GEOSCIENCE FRONTIERS 3(1) (2012) 1e8

available at www.sciencedirect.com

China University of Geosciences (Beijing)

GEOSCIENCE FRONTIERS
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/gsf

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Mineralogy under extreme conditions

Jinfu Shu
Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. 20015, USA
Received 18 February 2011; accepted 31 August 2011
Available online 17 November 2011

KEYWORDS
High temperature;
High pressure;
Mineralogy

Abstract We have performed measurements of minerals based on the synchrotron source for single
crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, inelastic scattering, spectroscopy and radiography by using
diamond anvil cells. We investigated the properties of iron (Fe), iron-magnesium oxides (Fe, Mg)O,
silica(SiO2), iron-magnesium silicates (Fe, Mg)SiO3 under simulated high pressure-high temperature
extreme conditions of the Earths crust, upper mantle, low mantle, core-mantle boundary, outer core,
and inner core. The results provide a new window on the investigation of the mineral properties at Earths
conditions.
2011, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking University. Production and hosting by
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The solid Earth is made up of mineral assemblages of different
compositions (X ) at varying temperature (T ) and pressure (p).
The properties of minerals with similar X (including for example
their crystal structure (space group), cell parameters (a, b, c, a, b,
g and V), density (r), bulk modulus (K ), shear modulus (G),
single crystal elasticity (Cij or Sij), aggregate compressional wave
velocity (vp), shear wave velocity (vs), etc.) can be dramatically
E-mail address: jshu@ciw.edu.
1674-9871 2011, China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and Peking
University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Peer-review under responsibility of China University of Geosciences
(Beijing).
doi:10.1016/j.gsf.2011.10.002

Production and hosting by Elsevier

different at room temperature and pressure compared to the high

temperature and pressure deep inside our planet.
High pressure-high temperature experiments and theoretical
calculations demonstrate that mineral phases can be synthesized at
different conditions existing within the crust, upper mantle, low
mantle, core-mantle boundary, outer core, and inner core. We can
simulate Earths extreme p-T conditions in the laboratory-with
diamond anvil cells coupled with heating methods, and then use
a suite of in-situ synchrotron X-ray probes (e.g. X-ray scattering,
spectroscopy, and imaging) to provide a window into the behavior
of materials under extreme conditions.
Metals, semimetals, nonmetals, and alloys (such as Fe, Ni, Co,
Au, Ag, Cu, Pt, V, Nb, Ta, Zr, W, Li, Na, Ca, C (diamond,
graphite), H2, D2, He, Ne, Ar, N2, O2, FeNi, FeSi, FeC, FeP2,
FeH2, etc.), oxides (such as (Mg, Fe)O, NiO, MnO, CoO, SiO2,
Fe2O3, Fe3O4, FeCr2O4, etc.), silicates such as (Mg, Fe)SiO3, (Mg,
Fe)2SiO4, etc. and molecular systems (such as H2O, methane,
methane hydrogen, methane hydrate, ethane and
ethane hydrogen, etc.) were studied using a variety of diamond
anvil cells to reach a p-T range of w0e300 GPa, w0.03e6000 K.
We conducted synchrotron radiation experiments at the USA
National Synchrotron Light Source, and the European

J. Shu / Geoscience Frontiers 3(1) (2012) 1e8

2.2. The liquid outer core: base at w5149 km, p w328 GPa

Synchrotron Radiation Facility; the SPring-8, Japan Synchrotron

Radiation Research Institute, and the Beijing Synchrotron
Radiation Facility. In this paper we discuss our results and their
relevance to different depth within the planet (Navrosky et al.,
1992; Hirose et al., 1999; Tyburczy, 1999; Hemley et al., 2005,
2009; Mao and Hemley, 2007; Duffy, 2008).
Fig. 1 shows the Earths layered structure. From the Earths
solid inner core, liquid outer core, core-mantle boundary, lower
mantle, transition zone, upper mantle to the Earths crust that have
different temperature and pressure, with different chemical
compositions and physical properties of minerals.

The Earths outer core is liquid iron with an additional light

element component. Under ambient conditions, Fe (iron) crystallizes in the body-centered cubic (bcc) a-Fe structure, and
transforms to face-centered cubic (fcc) g-Fe and d-Fe (also bcc)
with increasing T before melting. At high pressure (above 13 GPa)
iron transforms to the hexagonal close packed (hcp) 3 -Fe phase.
The high p-T behavior of iron has been investigated to 161 GPa
and 3000 K by in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction with doubleside laser-heated diamond cells.

