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Abstract
Despite being a widespread and common process, the impact of passive volcanic degassing on the pressurization state of a magma reservoir is not well understood. If mass loss due to gas emissions results in reservoir depressurization and surface subsidence, the pressure difference between a shallow reservoir and deep magma source may result in magma recharge and eventually trigger an eruption. It is therefore important to determine how a simplified reservoir-conduit system responds to such degassing processes. Here we use an extreme example of persistent volcanic degassing-Ambrym-as a case study to relate sulphur dioxide mass flux with reservoir depressurization and edifice-scale subsidence, both measured from satellite-based remote sensing observations. A geodetic inversion of surface displacements measured with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar modeled using the Boundary Element Method provides bounds on the reservoir pressure change during an episode of subsidence at Ambrym from 2015 to 2017. These results are input into a lumped parameter theoretical model developed by Girona et al. (2014), and the free parameters (e.g., reservoir size and conduit radius) are systematically explored. We find that the 2015-2017 subsidence episode is consistent with pressure decreasing at a rate of -5.2 to -2.0 MPa year-1 in a reservoir at ~2 km b.s.l., as a result of passive degassing. The subsidence episode is observed to end abruptly in October 2017, and no significant deformation is detected in the 14 months leading up to a rift zone intrusion and submarine eruption in December 2018, despite substantial degassing. We explain this lack of pre-eruptive deformation by an influx of ~0.16 km3 of magma into a shallow (< 2 km b.s.l.) reservoir that counterbalances the depressurization caused by degassing. This recharge volume is comparable with the volume of magma subsequently extracted from Ambrym's reservoir in December 2018. We conclude that at some open-vent passively degassing volcanoes, deflation caused by degassing may reduce or even cancel any inflation signal caused by magma influx. Nonetheless, detection of pre -eruptive recharge can be achieved by monitoring changes in the long-term deformation rate. (C)& nbsp;2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Abstract
Photometric observations of occultations of transiting exoplanets can place important constraints on the thermal emission and albedos of their atmospheres. We analyse photometric measurements and derive geometric albedo (A(g)) constraints for five hot Jupiters observed with TESS in the optical: WASP-18 b, WASP-36 b, WASP-43 b, WASP-50 b, and WASP-51 b. For WASP-43 b, our results are complemented by a VLT/HAWK-I observation in the near-infrared at 2.09 mu m. We derive the first geometric albedo constraints for WASP-50 b and WASP-51 b: A(g) < 0.445 and A(g) < 0.368, respectively. We find that WASP-43 b and WASP-18 b are both consistent with low geometric albedos (A(g) < 0.16) even though they lie at opposite ends of the hot Jupiter temperature range with equilibrium temperatures of similar to 1400 K and similar to 2500 K, respectively. We report self-consistent atmospheric models that explain broad-band observations for both planets from TESS, HST, Spitzer, and VLT/HAWK-I. We find that the data of both hot Jupiters can be explained by thermal emission alone and inefficient day-night energy redistribution. The data do not require optical scattering from clouds/hazes, consistent with the low geometric albedos observed.
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Abstract
Volatile abundances in lunar mantle are critical factors to consider for constraining the model of Moon formation. Recently, the earlier understanding of a "dry" Moon has shifted to a fairly "wet" Moon due to the detection of measurable amount of H2O in lunar volcanic glass beads, mineral grains, and olivine-hosted melt inclusions. The ongoing debate on a "dry" or "wet" Moon requires further studies on lunar melt inclusions to obtain a broader understanding of volatile abundances in the lunar mantle. One important uncertainty for lunar melt inclusion studies, however, is whether the homogenization of melt inclusions would cause volatile loss. In this study, a series of homogenization experiments were conducted on olivine-hosted melt inclusions from the sample 74220 to evaluate the possible loss of volatiles during homogenization of lunar melt inclusions. Our results suggest that significant loss of H2O could occur even during minutes of homogenization, while F, Cl and S in the inclusions remain unaffected.
