Abstract
IT Is generally agreed that most silicates in the Earth's lower mantle have the perovskite structure, with the unit cell being orthorhombic for small cations (such as magnesium and aluminium) and cubic for larger cations (such as calcium). To study the possibility of alternative host minerals for the large cations in the deep mantle, we have transformed natural (M0.88, Ca0.12)3Al2Si3O12 garnets (with M = Mg, Fe or Mn) at high pressure (50 GPa) and high temperature in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell. The quenched products were studied by analytical transmission electron microscopy; this revealed the presence of a new phase with a composition close to (Ca0.5, M0.5)Al2Si2O8. High-pressure experiments performed with a glass of similar composition ((Ca0.5, Mg0.5)Al2Si2O8) confirm the existence of this new phase at a pressure of 50 GPa. The cell dimensions and stoichiometry of this new phase show strong similarities to those of the hollandite structure. Depending on the chemical composition of the lower mantle, this aluminocalcic phase could be the second or the third most abundant constituent of the lower mantle, in which case the abundance of CaSiO3 perovskite would be negligible.
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Madon, M., Castex, J. & Peyronneau, J. A new aluminocalcic high-pressure phase as a possible host of calcium and aluminium in the lower mantle. Nature 342, 422–425 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/342422a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/342422a0
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