2. Earths core, liquid and solid 3-Fe-rich alloys

(iron)

3. Coreemantle boundary (CMB): post-perovskite

(ppv) in the Earths D00 zone

2.1. The solid inner core: base at w6371 km, pw364 GPa

Earths D00 layer represents the lowermost 130e300 km of the

silicate mantle just above the core. The D00 layer between the
crystalline silicate mantle and molten Fe core displays the largest
contrast in physical and chemical properties of all regions with
ultra-low seismic velocities in the Earth. High pressure experiments and theoretical calculations demonstrate that an iron-rich
ferromagnesian silicate phase, called post-perovskite (ppv),
can be synthesized at the p-T conditions near the core-mantle
boundary. Formation of this new phase from reactions between
the silicate mantle and the iron core may be responsible for the
unusual geophysical and geochemical signatures observed at the
base of the lower mantle. For instance, the high iron content
increases the mean atomic number and density of the silicate and
greatly reduces the seismic velocity, providing a new explanation
for the low velocity and ultra-low velocity zones (Fig. 2).
We compressed orthopyroxene (MgxFe1x)2[Si2O6] with
x Z 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0 (Fs20, Fs40, Fs60, Fs80, and Fs100)
samples to 120e150 GPa in symmetrical diamond-anvil cells.

The Earths inner core (whose main composition is 3 -Fe-Ni alloy)

plays a central role in the evolution and dynamic processes within
the planet. It has been established that the inner core exhibits elastic
anisotropy with compressional waves traveling approximately 3%
faster in the polar versus equatorial direction. There may also be
additional complications in the anisotropic structure within the inner
core. We studied Fe and its alloys, at ultra-high pressures
(>300 GPa) and temperatures (w6000 K) combined with X-ray
diffraction, inelastic scattering and pressureevolume measurements, and found that it gives a smaller magnitude in the anisotropy
and a shape close to sigmoidal (with a faster c and slower a axis).
These observations can help explain inner core properties such as
seismic anisotropy, layering, and super-rotation (Mao et al., 1989,
1990, 1998, 2001; Anderson and Isaak, 2000; Boehler et al., 1990;
Boehler, 1993; Wenk et al., 2000; Ma et al., 2004; Merkel et al.,
2005; Shigemori et al., 2007; Maruyama et al., 2007; Zhao, 2007).

Figure 1 Earths layered structure. The picture of melting of Fe: W, Fl denotes Tungsen (W) fluorescence peaks; Pb, Fl denotes lead (Pb)
fluorescence peaks.

J. Shu / Geoscience Frontiers 3(1) (2012) 1e8

Beveled diamond anvils with flat culet diameter of 90e100 mm
were used to generate the pressure, and rhenium gaskets with laser
drilled hole diameters of 35e50 mm were used to confine the
samples. We found that the ppv-structured ferromagnesian silicates of (FexMg1x)SiO3 with x as high as 0.8 are more stable than
mixed oxides at the pressures of the D00 layer (w130 GPa). Such
low compressional and shear wave velocities and high Poissons
ratios are also observed experimentally in post-perovskite silicate
phases containing up to 40 mol% FeSiO3 end-member. The
iron-rich ppv silicate is stable at the pressure temperature and
chemical environment of the core-mantle boundary and can be
formed by core-mantle reaction. We use a novel composite X-ray
transparent gasket to contain and synthesize ppv at p > 100 GPa
and T w2500 K in a panoramic diamond cell. The results can be
used to understand many longstanding seismic anomalies in the
D00 layer immediately above the core-mantle boundary. Mantle
dynamics may lead to further accumulation of this material into
the ultra-low velocity patches observed by seismology.
The geophysics and geochemistry of Earths interior reflect
properties of the constituent minerals, which may change drastically with phase transitions. The pressure-induced ppv phase in
MgSiO3 was discovered at conditions corresponding to those near
Earths core-mantle boundary, and was fit to the CaIrO3 structure
with space group Cmcm. Subsequent investigations of its physical
and chemical properties have provided new interpretations of
seismic features at the core-mantle boundary. For example, the
ppv phase was found to incorporate a significant amount of Fe,
which lowers seismic velocities. This may provide an explanation
for the presence of ultra-low velocity zones, in which the
compressional wave (vp) and shear wave (vs) velocities are
depressed by 5%e10% and 10%e30%, respectively, relative to
the 1-D average inferred by the Preliminary Reference Earth
Model (PREM). Discovery of this Fe-rich ppv phase may open
a new paradigm for Earths D00 layer and core-mantle boundary,
where the crystalline silicate mantle meets the molten iron core
and the Fe-rich ppv may be the major phase. This phase may play
a central role in Fe exchange and chemical interaction between
core and mantle, and dictate seismic velocities and heat transfer in
the boundary layer (Hirose et al., 1999; Mao et al., 2004, 2006a,b;
Tsuchiya et al., 2005; Wentzcovitch et al., 2006; Yamazaki et al.,
2006; Maruyama et al., 2007; Idehara et al., 2007; Usui et al.,
2008).

