Effect of Phase Transformations on Seismic Velocities

The radial velocity structure of the Earth consists of smooth variations of velocities with depth punctuated by abrupt changes of velocity, which are typically due to multivariant phase transformations, where high - low pressure phases can coexist. In this mixed phase region, both the effective shear and bulk moduli will be significantly reduced by the dynamic interaction of the propagating wave and the phase transition if the period of the wave is long enough relative to the kinetic time so that some of the transition can take place. In this presentation, we will give examples from both laboratory studies of phases transitions of Earth minerals and the calculated velocity profile based on our models. We focus on understanding the time limiting factor of the phase transformation in order to extrapolate laboratory results to Earth observations. Both the olivine to ringwoodite transition and KLB-1 partial melting are explored. We find that when the transformation requires diffusion, the kinetics are often slowed down considerably and as a result the diffusivity of atoms become the limiting factor of characteristic time. Specifically Fe-Mg exchange rate in the olivine-ringwoodite phase transition becomes the limiting factor that seismic waves are likely to sample. On the other hand, partial melting is an extremely fast phase transformation at seismic wave periods. We present evidence that ultrasonic waves, with a period of a few tens of nanoseconds, are slowed by the reduction of the effective elastic moduli in this case.