Elasticity of high-pressure clinoenstatite under mantle conditions:Implications for the origin of the X-discontinuity

The X-discontinuity is characterized by 2–8% wave impedance contrasts and indistinguishable seismological Clapeyron slopes. Its origin is not yet entirely understood and attributed to a variety of plausible causes, among which the coesite-stishovite transition is a popular mechanism due to its large impedance contrasts. However, the sole coesite-stishovite transition is insufficient to explain indistinguishable seismological Clapeyron slopes of the X-discontinuity. The orthopyroxene(OPX) to high-pressure clinopyroxene(HPCPX) transition has been excluded as a candidate mechanism in recent seismic studies because it can only cause small impedance contrasts based on the first-order estimate from the Birch’s law without direct sound velocity measurements. In this study, we performed first-principles calculations to obtain the elasticity of high-pressure clinoenstatite at high pressure and temperature. Our results show that the impedance contrast caused by the OPX-HPCPX transition is ~5.7% for P wave and ~6.9% for S wave, which are much larger than the previous empirical estimation and hence cannot be ignored. Given that eclogite is subject to partial melting in hot or wet regions, which will promote the enrichment of orthopyroxene by consuming silica, we suggested that both the coesite-stishovite transition and the OPX-HPCPX transition may be dominant mechanisms for the X-discontinuity, with the former dominating where eclogite is hard to melt and the latter dominating where partial melting of eclogite occurs. The model is consistent with seismological observations, indicating the important role of the OPX-HPCPX transition in the X-discontinuity and extensive occurrence of partial melting of eclogite. The proposed origin of the X-discontinuity provides a plausible way to illuminate the melting situation of eclogite in the deep earth.

Elastic properties of Fe-bearing Akimotoite at mantle conditions: Implications for composition and temperature in lower mantle transition zone

The pyrolite model,which can reproduce the upper-mantle seismic velocity and density profiles,was suggested to have significantly lower velocities and density than seismic models in the lower mantle transition zone(MTZ).This argument has been taken as mineral-physics evidence for a compositionally distinct lower MTz.However,previous studies only estimated the pyrolite velocities and density along a one-dimension(1D)geotherm and never considered the effect of lateral temperature heterogeneity.Because the majorite-perovskite-akimotoite triple point is close to the normal mantle geotherm in the lower MTz,the lateral low-temperature anomaly can result in the presence of a significant fraction of akimotoite in pyrolitic lower MTZ.In this study,we reported the elastic properties of Fe-bearing akimotoite based on first-principles calculations.Combining with literature data,we found that the seismic velocities and density of the pyrolite model can match well those in the lower MTZ when the lateral temperature heterogeneity is modeled by a Gaussian distribution with a standard deviation of~10o K and an average temperature of dozens of K higher than the triple point of MgsiOg.We suggest that a harzburgite-rich lower MTZ is not required and the whole mantle convection is expected to be more favorable globally.