4. Ferromagnesian silicate perovskite in the lower

mantle
The lower mantle, Earths largest region, extends from a depth of
600e2890 km, has a mass that is roughly 100 times that of the
crust, and is mainly composed of (Mg, Fe)SiO3 perovskite.
Modern deep-Earth mineralogical research began with highpressure experiments on iron silicate, a major component in the
solid Earth. The discovery of the fayalite (Fe2SiO4) olivineespinel
transition in 1959 marked the first known transition beyond the
upper mantle. The disproportionation of fayalite spinel into mixed
oxides, using the newly invented laser-heated and resistive-heated
diamond-anvil cell in early 1970s, marked the first phase transition under lower mantle conditions.
In the lower-mantle silicate, (FexMg1x)SiO3 perovskite, iron
only participates as a minor component with x < 0.15, even at the
core-mantle boundary (CMB) with an unlimited supply of iron from
the core. Without a stable iron-rich silicate phase, previous explanations of the complex geochemical and geophysical signatures of
the D00 layer have been limited to heterogeneous, solid/melt mixtures
of iron-poor silicates and iron-rich metals and oxides. In the Earths
crust, upper mantle, and transition zone, iron silicates form extensive
solid solutions with the magnesium end-members in major
rock-forming minerals, e.g., fayalite in a-(Fe, Mg)2SiO4 (olivine),
ferrosilite in (Fe, Mg)SiO3 (pyroxene), almandine in (Fe, Mg)3Al2Si3O12 (garnet), and fayalite spinel in g-(Fe, Mg)2SiO4 (ringwoodite). No iron-rich silicate, however, was known to exist under
the high pressure-temperature (p-T ) conditions beyond the 670 km
discontinuity that accounts for approximately three quarters of the
Earths total silicates and oxides. Following Birchs 1952 postulation,
iron-rich silicates break down to mixed oxides in the lower mantle
(Mao et al., 1991; Fei et al., 1992b; Li et al., 2004; Jackson et al.,
2005; Tsuchiya et al., 2005; Tsuchiya and Tsuchiya, 2006).
2Fe; Mg SiO3 Z Fe; Mg2 SiO4
SiO2
Pyroxene
Ringwoodite
Stishovite
Fe; Mg2 SiO4 Z 2Fe; MgO
SiO2
Ringwoodite
Magnesiowustite Stishovite

5. The Earths crust and mantle: (Fe, Mg)O, silica

(SiO2), and silicates
In the Earths crust and mantle over a wide p-T range, there are
lots of Fe/Mg oxides and silica (SiO2).

5.1. Wustite (Fe1xO) and magnesiowustite (Fe1xMgxO)

Figure 2 Fe-rich post-perovskite in ultra-low velocity zone.

FexMg1xSiO3 with the ppv (CaIrO3) structure accomodates Fe
concentrations as high as x Z 0.8 and may explain the presence of low
velocity and ultra-low velocity zones (LVZ and ULVZ) in the D00 layer
(Mao et al., 2006a,b).

