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A magma ocean origin to divergent redox evolutions of rocky planetary bodies and early atmospheres.

ABSTRACT: Magma oceans were once ubiquitous in the early solar system, setting up the initial conditions for different evolutionary paths of planetary bodies. In particular, the redox conditions of magma oceans may have profound influence on the redox state of subsequently formed mantles and the overlying atmospheres. The relevant redox buffering reactions, however, remain poorly constrained. Using first-principles simulations combined with thermodynamic modeling, we show that magma oceans of Earth, Mars, and the Moon are likely characterized with a vertical gradient in oxygen fugacity with deeper magma oceans invoking more oxidizing surface conditions. This redox zonation may be the major cause for the Earth's upper mantle being more oxidized than Mars' and the Moon's. These contrasting redox profiles also suggest that Earth's early atmosphere was dominated by CO₂ and H₂O, in contrast to those enriched in H₂O and H₂ for Mars, and H₂ and CO for the Moon.

SUBMITTER: Deng J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7181735 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A magma ocean origin to divergent redox evolutions of rocky planetary bodies and early atmospheres.

Deng Jie J Du Zhixue Z Karki Bijaya B BB Ghosh Dipta B DB Lee Kanani K M KKM

Nature communications 20200424 1

Magma oceans were once ubiquitous in the early solar system, setting up the initial conditions for different evolutionary paths of planetary bodies. In particular, the redox conditions of magma oceans may have profound influence on the redox state of subsequently formed mantles and the overlying atmospheres. The relevant redox buffering reactions, however, remain poorly constrained. Using first-principles simulations combined with thermodynamic modeling, we show that magma oceans of Earth, Mars, ...[more]

PMID: 32332725

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Project description:Oxygen fugacity in metal-bearing systems controls some fundamental aspects of the geochemistry of the early Earth, such as the FeO and siderophile trace element content of the mantle, volatile species that influence atmospheric composition, and conditions for organic compounds synthesis. Redox and metal-silicate equilibria in the early Earth are sensitive to oxygen fugacity (fO(2)), yet are poorly constrained in modeling and experimentation. High pressure and temperature experimentation and modeling in metal-silicate systems usually employs an approximation approach for estimating fO(2) that is based on the ratio of Fe and FeO [called "?IW (ratio)" hereafter]. We present a new approach that utilizes free energy and activity modeling of the equilibrium: Fe + SiO(2) + O(2) = Fe(2)SiO(4) to calculate absolute fO(2) and relative to the iron-wüstite (IW) buffer at pressure and temperature [?IW (P,T)]. This equilibrium is considered across a wide range of pressures and temperatures, including up to the liquidus temperature of peridotite (4,000 K at 50 GPa). Application of ?IW (ratio) to metal-silicate experiments can be three or four orders of magnitude different from ?IW (P,T) values calculated using free energy and activity modeling. We will also use this approach to consider the variation in oxygen fugacity in a magma ocean scenario for various thermal structures for the early Earth: hot liquidus gradient, 100?°C below the liquidus, hot and cool adiabatic gradients, and a cool subsolidus adiabat. The results are used to assess the effect of increasing P and T, changing silicate composition during accretion, and related to current models for accretion and core formation in the Earth. The fO(2) in a deep magma ocean scenario may become lower relative to the IW buffer at hotter and deeper conditions, which could include metal entrainment scenarios. Therefore, fO(2) may evolve from high to low fO(2) during Earth (and other differentiated bodies) accretion. Any modeling of core formation and metal-silicate equilibrium should take these effects into account.

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A magma ocean origin to divergent redox evolutions of rocky planetary bodies and early atmospheres.

Publications

A magma ocean origin to divergent redox evolutions of rocky planetary bodies and early atmospheres.

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