Host: Abstracts of Annual Meeting of the Geochemical Society of Japan
Pages 215-
Liquid metal-silicate partitioning of carbon under carbon-unsaturated conditions was investigated using multi-anvil high pressure apparatus. Carbon in quenched metallic and silicate phases was analyzed by electron probe micro-analyzer and secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Our results show that metal-silicate partition coefficient of carbon may be lower than previously thought and silicate melt may be saturated with carbon even at low-carbon concentration (i.e., 0.5 wt%). We also found that carbon solubility in peridotitic silicate melt under reducing conditions is consistent with carbon abundance in the Earth's mantle within errors. Previous studies have suggested that the accretion of carbon-rich body after core formation is necessary to explain carbon abundance in the Earth's mantle. However, if terrestrial magma ocean was saturated with carbon, the late accretion of carbon-rich body is not necessary to explain carbon abundance in the Earth's mantle.
