Persistence of strong silica-enriched domains in the Earth’s lower mantle

• Published in: Nature geoscience Vol. 10; no. 3; pp. 236 - 240
• Main Authors: Ballmer, Maxim D., Houser, Christine, Hernlund, John W., Wentzcovitch, Renata M., Hirose, Kei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Earth science; Phase transitions; Rheology; Tomography; Viscosity; New York; United States > US
• ISSN: 1752-0894; 1752-0908
• DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2898

The composition of the lower mantle--comprising 56% of Earth's volume--remains poorly constrained. Among the major elements, Mg/Si ratios ranging from ∼0.9-1.1, such as in rocky Solar-System building blocks (or chondrites), to ∼1.2-1.3, such as in upper-mantle rocks (or pyrolite), have been proposed. Geophysical evidence for subducted lithosphere deep in the mantle has been interpreted in terms of efficient mixing, and thus homogenous Mg/Si across most of the mantle. However, previous models did not consider the effects of variable Mg/Si on the viscosity and mixing efficiency of lower-mantle rocks. Here, we use geodynamic models to show that large-scale heterogeneity associated with a 20-fold change in viscosity, such as due to the dominance of intrinsically strong (Mg, Fe)SiO3 -bridgmanite in low-Mg/Si domains, is sufficient to prevent efficient mantle mixing, even on large scales. Models predict that intrinsically strong domains stabilize mantle convection patterns, and coherently persist at depths of about 1,000-2,200 km up to the present-day, separated by relatively narrow up-/downwelling conduits of pyrolitic material. The stable manifestation of such bridgmanite-enriched ancient mantle structures (BEAMS) may reconcile the geographical fixity of deep-rooted mantle upwelling centres, and geophysical changes in seismic-tomography patterns, radial viscosity, rising plumes and sinking slabs near 1,000 km depth. Moreover, these ancient structures may provide a reservoir to host primordial geochemical signatures.