Ferric iron stabilization at deep magma ocean conditions
Hongluo Zhang, M. M. Hirschmann, O. T. Lord, Anja Rosenthal, Sergey Yaroslavtsev, Elizabeth Cottrell, A. I. Chumakov, Michael J. Walter
Abstract
Fe 2 O 3 produced in a deep magma ocean in equilibrium with core-destined alloy sets the early redox budget and atmospheric composition of terrestrial planets. Previous experiments (≤28 gigapascals) and first-principles calculations indicate that a deep terrestrial magma ocean produces appreciable Fe 3+ but predict Fe 3+ /ΣFe ratios that conflict by an order of magnitude. We present Fe 3+ /ΣFe of glasses quenched from melts equilibrated with Fe alloy at 38 to 71 gigapascals, 3600 to 4400 kelvin, analyzed by synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy. These indicate Fe 3+ /ΣFe of 0.056 to 0.112 in a terrestrial magma ocean with mean alloy-silicate equilibration pressures of 28 to 53 gigapascals, producing sufficient Fe 2 O 3 to account for the modern bulk silicate Earth redox budget and surficial conditions near or more oxidizing than the iron-wüstite buffer, which would stabilize a primitive CO- and H 2 O-rich atmosphere.