Laboratory Electrical Conductivity Measurement of Mantle Minerals |
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| Authors: | Takashi Yoshino |
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| Institution: | (1) Institute for Study of the Earth’s Interior, Okayama University, Tottori 682-0193, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Electrical conductivity structures of the Earth’s mantle estimated from the magnetotelluric and geomagnetic deep sounding
methods generally show increase of conductivity from 10−4–10−2 to 100 S/m with increasing depth to the top of the lower mantle. Although conductivity does not vary significantly in the lower
mantle, the possible existence of a highly conductive layer has been proposed at the base of the lower mantle from geophysical
modeling. The electrical properties of mantle rocks are controlled by thermodynamic parameters such as pressure, temperature
and chemistry of the main constituent minerals. Laboratory electrical conductivity measurements of mantle minerals have been
conducted under high pressure and high temperature conditions using solid medium high-pressure apparatus. To distinguish several
charge transport mechanisms in mantle minerals, it is necessary to measure the electrical conductivity in a wider temperature
range. Although the correspondence of data has not been yet established between each laboratory, an outline tendency of electrical
conductivity of the mantle minerals is almost the same. Most of mineral phases forming the Earth’s mantle exhibit semiconductive
behavior. Dominant conduction mechanism is small polaron conduction (electron hole hopping between ferrous and ferric iron),
if these minerals contain iron. The phase transition olivine to high-pressure phases enhances the conductivity due to structural
changes. As a result, electrical conductivity increases in order of olivine, wadsleyite and ringwoodite along the adiabat
geotherm. The phase transition to post-spinel at the 660 km discontinuity further can enhance the conductivity. In the lower
mantle, the conductivity once might decrease in the middle of the lower mantle due to the iron spin transition and then abruptly
increase at the condition of the D″ layer. The impurities in the mantle minerals strongly control the formation, number and
mobility of charge carriers. Hydrogen in nominally anhydrous minerals such as olivine and high-pressure polymorphs can enhance
the conductivity by the proton conduction. However, proton conduction has lower activation enthalpy compared with small polaron
conduction, a contribution of proton conduction becomes smaller at high temperatures, corresponding to the mantle condition.
Rather high iron content in mantle minerals largely enhances the conductivity of the mantle. This review focuses on a compilation
of fairly new advances in experimental laboratory work together with their explanation. |
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