Shock-Induced Melting and Vaporization of MgO by Multi-Mbar Shock and Release Experiments
Abstract
The thermal state of the Earth after the final giant impact event is uncertain due to the lack of accurate wide-ranging equations of state for mantle minerals. In particular, current models for shock-induced melting and vaporization of the refractory phases within the Earth's mantle are poorly constrained due to the difficulty in reaching and measuring states in the relevant regions of the phase diagram. Using the Z-machine at Sandia National Laboratory, we performed high velocity (15-25 km/s) planar impact experiments onto MgO. We use a novel shock, release, and stagnation technique to determine the density of MgO along the liquid branch of the liquid-vapor dome. This region of the phase diagram is inaccessible to most static techniques and these experiments represent the first measurements of their kind. We will present our measurements of the temperature and density along the liquid-vapor dome of MgO and discuss the utility of these measurements in developing wide-ranging multi-phase equation of state models. We will also present a new model for the entropy along the principal Hugoniot of MgO, which we use to derive the criteria for shock-induced melting and vaporization and to address the commonly made assumption that the Moon-forming impact event melted Earth's entire mantle. We acknowledge support from NNSA SSGF, NNSA HEDLP, and the Z Fundamental Science User Program. We also thank the Z facility staff and technicians. Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFMMR23B2411K
- Keywords:
-
- 3919 MINERAL PHYSICS / Equations of state;
- 3944 MINERAL PHYSICS / Shock wave experiments