Is the inner core of the earth pure iron?

Details Is the inner core of the earth pure iron? Is the inner core of the earth pure iron?

Jan 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987natur.325..332j&link_type=abstract

Nature (ISSN 0028-0836), vol. 325, Jan. 22, 1987, p. 332-335.

Other

90

Earth Core, Earth Planetary Structure, Iron, Planetary Composition, Close Packed Lattices, Density Distribution, Pressure Effects, Shock Waves, Thermodynamic Properties

Scientific paper

The hypothesis that the earth's inner core consists of pure, solid iron in the hexagonal close-packed (epsilon) phase is reexamined using a density model of the core generated from extrapolated, static high-pressure data for epsilon iron and pyrite. Densities of constant-composition mixtures at room temperature and core pressures are compared with corresponding earth-model densities. An effective volume thermal expansivity, alph(eff), is calculated for a range of expected core temperatures that brings the room-temperature density into agreement with the earth model density at the pressure of the inner-core boundary. Apparently, alpha(eff) would have to be significantly larger than previous estimates of the thermal expansion at core conditions. A qualitatively similar conclusion is obtained if an isotherm reduced from shock-wave data is used for epsilon iron instead of the static data. It is argued that, of several explanations for this difference, the last alternative is the most probable and that the inner core is not pure iron.

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