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Abstract
Earth's Moon was thought to be highly depleted in volatiles due to its formation by a giant impact. Over the last decade, however, evidence has been found in apatites, lunar volcanic glass beads, nominally anhydrous minerals and olivine-hosted melt inclusions, to support a relatively "wet" Moon. In particular, based on H2O/Ce, F/Nd, and S/Dy ratios, recent melt inclusion (MI) work estimated volatile (H2O, F, and S) abundances in lunar rocks to be similar to or slightly lower than the terrestrial depleted mantle. Uncertainties still occur, however, in whether the limited numbers of lunar samples studied are representative of the primitive lunar mantle, and whether the high H2O/Ce ratio for pyroclastic sample 74220 is due to local heterogeneity. In this paper, we report major element, trace element, volatile, and transition metal data in MIs for 5 mare basalt samples (10020, 12040, 15016, 15647 and 74235) and a pyroclastic deposit (74220).
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Abstract
Graphite capsules are commonly used in high-temperature, high-pressure experiments, particularly for nominally anhydrous experiments and iron-bearing silicate samples. Due to the presence of graphite in the sample assembly, the oxygen fugacity for these experiments is thought to be relatively low, typically at or below the graphite-CO-CO2 buffer (CCO). The detailed mechanism and kinetics of redox control in graphite capsule experiments are, however, poorly understood. This is especially problematic for short duration experiments (e.g. kinetic experiments), because it is uncertain whether the experimental product will preserve its initial oxygen fugacity, or become reduced during the experiment. In this study, a set of basaltic glasses after high-temperature experiments in graphite capsules were analyzed by micro X-ray absorption near-edge structure (mu-XANES) to obtain their Fe3+/sigma Fe profiles near the graphite-melt interface. The results show rapid reduction of ferric iron in the basaltic melt, reaching near-equilibrium in half an hour for samples of 2 mm diameter and 1.3-1.9 mm thickness. Even for a "time-zero" experiment, which was quenched immediately after reaching the target temperature, the reduction profile is over 100 mu m in length. By comparing experiments at the same temperature and pressure but with different durations, the reduction reaction progress is found to be linear to the square root of duration, indicating that the reduction process is diffusion-controlled. Such a rapid reduction of the basaltic melt requires a mechanism that is significantly faster than divalent cation diffusion or oxygen diffusion, and is best explained by molecular hydrogen diffusion. It has been shown by previous studies that nominally anhydrous high-pressure experiments could contain significant amounts of water. Thousands of ppm of H2O could remain in the graphite capsule even after drying at 120 degrees C for an extended time period. At high temperatures, H2O reacts with graphite to produce molecular hydrogen, which then diffuses into the basaltic glass and causes reduction. This mechanism is also supported by a compensating H2O profile of equivalent length in the basaltic glass, showing evidence for H2O produced by molecular hydrogen reacting with ferric iron. A quantitative model is proposed and it successfully reproduces the Fe3+/sigma Fe profiles in our experiments. The model helps explain the kinetics of the reduction process and demonstrates that for a basaltic glass with reasonable initial FeO* content, Fe3+/sigma Fe ratios, and thicknesses, the equilibrium oxidation state can usually be reached in one hour at similar to 1300 degrees C and similar to 0.5 GPa. Although extrapolating our conclusion to the large range of graphite capsule experiments requires knowledge on how H-2 solubility and diffusivity varies as a function of silicate composition, temperature, and pressure, the reduction process is expected to be rapid in general because H-2 diffusivity is high in silicate melts. Our study elucidates the mechanism and rate of oxygen fugacity change in graphite capsule experiments. Based on thermodynamic calculations, the reaction between graphite capsule and H2O is expected to produce a C-O-H fluid with an intrinsic oxygen fugacity of CCO -0.
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Abstract
High-pressure COH fluids have a fundamental role in a variety of geological processes. Their composition in terms of volatile species can control the solidus temperature and carbonation/decarbonation reactions, as well as influence the amount of solutes generated during fluid-rock interaction at depth. Over the last decades, several systems have been experimentally investigated to unravel the effect of COH fluids at upper-mantle conditions. However, fluid composition is rarely tackled as a quantitative issue, and rather infrequently fluids are analyzed in the same way as the associated solid phases in the experimental assemblage. A comprehensive characterization of carbon-bearing aqueous fluids in terms of composition is hampered by experimental difficulties in synthetizing and analyzing high-pressure fluids without altering their composition upon quenching.
