Extreme accumulation of ammonia on electroreduced mackinawite: An abiotic ammonia storage mechanism in early ocean hydrothermal systems.

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that early ocean hydrothermal systems were sustained sources of ammonia, an essential nitrogen species for prebiotic synthesis of life's building blocks. However, it remains a riddle how the abiotically generated ammonia was retained at the vent-ocean interface for the subsequent chemical evolution. Here, we demonstrate that, under simulated geoelectrochemical conditions in early ocean hydrothermal systems ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text] V versus the standard hydrogen electrode), mackinawite gradually reduces to zero-valent iron ([Formula: see text]), generating interlayer [Formula: see text] sites. This reductive conversion leads to an up to 55-fold increase in the solid/liquid partition coefficient for ammonia, enabling over 90% adsorption of 1 mM ammonia in 1 M NaCl at neutral pH. A coordinative binding of ammonia on the interlayer [Formula: see text] sites was computed to be the major mechanism of selective ammonia adsorption. Mackinawite is a ubiquitous sulfide precipitate in submarine hydrothermal systems. Given its reported catalytic function in amination, the extreme accumulation of ammonia on electroreduced mackinawite should have been a crucial initial step for prebiotic nitrogen assimilation, paving the way to the origin of life.

Separation of supercritical slab-fluids to form aqueous fluid and melt components in subduction zone magmatism.

Subduction-zone magmatism is triggered by the addition of H(2)O-rich slab-derived components: aqueous fluid, hydrous partial melts, or supercritical fluids from the subducting slab. Geochemical analyses of island arc basalts suggest two slab-derived signatures of a melt and a fluid. These two liquids unite to a supercritical fluid under pressure and temperature conditions beyond a critical endpoint. We ascertain critical endpoints between aqueous fluids and sediment or high-Mg andesite (HMA) melts located, respectively, at 83-km and 92-km depths by using an in situ observation technique. These depths are within the mantle wedge underlying volcanic fronts, which are formed 90 to 200 km above subducting slabs. These data suggest that sediment-derived supercritical fluids, which are fed to the mantle wedge from the subducting slab, react with mantle peridotite to form HMA supercritical fluids. Such HMA supercritical fluids separate into aqueous fluids and HMA melts at 92 km depth during ascent. The aqueous fluids are fluxed into the asthenospheric mantle to form arc basalts, which are locally associated with HMAs in hot subduction zones. The separated HMA melts retain their composition in limited equilibrium with the surrounding mantle. Alternatively, they equilibrate with the surrounding mantle and change the major element chemistry to basaltic composition. However, trace element signatures of sediment-derived supercritical fluids remain more in the melt-derived magma than in the fluid-induced magma, which inherits only fluid-mobile elements from the sediment-derived supercritical fluids. Separation of slab-derived supercritical fluids into melts and aqueous fluids can elucidate the two slab-derived components observed in subduction zone magma chemistry.

Slab melting versus slab dehydration in subduction-zone magmatism.

The second critical endpoint in the basalt-H(2)O system was directly determined by a high-pressure and high-temperature X-ray radiography technique. We found that the second critical endpoint occurs at around 3.4 GPa and 770 °C (corresponding to a depth of approximately 100 km in a subducting slab), which is much shallower than the previously estimated conditions. Our results indicate that the melting temperature of the subducting oceanic crust can no longer be defined beyond this critical condition and that the fluid released from subducting oceanic crust at depths greater than 100 km under volcanic arcs is supercritical fluid rather than aqueous fluid and/or hydrous melts. The position of the second critical endpoint explains why there is a limitation to the slab depth at which adakitic magmas are produced, as well as the origin of across-arc geochemical variations of trace elements in volcanic rocks in subduction zones.

Oxidation-induced nanolite crystallization triggered the 2021 eruption of Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba, Japan.