High pressure and high temperature X-ray diffraction by

synchrotron light source of w
ustite (Fe1xO) and magnesiow
ustite (Fe1xMgxO) with x Z 0.05, 0.10, 0.20, 0.40, 0.60 has
been performed with different types of diamond cells, each one
designed to optimize a type of in-situ study, namely: (1) Single
crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, (2) Deviatoric strain
measurement, and (3) Simultaneous HP-T experimentation.
The results demonstrate that:
(a) Above 17 GPa at 300 K (for Fe1xO), above 21 GPa at 300 K
(for Fe0.95Mg0.05O), above 25 GPa at 300 K (for

J. Shu / Geoscience Frontiers 3(1) (2012) 1e8

Fe0.90Mg0.10O), and above 25e40 GPa at 300 K (for

Fe0.80Mg0.20O and Fe0.60Mg0.40O), wustite and magnesiowustite undergo a displacive transition from the NaCl-type
(B1) structure to a rhombohedral structure. No phase transition was observed for (Fe0.40Mg0.60O) up to 48 GPa. The
other end member, MgO does not show any structural transformation up to 227 GPa, suggesting that the cubic to
rhombohedral transition pressure increases with increasing
magnesium content.
(b) Above 90 GPa at 600 K, there is a second transition to the NiAstype (B8) structure for Fe1xO (Fei et al., 1992a; Mao et al.,
1996, 2002; Shu et al., 1998; Singh et al., 1998a, 1998b;
Badro et al., 1999; Merkel et al., 2002; Yamazaki and Karato,
2002; Tsuchiya et al., 2006; Lin et al., 2009; Fig. 3).

and found to be unrelated to each other, or to the host diamond.

Measurements of 56 diffraction peaks of the small coesite single
crystal gave the lattice parameters a Z 7.033 (9) 
A, b Z 12.308 (4)

A, c Z 7.115 (5) 
A, b Z 120.6 (1) and V Z 529.8 (1) 
A3.
Measurements of 97 diffraction peaks of the large coesite single
crystal give the lattice parameters: a Z 7.039 (1) 
A, b Z 12.306(1)

A, c Z 7.136 (4) 
A, b Z 120.3 (2) , and V Z 533.6 (2) 
A3. By using
the pressure-volume equation of state of coesite determined in
diamond cells, the corresponding pressures are 3.44 (10) GPa and
2.62 (10) GPa for the small and large crystals, respectively. The
pressures from the X-ray and Raman measurements 3.62(18) and
2.76(18) GPa are in good agreement. Owing to the unique combination of physical properties of coesite and diamond, this coesitein-diamond geobarometer is virtually independent of temperature,
allowing an estimation of the initial pressure of Venezuela diamond
formation of 5.5(5) GPa (Sobolev et al., 2000) (Figs. 4 and 5).

5.2. SiO2: a-quartz, b-quartz, coesite

5.3. SiO2: stishovite and post-stishovite
The polymorphism of silica (SiO2) is relevant to a wide range of
fields that includes physics, materials science, and geosciences.
The stable forms of SiO2 in rocks of the Earths upper continental
crust include:
1) a-quartz, with a trigonal structure. Space group P3121 or
P3221, a Z 4.913 
A, c Z 5.402 
A, Z Z 3, V Z 112.9 
A3 ,
3
r Z 2.649 g/cm .
2) Hexagonal b-quartz, which is stable within the temperature
range from 573  C to about 800  C at pressures of 1 bar to
1 GPa. Space group P6222 or P6422, a Z 5.01 
A, c Z 5.47 
A,
V Z 118.11 
A3, r Z 2.533 g/cm3.
3) Coesite, which has a monocline structure. Space group C2/c,
a Z 7.23 
A, b Z 12.52 
A, c Z 7.23 
A, b Z 120 ,
3
3

V Z 540.9 A , r Z 2.93 g/cm . The quartz-coesite-transition
takes place in the pressure range 3e4 GPa, at high
temperature.
We used synchrotron single crystal micro X-ray diffraction
technique to measure the high-pressure coesite inclusions from
a Venezuela diamond, and obtained very nice cell parameters from
diffraction peaks of two coesite single crystals. The coesite
diffraction peaks are sharp, and rocking curves are tight (e.g., 0.5 ),
indicating homogeneously strained single crystals. The orientation
matrices of the two coesite inclusions were determined separately

