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Experimental constraints on melt distribution and its effect on the rheology and seismic properties of polycrystalline olivine

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MIMW02 - From the grain to the continuum: two phase dynamics of a partially molten, polycrystalline aggregate

Coauthors: Gordana Garapić (SUNY New Paltz), Ian Jackson (Australian National University)

Bulk properties of partially molten rocks are significantly affected by the melt distribution and geometry. Surface energy minimisation determines the melt geometry, both locally at the junction of two grains and melt (dihedral angle), and for the aggregate as whole, in the form of grain growth. Grain growth is a continuous process and partially molten rocks therefore constitute a dynamic system. This contrasts with the assumptions of the model melt distribution in a static system with isotropic grains of a single size that can be fully characterised by measuring dihedral angles. In the dynamic system the local melt geometry is not always in its minimum energy configuration, as grain growth continuously creates new neighbours that need to adjust their grain boundary plane orientations. In this dynamic system, the melt distribution can not be characterised by only measuring dihedral angles. 
As a somewhat more comprehensive assessment of the melt distribution, we measure the proportion of grain boundaries wetted by melt (grain boundary wetness/contiguity). While deformation experiments in the diffusion creep regime by necessity need to be carried out on fine-grained samples, the melt distribution can be determined on significantly more coarse-grained samples, hot-pressed at high temperatures up to two weeks in a piston cylinder apparatus. The wetness data from these samples, obtained at suitably high resolution, allows augmentation of the experimentally measured diffusion creep rheology.
For the direct experimental determination of the effect of small amounts of melt on both large-strain rheology and seismic properties it is important to characterise genuinely melt-free materials for reference. For this reason we use synthetic Fo90 olivine aggregates that contain no melt or trace elements, unless deliberately added. Experiments with melt-bearing samples show that both the large strain rheology and seismic properties are substantially affected by small amounts of melt, consistent with the observations of the melt distribution described above. For seismic properties the presence of melt affects both the shear modulus and attenuation in the seismic frequency band. Important for the effect of melt on seismic properties are wetted grain boundaries with sufficiently low aspect ratio for local fluid flow to take place (i.e. on the scale of a single grain, ’melt squirt’).
Similar materials are also used to determine the effect of water (hydroxyl) on the rheology and seismic properties of olivine. This allows comparison of the relative effects of water and melt in the upper mantle.

This talk is part of the Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series series.

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