Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Loading next page...
/lp/springer-journals/the-earth-s-missing-niobium-may-be-in-the-core-xixPLMZEM0
References (21)
-
R. Rudnick, Matthias Barth, Ingo Horn, W. McDonough (2000)
Rutile-bearing refractory eclogites: missing link between continents and depleted mantleScience, 287 5451
-
M. Drake, H. Newsom, C. Capobianco (1989)
V, Cr, and Mn in the earth, moon, EPB, and SPB and the origin of the moon - Experimental studiesGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 53
-
J. Li, C. Agee (1996)
Geochemistry of mantle–core differentiation at high pressureNature, 381
-
K. Righter, M. Drake (1999)
Effect of water on metal-silicate partitioning of siderophile elements: a high pressure and temperature terrestrial magma ocean and core formationEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 171
-
K. Righter, M. Drake, G. Yaxley (1997)
Prediction of siderophile element metal-silicate partition coefficients to 20 GPa and 2800°C: the effects of pressure, temperature, oxygen fugacity, and silicate and metallic melt compositionsPhysics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 100
-
A. Hofmann, K. Jochum (1996)
Source characteristics derived from very incompatible trace elements in Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea basalts, Hawaii Scientific Drilling ProjectJournal of Geophysical Research, 101
-
M. Kilburn, B. Wood (1997)
Metal–silicate partitioning and the incompatibility of S and Si during core formationEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 152
-
HE Newsom (1995)
Global Earth Physics -
R. Rudnick (1995)
Making continental crustNature, 378
-
Y. Thibault, M. Walter (1995)
The influence of pressure and temperature on the metal-silicate partition coefficients of nickel and cobalt in a model C1 chondrite and implications for metal segregation in a deep magma oceanGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 59
-
JT Wasson (1995)
Meteorites: Their Record of Early Solar-system History -
C. Gessmann, B. Wood, D. Rubie, M. Kilburn (2001)
Solubility of silicon in liquid metal at high pressure: Implications for the composition of the Earth's coreEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 184
-
A. Hofmann (1988)
Chemical differentiation of the Earth: the relationship between mantle, continental crust, and oceanic crustEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 90
-
C. Allègre, J. Poirier, E. Humler, A. Hofmann (1995)
The chemical composition of the EarthEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 134
-
R. Robie, B. Hemingway (1995)
Thermodynamic properties of minerals and related substances at 298.15 K and 1 bar (10[5] pascals) pressure and at higher temperatures, 2131
-
MR Kilburn (1999)
Geochemical Constraints on the Formation of the Earth's Core. -
WF McDonough, S Sun (1995)
-s. The composition of the Earth.Chem. Geol., 120
-
A. Hofmann (1997)
Mantle geochemistry: the message from oceanic volcanismNature, 385
-
W. McDonough, Shen-su Sun (1995)
The composition of the EarthChemical Geology, 120
-
B. Wood (2000)
Phase transformations and partitioning relations in peridotite under lower mantle conditionsEarth and Planetary Science Letters, 174
-
J. Wasson (1985)
Book-Review - Meteorites - Their Record of Early Solar System HistoryScience
- Publisher
- Springer Journals
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2001 by Macmillan Magazines Ltd.
- Subject
- Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary; Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary; Science, multidisciplinary
- ISSN
- 0028-0836
- eISSN
- 1476-4687
- DOI
- 10.1038/35051064
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
As the Earth's metallic core segregated from the silicate mantle, some of the moderately siderophile (‘iron-loving’) elements such as vanadium and chromium 1,2 are thought to have entered the metal phase, thus causing the observed depletions of these elements in the silicate part of the Earth. In contrast, refractory ‘lithophile’ elements such as calcium, scandium and the rare-earth elements are known to be present in the same proportions in the silicate portion of the Earth as in the chondritic meteorites—thought to represent primitive planetary material 1,3 . Hence these lithophile elements apparently did not enter the core. Niobium has always been considered to be lithophile and refractory yet it has been observed to be depleted relative to other elements of the same type in the crust and upper mantle 4,5 . This observation has been used to infer the existence of hidden niobium-rich reservoirs in the Earth's deep mantle 5 . Here we show, however, that niobium and vanadium partition in virtually identical fashion between liquid metal and liquid silicate at high pressure. Thus, if a significant fraction of the Earth's vanadium entered the core (as is thought), then so has a similar fraction of its niobium, and no hidden reservoir need be sought in the Earth's deep mantle.
Journal
Nature – Springer Journals
Published: Jan 4, 2001