesley Press, Reading, Ma

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood BJ (1993) Carbon in the core. Earth Planet Sci Lett 117:593–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood JA, Hashimoto A (1993) Mineral equilibrium in fractionated nebular systems. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 57:2377–2388

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood IG, David WIF, Hull S, Price GD (1996) A high-pressure study of ε-FeSi, between 0 and 8.5 GPa, by time-of-flight neutron powder diffraction. J Appl Crystallography 29:215–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zolensky M, Herrin J, Mikouchi T, Ohsumi K, Friedrich J, Steele A, Rumble D, Fries M, Sandford S, Milam S, Hagiya K, Takeda H, Satake W, Kurihara T, Colbert M, Hanna R, Maisano J, Ketcham R, Goodrich C, Le L, Robinson GA, Martinez J, Ross K, Jenniskens P, Shaddad MH (2010) Mineralogy and petrography of the Almahata Sitta ureilite. Meteorit Planet Sci 45:1618–1637

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank S. Kamada, K. Nishida, T. Sakai, M. Miyahara, A. Suzuki, and M. Murakami for useful suggestions and discussions. We also thank Prof. Masanori Matsui for the editorial handling and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. The in situ X-ray diffraction experiments were performed with the approval of the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) (Proposal No. 2010A1530 and 2011A1546). This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, Sport, and Technology of Japan (No. 18104009 and 22000002) to E. Ohtani. This work was conducted as part of the Global COE Program at Tohoku University, “Global Education and Research Center for Earth and Planetary Dynamics”.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Material Sciences, Tohoku University, 6-3 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8571, Japan

    Suguru Takahashi, Eiji Ohtani, Hidenori Terasaki, Yoshinori Ito, Yuki Shibazaki & Miho Ishii

  2. Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, 560-0043, Japan

    Hidenori Terasaki

  3. Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5251 Broad Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC, 20015, USA

    Yuki Shibazaki

  4. Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, 679-5198, Japan

    Ken-ichi Funakoshi & Yuji Higo

Authors
  1. Suguru Takahashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eiji Ohtani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hidenori Terasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yoshinori Ito
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yuki Shibazaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Miho Ishii
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ken-ichi Funakoshi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Yuji Higo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Suguru Takahashi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Takahashi, S., Ohtani, E., Terasaki, H. et al. Phase relations in the carbon-saturated C–Mg–Fe–Si–O system and C and Si solubility in liquid Fe at high pressure and temperature: implications for planetary interiors. Phys Chem Minerals 40, 647–657 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-013-0600-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-013-0600-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation