Ab-initio high-pressure alloying of iron and potassium: Implications for the Earth's core

Details Ab-initio high-pressure alloying of iron and potassium: Implications for the Earth's core Ab-initio high-pressure alloying of iron and potassium: Implications for the Earth's core

Jun 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004georl..3111603l&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 31, Issue 11, CiteID L11603

Physics

5

Mineral Physics: Equations Of State, Mineral Physics: High-Pressure Behavior, Tectonophysics: Earth'S Interior-Composition And State, Tectonophysics: Heat Generation And Transport

Scientific paper

Ab-initio quantum mechanical calculations show that several percent potassium (K) can be alloyed into iron (Fe) at high pressure, suggesting that K may have been incorporated into the Earth's iron-rich core. We find that substitutional incorporation of K into the high-pressure polymorph of Fe, hexagonal close packed (hcp) $\varepsilon$-Fe, is energetically favored over the separate elements. The incorporation of potassium causes iron to expand with increasing K concentration, in agreement with high-pressure experiments. This alloying process is of potential importance to understanding the thermal state and history of Earth's deep interior, as radioactive decay of 40K (half-life ~1.25 billion years) in the core could be an important source of energy for the geodynamo and mantle dynamics.

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