The coesite to stishovite transition might contribute to pressure

calibration around 10 GPa at high temperatures. Stishovite is
tetragonal with rutile-structure (P42/mnm), a Z 4.180 
A,
c Z 2.667 
A, V Z 46.591 (1) 
A3. A high-pressure single crystal Xray diffraction study of stishovite has been completed up 16 GPa. The
compressibility of stishvoite is anisotropic with a being approximately twice as compressible as c. Consequently, the axial ratio c/
a increases with pressure. The observed unit-cell compression gives
an isothermal bulk modulus of 313 GPa using the Birch-Murnaghan
equation of state. The SiO6 octahedra in stishvoite show no change in
distortion with in creasing pressure. The polyhedral bulk modulus of
SiO6 is 346 GPa, the largest known value among octahedral units of
rutile-type oxides (Ross et al., 1990).
Single crystal X-ray diffraction measurements of stishovite
have been carried out to above 65 GPa using energy dispersive
synchrotron radiation. The sample is a 5 mm  10 mm single
crystal of stishovite in a hydrogen medium (300 K) loaded in
a single crystal diamond cell. We have first conducted experiments above 65 GPa and have obtained nice single-crystal
diffraction peaks. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction patterns
clearly reveal that the tetragonal (rutile structure, P42/mnm) to
orthorhombic (CaCl2 structure, Pnnm) transition occurs under
nearly hydrostatic pressures of about 50 GPa (Hemley et al.,
2000; Fig. 6).

Figure 3 Three different structures of w

ustite (Fe1xO) and magnesiow
ustite (Fe1xMgxO). Progressive transformations in the high-pressure
phases of FeO (C-Fe, B-O). From left to right: cubic NaCl (B1), rhombohedral, highly distorted rhombohedral, and NiAs (B8) structures (Mao
et al., 1996).

J. Shu / Geoscience Frontiers 3(1) (2012) 1e8

Coesite in Diamond
394
464
192
273
181
Intensity

172

253

143

233

*
I

141

040

031

*
Figure 4 Coesite inclusions in the Venezuela diamond studied by
X-ray diffraction and the Raman spectroscopy. Larger grain (close to
the center) is surrounded by cracks, but around the smaller triangular
grain (upper right side) there are no cracks. The oval grain that is out
of focus (upper left corner) is clinopyroxene as was confirmed by
Raman spectroscopy. The presence of clinopyroxene inclusion
confirms a coesite eclogite assemblage of the diamond. The diamond
size is about 2 mm (Sobolev et al., 2000).

5.4. Chromite (FeCr2O4)

Chromite (FeCr2O4), an end-member mineral in the spinel group,
is a common accessory mineral occurring in the Earths crust and
mantle over a wide range of pressures and temperatures. Two new,
natural post-spinel polymorphs of chromite, CaFe2O4 (CF) type
structure and CaTi2O4 (CT) type structure, have been discovered
in the shock veins of the Suizhou meteorite. To investigate the p-T
conditions for the formation of the high-pressure polymorphs of
chromite, we performed a series of synthesis experiments at
pressures of 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, 20, and 25 GPa. A natural
crystal of chromite with a similar chemical composition as the
chromite in the Suizhou meteorite was used as the starting
material, which contains w(MgO) Z 5.85%, w(Al2O3) Z 3.44%,
w(TiO2) Z 0.16%, w(V2O5) Z 0.12%, w(Cr2O3) Z 59.69%,
w(MnO) Z 0.65%, w(FeO) Z 30.11%. Chromite samples were
ground to a grain size of <1 mm. NaCl was used for the pressure
medium in the sample chamber. A double-sided laser
heating system was used to heat the sample from both sides of the
cell. The heating temperature of samples (2000  C) was determined by measuring the thermal emission with a spectrometer/
charge-coupled device detector. After heating, the samples
were decompressed and mounted on glass slides for X-ray
analysis.
Polished thin sections of the Suizhou meteorite were prepared
from the shock-vein-bearing fragments (Fig. 7). The petrology and
chemical compositions of the samples were investigated by optical
microscopy, scanning electron microscopy in backscattered

*
*
20

121
051

30

40
50
Energy (KeV)

60

Figure 5 Single-crystal energy dispersive X-ray diffraction patterns

measured on the small coesite inclusion, collected at fixed
A; 1 eV Z 1.602  1019 J) and
2q Z 10.002 (Ed Z 70.094 keV 
room temperature. Reflections of 14 different hkl, randomly picked
from a total of 56, are shown. Each reflection was obtained at a distinct
c, u diffraction direction dictated by the orientation matrix of the single
crystal. Short vertical ticks mark the overtones (nh nk nl ), and the
asterisks mark Ge detector escape peaks (Sobolev et al., 2000).

