Textures in deforming forsterite aggregates up to 8 GPa and 1673 K

Abstract

We report results from axisymmetric deformation experiments carried out on forsterite aggregates in the deformation-DIA apparatus, at upper mantle pressures and temperatures (3.1–8.1 GPa, 1373–1673 K). We quantified the resulting lattice preferred orientations (LPO) and compare experimental observations with results from micromechanical modeling (viscoplastic second-order self-consistent model—SO). Up to 6 GPa (~185-km depth in the Earth), we observe a marked LPO consistent with a dominant slip in the (010) plane with one observation of a dominant [100] direction, suggesting that [100](010) slip system was strongly activated. At higher pressures (deeper depth), the LPO becomes less marked and more complex with no evidence of a dominant slip system, which we attribute to the activation of several concurrent slip systems. These results are consistent with the pressure-induced transition in the dominant slip system previously reported for olivine and forsterite. They are also consistent with the decrease in the seismic anisotropy amplitude observed in the Earth’s mantle at depth greater than ~200 km.