Experimental Partitioning of U Between Liquid Iron Sulfide and Liquid Silicate: Implications for Radioactivity in the Core

Details Experimental Partitioning of U Between Liquid Iron Sulfide and Liquid Silicate: Implications for Radioactivity in the Core Experimental Partitioning of U Between Liquid Iron Sulfide and Liquid Silicate: Implications for Radioactivity in the Core

Dec 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agufmmr43a0879w&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, abstract #MR43A-0879

Physics

5430 Interiors (8147), 3630 Experimental Mineralogy And Petrology, 3672 Planetary Mineralogy And Petrology (5410), 1015 Composition Of The Core

Scientific paper

The prodigious affinity of U for oxygen suggests that it may be difficult for U to be incorporated in a core formed from silicate mantle with residual partially oxidized Fe. If U is reduced enough to join the metal of the core, then Fe should be effectively completely reduced. We explored the ability for initially native U metal to be retained within polymetallic sulfide liquid solutions \{Fe+FeS\} in equilibrium with plausible mantle silicate liquids \{peridotite KLB-1\} and excess carbon. We found no conditions from 2-10 GPa, 1750-2100° C, and 0-28 wt% S in the metallic liquid where sufficient U could be retained in the metallic liquid to be interesting in the context of U-derived heat sources in Earth's core. We do find interesting structure to the variations of DU\{sulfide/silicate\}, which was always a very small number. Typical DU ranged from a minimum of <1.3\times10-5 to a maximum of 0.001. A possible weak increase in DU with temperature was observed. Increasing pressure also may cause a weak increase in DU. Sulfur content in the Fe sulfide was the largest influence on DU indicating some degree of U chalchophility. Typical DU values increased an order of magnitude when S content in the sulfide increased from 7 to 28 wt%. It is important to note that even wild extrapolation of the most favorable data did not yield significant U in the sulfide at core conditions. Therefore, it is our conclusion that if there is U in the core, it most likely did not get there during core formation in a partially oxidized magma ocean scenario.

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