Nanometer-sized crystals (nanolites) play an important role in controlling eruptions by affecting the viscosity of magmas and inducing bubble nucleation. We present detailed microscopic and nanoscopic petrographic analyses of nanolite-bearing and nanolite-free pumice from the 2021 eruption of Fukutoku-Oka-no-Ba, Japan. The nanolite mineral assemblage includes biotite, which is absent from the phenocryst mineral assemblage, and magnetite and clinopyroxene, which are observed as phenocrysts. The boundary between the nanolite-bearing brown glass and nanolite-free colorless glass is either sharp or gradational, and the sharp boundaries also appear sharp under the transmitted electron microscope. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis of the volcanic glass revealed that the nanolite-free colorless glass records an oxygen fugacity of QFM + 0.98 (log units), whereas the nanolite-bearing brown glass records a higher apparent oxygen fugacity (~ QFM + 2). Thermodynamic modelling using MELTS indicates that higher oxygen fugacities increase the liquidus temperature and thus induced the crystallization of magnetite nanolites. The hydrous nanolite mineral assemblage and glass oxygen fugacity estimates suggest that an oxidizing fluid supplied by a hot mafic magma induced nanolite crystallization in the magma reservoir, before the magma fragmentation. The oxidation-induced nanolite crystallization then enhanced heterogeneous bubble nucleation, resulting in convection in the magma reservoir and triggering the eruption.

Theoretical and experimental evidence for a post-perovskite phase of MgSiO3 in Earth's D" layer.

The Earth's lower mantle is believed to be composed mainly of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite, with lesser amounts of (Mg,Fe)O and CaSiO3 (ref. 1). But it has not been possible to explain many unusual properties of the lowermost approximately 150 km of the mantle (the D" layer) with this mineralogy. Here, using ab initio simulations and high-pressure experiments, we show that at pressures and temperatures of the D" layer, MgSiO3 transforms from perovskite into a layered CaIrO3-type post-perovskite phase. The elastic properties of the post-perovskite phase and its stability field explain several observed puzzling properties of the D" layer: its seismic anisotropy, the strongly undulating shear-wave discontinuity at its top and possibly the anticorrelation between shear and bulk sound velocities.

Stability of magnesite and its high-pressure form in the lowermost mantle.

Carbonates are important constituents of marine sediments and play a fundamental role in the recycling of carbon into the Earth's deep interior via subduction of oceanic crust and sediments. Study of the stability of carbonates under high pressure and temperature is thus important for modelling the carbon budget in the entire Earth system. Such studies, however, have rarely been performed under appropriate lower-mantle conditions and no experimental data exist at pressures greater than 80 GPa (refs 3-6). Here we report an in situ X-ray diffraction study of the stability of magnesite (MgCO(3)), which is the major component of subducted carbonates, at pressure and temperature conditions approaching those of the core-mantle boundary. We found that magnesite transforms to an unknown form at pressures above approximately 115 GPa and temperatures of 2,100-2,200 K (depths of approximately 2,600 km) without any dissociation, suggesting that magnesite and its high-pressure form may be the major hosts for carbon throughout most parts of the Earth's lower mantle.

Fate of subducted argon in the deep mantle.

The physical properties of argon (Ar) are investigated to 382 GPa and 3000 K using diamond anvil cell experiments and first-principles molecular dynamics. The estimated density of Ar is smaller that of the Preliminary reference Earth model (PREM) mantle, which indicates that the density crossover does not occur at the bottom of the lower mantle. A large volume dependence of the thermal pressure of Ar is revealed at pressures higher than 200 GPa, and a significant temperature dependence of the calculated effective Grüneisen parameters is confirmed at high pressures. A melting temperature of Ar is estimated from the calculation data and a significant pressure dependence is confirmed. If the pressure-temperature path of the subducted slab is lower than the critical condition, ~750 K and ~7.5 GPa, solid Ar can be carried down into the deep mantle. Melting of solid Ar in the upwelling mantle plume occurs at the bottom of the transition zone. Thus, solid Ar plays an important role in Ar recycling in the Earth's interior.

First-principles molecular dynamics calculations of the equation of state for tantalum.

