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Earth science

A wet mantle conductor? (Reply)

Abstract

Inference of the spatial distribution of water content in the mantle is critical to our understanding of the dynamics of Earth's interior. A model1 has been described that indicates there may be a jump in water content at the 410-km discontinuity in the Earth's mantle. From the electrical conductivity, we have inferred2 the water content in the transition zone and concluded that it is significantly larger than that of the upper mantle. Hirschmann3 questions our conclusion on the grounds of the trade-off between water content and oxygen fugacity.

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Figure 1: Trade-off between water-content ratio and oxygen-fugacity ratio.

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References

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Correspondence to Shun-ichiro Karato.

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Huang, X., Xu, Y. & Karato, Si. A wet mantle conductor? (Reply). Nature 439, E3–E4 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04529

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