Physics
Scientific paper
Sep 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995metic..30q.573s&link_type=abstract
Meteoritics, vol. 30, no. 5, page 573
Physics
1
Cores, Earth, Mantle, Metals, Noble, Neutron Activation, Xenoliths
Scientific paper
Core formation is a major physical and chemical event in the evolution of a differentiated planet. The core is the dominant repository of HSE in the Earth. Element ratios of HSE in peridotites provide insights into the accretion processes of the Earth and the effect of core formation. Depletion of HSE in the Earth's mantle results from core formation. Refractory siderophile elements are about a factor of > 100 depleted in the Earth's mantle compared to CI carbonaceous chondrites. Nevertheless, the concentrations of PGE, Re and Au (7.1 +/- 0.8 x 10^-3 CI chondrite abundances) are higher than would be expected from metal-silicate partitioning during core formation [1]. Several different explanations have been suggested to explain the low absolute abundances of these elements. (1) Os, Re, Ir, Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, and Au were added with a late chondritic veneer containing less than 1% of a CI component [2-9]. (2) Insufficient core formation, i.e. some metallic Fe-Ni was retained in the upper mantle during core formation [10]. (3) Disequilibrium during core formation; Segregation of metal from the upper mantle in later stages of accretion was so rapid that equilibrium was not attained [4,11,12]. (4) There was continuous formation of the core during accretion; Equilibrium between sinking metal grains and a molten magma ocean at high temperatures (3000-3500 K) [13]. (5) Increase in silicate/metal partition coefficients by pressure, temperature, or high f(O2) [5,14]; Solution of FeO in the core raises the f(O2) conditions at the core-mantle interface sufficiently to increase the equilibrium concentrations of the siderophile elements in the mantle [15]. Studies of mantle-derived samples such as massif peridotites and peridotite xenoliths provide direct information on the nature and composition of the upper mantle. Massive peridotitic rocks from Zabargad island (Red Sea), Lanzo (Italy), Ronda (Spain) and peridotitic xenoliths from Mongolia were analysed for Os, Re, Ir, Ru, Rh, Pd, and Au with a slightly modified neutron activation analysis in combination with a NiS extraction method [16]. All samples (except peridotitic xenoliths) have essentially unfractionated patterns (except Pd/Ir) despite significant variations in absolute abundances [17]. Os/Re ratios from massive peridotitic rocks from Zabargad are chondritic. Peridotitic xenoliths generally have Os/Re-ratios much higher than the chondritic ratio [2]. The Pd/Ir ratios from all studied peridotites are approximately two times and the Rh/Ir ratios are approximately 1.5 times higher than the chondritic ratio of 1.21 and 0.29, respectively. This is in qualitative agreement with estimates of Pd and Ir in primitive undepleted mantle [1]. The non-chondritic Pd/Ir and Rh/Ir ratios is either the result of Pd and Rh addition or these elements are not quantitatively removed from the mantle in the process of core formation [10]. Extrapolation of experimentally determined palladium and iridium metal/silicate partition coefficients to 3500 K are 3.8x10^3 and 2x10^8, respectively [18,19]. The observed non-chondritic ratio of Ir to Pd in the upper mantle is in qualitative agreement with experimentally determined metal/silicate partition coefficients for Ir and Pd. This could support recent speculation on the possibility of chemical exchange between the outer liquid shell of the core and the convecting mantle of the Earth. Acknowledgements. This work was supported by DFG. References: [1] Morgan J. W. (1986) JGR, 91, 12375-12387. [2] Morgan J. W. et al. (1981) Tectonophys., 75, 47-67. [3] Anders E. (1968) Acc. Chem. Res., 1, 289-298. [4] Turekian K. K. and Clark S. P. (1969) EPSL, 6, 346-348. [5] Kimura K. et al. (1974) GCA, 38, 683-701. [6] Ganapathy R. and Anders E. (1974) Proc. LPSC. [7] Chou C.-L. (1978) Proc. LPSC 9th, 219-230. [8] Jagoutz E. et al. (1979) Proc. LPSC 10th, 2031-2050. [9] Wanke H. (1981) Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, A303, 287-302. [10] Jones J. H. and Drake M. J. (1986) Nature, 322, 221-228. [11] Ringwood A. E. (1966) GCA, 30, 41-104. [12] Morgan J. W. and Lovering J. F. (1967) EPSL, 3, 219-224. [13] Murthy V. R. (1991) Science, 253, 303-306. [14] Brett P. R. (1971) GCA, 35, 203-221. [15] Ringwood A. E. (1977) Geochem. J., 11, 111-135, 5th, 1181-1206. [16] Schmidt G. and Pernicka E. (1994) GCA, 58, 5083-5090. [17] Schmidt G. et al. (1994) Workshop on the Formation of the Earth's Core, 48, MPI fur Chemie. [18] Borisov A. et al. (1994) GCA, 58, 705-716. [19] Borisov A. and Palme H. (1995) GCA, 59.
Kratz Karl Ludwig
Palme Herbert
Schmidt Georg
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