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MINERALOGY

Under pressure in a super-Earth

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 2, page 163 (2021)Cite this article

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Bridgmanite (a high-pressure polymorph of MgSiO3) is a primary component of Earth’s silicate lower mantle. MgSiO3-silicate melts are also important end members for other rocky planet mantles, including Earth-like exoplanets called super-Earths. Therefore, understanding the bridgmanite melting curve at extremely high pressures is critical for calculations of planetary thermal structure and evolution, such as simulations of mantle convection and planetary accretion. However, measuring melting temperatures during experiments at such extreme high pressure conditions is very difficult, and therefore direct measurements remain rare.

The dense pre-synthesised bridgmanite allowed the measurement of the melting point to a much higher pressure (>245 GPa) than previous attempts, providing a more comprehensive picture of mantle melting conditions compared with experiments conducted at lower pressures. However, the experiments assume a simple end-member MgSiO3 composition and large uncertainties remain in calculations of phase transitions at conditions relevant to the mantle, either on Earth or beyond. Future work should aim to evaluate the effect of more complex multi-component composition systems at extreme pressure.

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original article

  • Fei, Y. et al. Melting and density of MgSiO3 determined by shock compression of bridgmanite to 1254 GPa. Nat Commun 12, 876 (2021)

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  1. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment https://www.nature.com/natrevearthenviron

    Erin Scott

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  1. Erin Scott
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Correspondence to Erin Scott.

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Scott, E. Under pressure in a super-Earth. Nat Rev Earth Environ 2, 163 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-021-00153-z

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