High-pressure, temperature elasticity of Fe- and Al-bearing MgSiO3: implications for the Earth's lower mantle

Abstract

Fe and Al are two of the most important rock-forming elements other than Mg, Si, and O. Their presence in the lower mantle's most abundant minerals, MgSiO_3 bridgmanite, MgSiO_3 post-perovskite and MgO periclase, alters their elastic properties. However, knowledge on the thermoelasticity of Fe- and Al-bearing MgSiO_3 bridgmanite, and post-perovskite is scarce. In this study, we perform ab initio molecular dynamics to calculate the elastic and seismic properties of pure, Fe^{3+}- and Fe^{2+}-, and Al^{3+}-bearing MgSiO_3 perovskite and post-perovskite, over a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and Fe/Al compositions. Our results show that a mineral assemblage resembling pyrolite fits a 1D seismological model well, down to, at least, a few hundred kilometers above the core-mantle boundary, i.e. the top of the D'' region. In D'', a similar composition is still an excellent fit to the average velocities and fairly approximate to the density. We also implement polycrystal plasticity with a geodynamic model to predict resulting seismic anisotropy, and find post-perovskite with predominant (001) slip across all compositions agrees best with seismic observations in the D''.