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Detailed Reference Information
Ahrens et al. 2002
Ahrens, T.J., Holland, K.G. and Chen, G.Q. (2002). Phase diagram of iron, revised-core temperatures. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL014350. issn: 0094-8276.

Shock-wave experiments on iron preheated to 1573 K from 14 to 73 GPa, yield sound velocities of the γ- and liquid-phases. Melting is observed in the highest pressure (~71 ¿ 2 GPa) experiments at calculated shock temperatures of 2775 ¿ 160 K. This single crossing of the γ-liquid boundary agrees with the γ-iron melting line of Boehler <1993>, Saxena et al. <1993>, and Jephcoat and Besedin <1997>. This γ-iron melting curve is ~300¿C lower than that of Shen et al. <1998> at 80 GPa. In agreement with Brown <2001> the discrepancy between the diamond cell melting data and the iron shock temperatures require the occurrence of yet another sub-solidus phase along the principal Hugoniot at ~200 GPa. This would reconcile the static and dynamic data for iron's melting curve. Upward pressure and temperature extrapolation of the γ-iron melting curve to 330 GPa yields 5300 ¿ 400 K for the inner core-outer core boundary temperature.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Tectonophysics, Earth's interior--composition and state, Mineral Physics, Equations of state, Mineral Physics, High-pressure behavior, Mineral Physics, Shock wave experiments
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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