Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects

HE Yu; SUN Shichuan; LI Heping

doi:10.11858/gywlxb.20240707

Volume 38 Issue 3

Jun 2024

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Chinese Journal of High Pressure Physics > 2024 > 38(3): 030202.

HE Yu, SUN Shichuan, LI Heping. Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects[J]. Chinese Journal of High Pressure Physics, 2024, 38(3): 030202. doi: 10.11858/gywlxb.20240707

Citation:

HE Yu, SUN Shichuan, LI Heping. Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects[J]. Chinese Journal of High Pressure Physics, 2024, 38(3): 030202. doi: 10.11858/gywlxb.20240707

HE Yu, SUN Shichuan, LI Heping. Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects[J]. Chinese Journal of High Pressure Physics, 2024, 38(3): 030202. doi: 10.11858/gywlxb.20240707

Citation:

HE Yu, SUN Shichuan, LI Heping. Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects[J]. Chinese Journal of High Pressure Physics, 2024, 38(3): 030202. doi: 10.11858/gywlxb.20240707

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Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects

doi: 10.11858/gywlxb.20240707

Key Laboratory of High-Temperature and High-Pressure Study of the Earth’s Interior, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, Guizhou, China

Received Date: 09 Jan 2024
Rev Recd Date: 29 Feb 2024

Available Online: 10 May 2024

Issue Publish Date: 03 Jun 2024

Abstract

Abstract

Under the conditions of high temperature and high pressure, a series of materials transform into superionic states, which fall between the solid and liquid states and are widely believed to exist in the interior of Earth and exoplanets. Computational research has found that under the temperature and pressure of the Earth’s inner core, iron-hydrogen, iron-carbon, and iron-oxygen alloys transform to superionic states, manifested as elements such as hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen flowing rapidly like liquids in solid iron alloys. The flowing light elements cause softening of Fe alloys and a decrease in seismic wave velocities, explaining the characteristics of core density deficient and low shear wave velocity observed in geophysics. The superionic iron-hydrogen alloy in the core can interact with the geomagnetic field, forming a lattice preferred orientation fiber driven by a dipole geomagnetic field, explaining the origin of the anisotropic structure in the inner core. The discovery of superionic iron-light-element alloys in the inner core has updated our understanding of the state of the inner core, and is of great significance for understanding the structure, composition, and evolution of Earth’s inner core, as well as the relationship between the inner core structure and the Earth’s magnetic field.
- superionic state,
- Earth’s inner core,
- Fe alloy,
- anisotropic structure,
- first-principles calculations

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References(67)

References

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Superionic Iron Alloys in Earth’s Inner Core and Their Effects

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