Revealing Pressure-Induced Anomaly in Sound Velocities, and New
Thermoelasticity of α-Fe2O3 Hematite at High Pressure: Implications for
the Earth’s Interior
Abstract
Elastic wave velocities of polycrystalline hematite have been measured
at simultaneously high pressures and temperatures up to 6.5 GPa and 1100
K using ultrasonic interferometry in conjunction with synchrotron X-ray
techniques. Here, a pronounced pressure-induced anomaly in the shear
wave velocity of hematite is observed at ~3.5 GPa and
300 K, which is attributed to the occurrence of
(weak)ferromagnetic-to-antiferromagnetic Morin transition of hematite
upon compression. By contrast, this anomalous behavior in VS at high
pressure is unexpected absence in VP. With further increase of pressures
and temperatures up to 6.5 GPa and 1100 K, no apparent discontinuity is
observed in sound velocities, probably resulting from the Néel
transition in hematite. Using two-dimensional linear fitting approaches,
the bulk and shear moduli and their pressure and temperature dependences
for hematite are derived. These findings and new high-P thermoelasticity
data will be of significant importance for its geophysical and materials
science implications.