Behavior of a perched crystal layer in a magma ocean

Details Behavior of a perched crystal layer in a magma ocean Behavior of a perched crystal layer in a magma ocean

Mar 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993jgr....98.5347m&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 98, no. E3, p. 5347-5353.

Physics

6

Magma, Planetary Evolution, Planetary Mantles, Planetary Surfaces, Earth Mantle, Olivine

Scientific paper

The thermal regime in the neighborhood of a crystal suspension embedded in a hot magma ocean is tied to the crystal-plus-liquid equilibrium temperature. Such an internal suspension melts because it overlies hot magma. Internal cumulates cannot form by crystal flotation because the crystals melt upon rising along the hot adiabat. Transient formation of a perched crystal layer is considered for the upper mantle stage of a magma ocean, after fractionation has enriched the liquid in olivine components; these crystals accumulate at a neutral point in the density contrast, aided by solid + liquid convection in cold plumes from above. Crystals can survive there only if forced deposition exceeds the melting rate; the suspension cumulate is intrinsically ephemeral. The liquid in the lower cell becomes more olivine-rich and more Fe-rich because of partial melting, increasing the buoyancy and thermal stability of the crystal layer, but melting will still occur. Forcing must cease when a subsolidus lid to the magma ocean is established. The perched layer is destroyed by melting, but the neutral point remains a site of heat transfer between lower end upper cells. The former neutral point becomes the original lithosphere/asthenosphere boundary. Subsequent diapirism leads to the internal generation of ultramafic and then mafic magmas.

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