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Abstract
Several characteristics of a planet, including its internal dynamics, hinge on the composition and crystallization regime of the core, which, in turn, depends on the phase relations, melting behaviour and thermodynamic properties of constituent materials. The Fe-Si-C ternary system can serve as a proxy for core composition and formation processes under reducing conditions. We conducted laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments coupled with in situ X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy analysis of the recovered samples, on four different starting compositions in the Fe-Si-C ternary system. Phase relations up to 200 GPa and up to 4000 K were determined. An FeSi phase with a B2 structure and iron carbides with different stoichiometries (i.e., Fe3C and Fe7C3) are the main observed phases, along with pure C (diamond) that has an extended stability field in the subsolidus regime. Carbon is largely soluble in B2-structured FeSi, whereas Si does not partition into the carbides. The melting curve determined for the starting material containing the least amount of light elements is consistent with the one for the Fe-C system. The other starting materials display higher melting temperatures than that of Fe-C, suggesting the existence of at least two different invariant points in the Fe-Si-C system. Applied to planetary interiors, our observations highlight how a small variation in light elements content would deeply affect the solidification style of a core. Bottom-up (Fe-enriched systems) and top-down regimes (C-rich systems), as well as solidification of a crystal mush (Si-enriched systems). These three crystallization regimes influence significantly the possibility of starting and sustaining a dynamo. Our results provide new insights into the differentiation of terrestrial planets in the Solar System and beyond, contributing to the study of planetary diversity. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Abstract
The electrical resistivity of solid and liquid Cu and Au were measured at high pressures from 6 up to 12 GPa and temperatures similar to 150 K above melting. The resistivity of the metals was also measured as a function of pressure at room temperature. Their resistivity decreased and increased with increasing pressure and temperature, respectively. With increasing pressure at room temperature, we observed a sharp reduction in the magnitude of resistivity at similar to 4 GPa in both metals. In comparison with 1 atm data and relatively lower pressure data from previous studies, our measured temperature-dependent resistivity in the solid and liquid states show a similar trend. The observed melting temperatures at various fixed pressure are in reasonable agreement with previous experimental and theoretical studies. Along the melting curve, the present study found the resistivity to be constant within the range of our investigated pressure (6-12 GPa) in agreement with the theoretical prediction. Our results indicate that the invariant resistivity theory could apply to the simple metals but at higher pressure above 5 GPa. These results were discussed in terms of the saturation of the dominant nuclear screening effect caused by the increasing difference in energy level between the Fermi level and the d-band with increasing pressure.
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Abstract
On compression of alpha-cristobalite SiO2 to pressures above approximately 12 GPa, a new polymorph known as cristobalite X-I forms. The existence of cristobalite X-I has been known for several decades; however, consensus regarding its exact atomic arrangement has not yet been reached. The X-I phase constitutes an important step in the silica densification process, separating low-density tetrahedral framework phases from high-density octahedral polymorphs. It is the only nonquenchable high-density SiO(2 )phase, which reverts to the low-density form on decompression at ambient temperature. Recently, an experimental study proposed an octahedral model of SiO2 X-I with intrinsic structural defects involving partial Si site occupancies. In contrast, our new single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments have shown that the ideal structure of this phase should instead be described by a defect-free model, which does not require partial occupancies. The structure of cristobalite X-I consists of octahedral chains with a 4-60 degrees-2 zigzag chain geometry. This geometry has not been previously considered but is closely related to post-quartz, stishovite, and seifertite. In addition to the ideal, defect-free crystal structure, we also present a description of the defects that are most likely to form within the X-I phase. Density functional theory calculations support our observations, confirming the dynamic stability of the X-I geometry and reasonably reproducing the pressure of the phase transformation. The enthalpy of cristobalite X-I is higher than stishovite and seifertite, but X-I is favored as a high-pressure successor of cristobalite due to a unique transformation pathway. Elastic and lattice dynamical properties of the X-I phase show intermediate values between stable tetrahedral and octahedral polymorphs, confirming the bridge-role of this phase in SiO2 densification.
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Abstract
As evidenced by isotope geochemistry, the persistence of primitive reservoirs indicates that the earth's lower mantle is likely to be heterogeneous. Such heterogeneity could be a legacy from magma-ocean (MO) solidification. The viscosity of MO is a key parameter to constrain the solidification type of MO. Here we directly measure the viscosity of peridotite (an analog of MO composition) melt at the pressure-temperature conditions of the deep mantle, using the in situ falling sphere method. The viscosity of peridotite melt along liquidus is in the range of 38-17 mPa s at pressures from 7 to 25 GPa, which is 0.9-0.4 times of the estimation based on the viscosity of endmember compositions. Low viscosity favors fractional solidification and chemically layering of the early mantle at least to the top lower mantle, which could be a source of heterogeneity for the present mantle.
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