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Earth science

Hot metal

The solubility of oxygen in molten iron increases at high temperature. Could this explain why Earth's mantle is poor in iron oxide, whereas the mantle of Mars, which formed under cooler conditions, is not?

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Figure 1: Magma oceans on early Earth and Mars.

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Agee, C. Hot metal. Nature 429, 33–34 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/429033a

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