Influence of precipitating light elements on stable stratification below the core/mantle boundary

Stable stratification below the core/mantle boundary is often invoked to explain anomalously low seismic velocities in this region. Diffusion of light elements like oxygen or, more slowly, silicon could create a stabilizing chemical gradient in the outermost core. Heat flow less than that conducted along the adiabatic gradient may also produce thermal stratification. However, reconciling either origin with the apparent longevity (>3.45 billion years) of Earth's magnetic field remains difficult. Sub-isentropic heat flow would not drive a dynamo by thermal convection before the nucleation of the inner core, which likely occurred less than one billion years ago and did not instantly change the heat flow. Moreover, an oxygen-enriched layer below the core/mantle boundary—the source of thermal buoyancy—could establish double-diffusive convection where motion in the bulk fluid is suppressed below a slowly advancing interface. Here we present new models that explain both stable stratification and a long-lived dynamo by considering ongoing precipitation of magnesium oxide and/or silicon dioxide from the core. Lithophile elements may partition into iron alloys under extreme pressure and temperature during Earth's formation, especially after giant impacts. Modest core/mantle heat flow then drives compositional convection—regardless of thermal conductivity—since their solubility is strongly temperature-dependent. Our models begin with bulk abundances for the mantle and core determined by the redox conditions during accretion. We then track equilibration between the core and a primordial basal magma ocean followed by downward diffusion of light elements. Precipitation begins at a depth that is most sensitive to temperature and oxygen abundance and then creates feedbacks with the radial thermal and chemical profiles. Successful models feature a stable layer with low seismic velocity (which mandates multi-component evolution since a single light element typically increases seismic velocity) growing to its present-day size while allowing enough precipitation to drive compositional convection below. Crucially, this modeling offers unique constrains on Earth's accretion and the light element composition of the core compared to degenerate estimates derived from bulk density and seismic measurements.