electron mode, and electron microprobe. Both the meteorite

samples and the quenched products recovered from high p-T
experiments were analyzed by synchrotron X-ray diffraction for
phase identification and crystal structure determination.
Our experiments indicate that chromite-spinel transforms to
the CF structure at 12.5 GPa and to the CT structure at 20 GPa.
We synthesized a pure CT phase and a CF phase with some
residue of chromite. The diffraction patterns from the CF and CT
phases were collected in addition to those from chromite. The p-T
conditions for synthesizing samples are coincident with the highpressure mineral assemblage of shock veins of the Suizhou
meteorite.
At ambient pressure and room temperature, the chromite
(FeCr2O4), has spinel structure (space group Fm3m, cell parameters a Z 8.338 
A, V Z 579.7(3) 
A3, r Z 5.13 g/cm3, Z Z 8).
At 12.5 GPa, w2000 K, the chromite transforms to CaFe2O4
(CF) type structure (Pnma, a Z 8.954(7) 
A, b Z 2.986(2) 
A,
3


c Z 9.891 (7) A, V Z 264.5(4) A , Z Z 4, r Z 5.62 g/cm3). This
phase is 9.4% denser than chromite.
At 20 GPa, w2000 K, the chromite transforms to CaTi2O4
(CT) type structure (Cmcm, a Z 9.467(5) 
A, b Z 9.550(7) 
A,
3


c Z 2.905(2) A, V Z 262.6(4) A , Z Z 4, r Z 5.65 g/cm3). This
phase is 10.1% denser than chromite.

J. Shu / Geoscience Frontiers 3(1) (2012) 1e8

Figure 6 a: Examples of single-crystal energy dispersive X-ray

diffraction patterns measured on a 5  10 mm single crystal of
orthorhombic Pnnm SiO2 at 65.4 GPa in a hydrogen medium (300 K);
each reflection corresponds to a different combination of u and
c(2q Z 15 ). The vertical dotted line is indicative of the orthorhombic
distortion; b: Lattice parameters as a function of pressure. The singlecrystal X-ray diffraction results are shown by the solid squares
(compression) and open squares (decompression). Triangles:
low-pressure single-crystal X-ray diffraction; circles, polycrystalline
diffraction with no medium. The solid line shows the results of the
Landau model fit. The dashed lines (guides to the eye) indicate the
measured hysteresis (Hemley et al., 2000).

At 25 GPa and 300 K, the FeCr2O4 transforms to a CaAl2O4 (CA)

structure (Pnma, a Z 8.486(2) 
A, b Z 8.545(1) 
A, c Z 6.741(1) 
A,
V Z 488.8(3) 
A, r Z 6.090 g/cm3, Z Z 8). This phase is 11.87%
denser than chromite (Chen et al., 2003a, 2003b; Shu et al., 2007).

Figure 7 Back-scattered electron (BSE) images of shockmetamorphosed chromite-spinel grains. A: chromite grain was transformed to a CT phase zone (CT) contacting with the shock vein, and
partially to a CF phase zone (CF) between the CT phase zone and the
chromite zone (Ch) apart from the shock vein. The CF phase occurs as
lamella-like slices associating with a chromite matrix, and two to
three sets of slices are observed. On the image, both the CT and CF
phases are brighter then chromite. Pyx Z Pyroxen; B: BSE image
showing that a high density of CF phase slices occurs in neighboring
areas to the CT phase zone, but some slices distribute in the chromite
zone apart from the shock vein (Chen et al., 2003a,b).

to open a window to planetary interiors study. The above examples

of 3 -Fe in the metallic solid inner core and metallic liquid outer
core, the post-perovskite (ppv) in the Earths D00 zone, the ferromagnesian silicate perovskite in the lower mantle, the nonmetallic
silicates and oxides (Fe, Mg) O and (SiO2) present in the mantle
and the Earths crust, and permafrost regions illustrate that
application of multiple techniques to the same materials under
extreme conditions can shed important new light on the
phenomena in question.

6. Summary
Acknowledgments
We have simulated Earths extreme P-T conditions, using a variety
of diamond anvil cells coupled with heating devices, combining
with a suite of in-situ synchrotron radiation techniques (e.g. single
crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, spectroscopy, and imaging)

The author thanks Stanford University, Department of Geological

& Environmental Science and Photon Science, SLAC, Dr. Wendy
L. Mao, and Carnegie Institution of Washington, Geophysical

J. Shu / Geoscience Frontiers 3(1) (2012) 1e8

Laboratory, Dr. Ho-kwang Mao, Dr. Russel J. Hemley, Dr. Wenge
Yang, Dr. Christopher Seagle and Dr. Daniel R. Hummer for their
critical reviews. This work is supported by NSF EAR-1119504.

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