The equation of state of tantalum (Ta) has been investigated to 100 GPa and 3,000 K using the first-principles molecular dynamics method. A large volume dependence of the thermal pressure of Ta was revealed from the analysis of our data. A significant temperature dependence of the calculated effective Grüneisen parameters was confirmed at high pressures. This indicates that the conventional approach to analyze thermal properties using the Mie-Grüneisen approximation is likely to have a significant uncertainty in determining the equation of state for Ta, and that an intrinsic anharmonicity should be considered to analyze the equation of state.

Titanium boride equation of state determined by in-situ X-ray diffraction.

The equation of state (EOS) of titanium boride, TiB2, was investigated by in situ X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell and multianvil high-pressure apparatus. The pressure-volume-temperature (P-V-T) data were collected at up to 111 GPa and room temperature for the diamond-anvil cell experiments and at up to 15 GPa and 1300 K for the multianvil experiments. No phase transition was observed through the entire range of experimental conditions. The pressure-volume data at room temperature were fitted using a Vinet EOS to obtain the isothermal bulk modulus, BT0 = 256.7 GPa, and its pressure derivative, B' T0 = 3.83. When fitting a thermal EOS using the P-V-T data for the multianvil experiments, we find that [Formula: see text] = 0.095 (GPa/K) and α 0 = 2.49 × 10-5 K-1.

Zeta-Fe2O3--A new stable polymorph in iron(III) oxide family.

Iron(III) oxide shows a polymorphism, characteristic of existence of phases with the same chemical composition but distinct crystal structures and, hence, physical properties. Four crystalline phases of iron(III) oxide have previously been identified: α-Fe2O3 (hematite), ß-Fe2O3, γ-Fe2O3 (maghemite), and ε-Fe2O3. All four iron(III) oxide phases easily undergo various phase transformations in response to heating or pressure treatment, usually forming hexagonal α-Fe2O3, which is the most thermodynamically stable Fe2O3 polymorph under ambient conditions. Here, from synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments, we report the formation of a new iron(III) oxide polymorph that we have termed ζ-Fe2O3 and which evolved during pressure treatment of cubic ß-Fe2O3 (Ia3 space group) at pressures above 30 GPa. Importantly, ζ-Fe2O3 is maintained after pressure release and represents the first monoclinic Fe2O3 polymorph (I2/a space group) that is stable at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. ζ-Fe2O3 behaves as an antiferromagnet with a Néel transition temperature of ~69 K. The complex mechanism of pressure-induced transformation of ß-Fe2O3, involving also the formation of Rh2O3-II-type Fe2O3 and post-perovskite-Fe2O3 structure, is suggested and discussed with respect to a bimodal size distribution of precursor nanoparticles.

The high-pressure phase of alumina and implications for Earth's D'' layer.

Using ab initio simulations and high-pressure experiments in a diamond anvil cell, we show that alumina (Al(2)O(3)) adopts the CaIrO(3)-type structure above 130 GPa. This finding substantially changes the picture of high-pressure behavior of alumina; in particular, we find that perovskite structure is never stable for Al(2)O(3) at zero Kelvin. The CaIrO(3)-type phase suggests a reinterpretation of previous shock-wave experiments and has important implications for the use of alumina as a window material in shock-wave experiments. In particular, the conditions of the stability of this phase correspond to those at which shock-wave experiments indicated an increase of the electrical conductivity. If this increase is caused by high ionic mobility in the CaIrO(3)-type phase of Al(2)O(3), similar effect can be expected in the isostructural postperovskite phase of MgSiO(3) (which is the dominant mineral phase in the Earth's D'' layer). The effect of the incorporation of Al on the perovskite/postperovskite transition of MgSiO(3) is discussed.

Structural refinements of high-pressure phases in germanium dioxide.

Recently, there has been substantial interest in the new high-pressure polymorphs of GeO2 synthesized in the laboratory. Previous investigators reported the synthesis of 'CaCl2-type', 'alpha-PbO2-type' and 'pyrite-type (modified-fluorite-type)' GeO2 at pressures of 30-130 GPa in laser-heated diamond anvil cells. In order to provide definitive information about the new high-pressure polymorphs, we performed Rietveld refinements of the structures. The structure refinements confirm that two of these high-pressure phases do have the alpha-PbO2-type and pyrite-type (modified-fluorite-type) structures.