Experimentally determined postspinel transformation boundary in Mg2SiO4 using MgO as an internal pressure standard and its geophysical implications -: art. no. B02305

[1] We have determined the postspinel transformation boundary in Mg2SiO4 by combining quench technique with in situ pressure measurements, using multiple internal pressure standards including Au, MgO, and Pt. The experimentally determined boundary is in general agreement with previous in situ measurements in which the Au scale of Anderson et al. [1989] was used to calculate pressure: Using this pressure scale, it occurs at significantly lower pressures compared to that corresponding to the 660-km seismic discontinuity. In this study, we also report new experimental data on the transformation boundary determined using MgO as an internal standard. The results show that the transition boundary is located at pressures close to the 660-km discontinuity using the MgO pressure scale of Speziale et al. [2001] and can be represented by a linear equation, P(GPa) = 25.12 - 0.0013T(degreesC). The Clapeyron slope for the postspinel transition boundary is precisely determined and is significantly less negative than previous estimates. Our results, based on the MgO pressure scale, support the conventional hypothesis that the postspinel transformation is responsible for the observed 660-km seismic discontinuity.