Melting Experiments on Fe-O-H and Fe-H: Evidence for Eutectic Melting in
Fe-FeH and Implications for Hydrogen in the Core
Abstract
We examined liquidus phase relations in Fe-O±H at ~40
and ~150 GPa, and in Fe-H at 45 GPa. While it has been
speculated that Fe and FeH form continuous solid solution to core
pressures, our experiment on Fe-H showed that FeH0.20
forms with the hcp structure, different from fcc for stoichiometric FeH,
and melts at temperature lower than that for FeH, suggesting eutectic
melting between Fe and FeH. It is consistent with the liquidus phase
diagram in Fe-O-H, which implies the Fe-FeH binary eutectic liquid
composition of FeH0.42 at ~40 GPa. We
estimated the outer core liquid composition to be Fe + 2.9–5.2% O +
0.03–0.32% H + 0–3.4% Si + 1.7% S by weight, based on the liquidus
phase relations, solid-liquid partitioning, and outer/inner core
densities and velocities, indicating that O and either H or Si are
important core light elements.