Analysis of lunar laser ranging and seismic data has yielded evidence that has been interpreted to indicate a molten zone in the lowermost mantle overlying a fluid core. Such a zone provides strong constraints on models of lunar thermal evolution. Here we determine thermochemical and physical structure of the deep Moon by inverting lunar geophysical data (mean mass and moment of inertia, tidal Love number, and electromagnetic sounding data) in combination with phase-equilibrium computations. Specifically, we assess whether a molten layer is required by the geophysical data. The main conclusion drawn from this study is that a region with high dissipation located deep within the Moon is required to explain the geophysical data. This region is located within the mantle where the solidus is crossed at a depth of ∼1200 km (≥1600• C). Inverted compositions for the partially molten layer (150-200 km thick) are enriched in FeO and TiO 2 relative to the surrounding mantle. The melt phase is neutrally buoyant at pressures of ∼4.5-4.6 GPa but contains less TiO 2 (<15 wt %) than the Ti-rich (∼16 wt %) melts that produced a set of high-density primitive lunar magmas (density of 3.4 g/cm 3 ). Melt densities computed here range from 3.25 to 3.45 g/cm 3 bracketing the density of lunar magmas with moderate-to-high TiO 2 contents. Our results are consistent with a model of lunar evolution in which the cumulate pile formed from crystallization of the magma ocean as it overturned, trapping heat-producing elements in the lower mantle.

Melt generated by mantle upwelling is fundamental to the production of new oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges, yet the forces controlling this process are debated. Passive-flow models predict symmetric upwelling due to viscous drag from the diverging tectonic plates, but have been challenged by geophysical observations of asymmetric upwelling that suggest anomalous mantle pressure and temperature gradients, and by observations of concentrated upwelling centres consistent with active models where buoyancy forces give rise to focused convective flow. Here we use sea-floor magnetotelluric soundings at the fast-spreading northern East Pacific Rise to image mantle electrical structure to a depth of about 160 kilometres. Our data reveal a symmetric, high-conductivity region at depths of 20-90 kilometres that is consistent with partial melting of passively upwelling mantle. The triangular region of conductive partial melt matches passive-flow predictions, suggesting that melt focusing to the ridge occurs in the porous melting region rather than along the shallower base of the thermal lithosphere. A deeper conductor observed east of the ridge at a depth of more than 100 kilometres is explained by asymmetric upwelling due to viscous coupling across two nearby transform faults. Significant electrical anisotropy occurs only in the shallowest mantle east of the ridge axis, where high vertical conductivity at depths of 10-20 kilometres indicates localized porous conduits. This suggests that a coincident seismic-velocity anomaly is evidence of shallow magma transport channels rather than deeper off-axis upwelling. We interpret the mantle electrical structure as evidence that plate-driven passive upwelling dominates this ridge segment, with dynamic forces being negligible.

[1] Quantitative interpretation of MT anomalies in volcanic regions requires laboratory measurements of electrical conductivities of natural magma compositions. The electrical conductivities of three lava compositions from Mount Vesuvius (Italy) have been measured using an impedance spectrometer. Experiments were conducted on both glasses and melts between 400 and 1300°C, at both ambient pressure in air and high pressures (up to 400 MPa). Both dry and hydrous (up to 5.6 wt % H 2 O) melt compositions were investigated. A change of the conduction mechanism corresponding to the glass transition was systematically observed. The conductivity data were fitted by samplespecific Arrhenius laws on either side of Tg. The electrical conductivity increases with temperature and is higher in the order tephrite, phonotephrite to phonolite. For the three investigated compositions, increasing pressure decreases the conductivity, although the effect of pressure is relatively small. The three investigated compositions have similar activation volumes (DV = 16-24 cm 3 mol À1 ). Increasing the water content of the melt increases the conductivity. Comparison of activation energies (Ea) from conductivity and sodium diffusion and use of the Nernst-Einstein relation allow sodium to be identified as the main charge carrier in our melts and presumably also in the corresponding glasses. Our data and those of previous studies highlight the correlation between the Arrhenius parameters Ea and s 0 . A semiempirical method allowing the determination of the electrical conductivity of natural magmatic liquids is proposed, in which the activation energy is modeled on the basis of the Anderson-Stuart model, s 0 being obtained from the compensation law and DV being fitted from our experimental data. The model enables the electrical conductivity to be calculated for the entire range of melt compositions at Mount Vesuvius and also satisfactorily predicts the electrical response of other melt compositions. Electrical conductivity data for Mount Vesuvius melts and magmas are slightly lower than the electrical anomaly revealed by MT studies.Citation: Pommier, A., F. Gaillard, M. Pichavant, and B. Scaillet (2008), Laboratory measurements of electrical conductivities of hydrous and dry Mount Vesuvius melts under pressure,

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Electrical conductivity measurements in the laboratory are critical for interpretinggeoelectricandmagnetotelluricprofilesoftheEarth'scrustandmantle.In order to facilitate access to the current database on electrical conductivity of geomaterials, we have developed a freely available web application (SIGMELTS) dedicated to the calculation of electrical properties. Based on a compilation of previous studies, SIGMELTS computes the electrical conductivity of silicate melts, carbonatites,minerals,fluids,mantlematerialsasafunctionofdifferentparameters, such as composition, temperature, pressure, water content, oxygen fugacity.Calculationsontwo-phasemixturesarealsoproposedusingexistingmixingmodels fordifferentgeometries.AnillustrationoftheuseofSIGMELTSisprovided,inwhich calculations are applied to subduction zone related volcanic zone in the Central Andes. Along with petrological considerations, field and laboratory electrical data allow discrimination between the different hypotheses regarding the formation and risefromdepthofmeltsandfluidsandtoquantifytheirstorageconditions.

The decline of Mars' global magnetic field some 3.8-4.1 billion years ago is thought to reflect the demise of the dynamo that operated in its liquid core. The dynamo was probably powered by planetary cooling and so its termination is intimately tied to the thermochemical evolution and present-day physical state of the Martian core. Bottom-up growth of a solid inner core, the crystallization regime for Earth's core, has been found to produce a long-lived dynamo leading to the suggestion that the Martian core remains entirely liquid to this day. Motivated by the experimentally-determined increase in the Fe-S liquidus temperature with decreasing pressure at Martian core conditions, we investigate whether Mars' core could crystallize from the top down.We focus on the "iron snow" regime, where newly-formed solid consists of pure Fe and is therefore heavier than the liquid. We derive global energy and entropy equations that describe the long-timescale thermal and magnetic history of the core from a general theory for two-phase, two-component liquid mixtures, assuming that the snow zone is in phase equilibrium and that all solid falls out of the layer and remelts at each timestep. Formation of snow zones occurs for a wide range of interior and thermal properties and depends critically on the initial sulfur concentration, 0 . Release of gravitational energy and latent heat during growth of the snow zone do not generate sufficient entropy to restart the dynamo unless the snow zone occupies at least 400 km of the core. Snow zones can be 1.5 − 2 Gyrs old, though thermal stratification of the uppermost core, not included in our model, likely delays onset. Models that match the available magnetic and geodetic constraints have 0 ≈ 10% and snow zones that occupy approximately the top 100 km of the present-day Martian core.

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International audienceExperiments have been performed to determine the effect of deformation on degassing of bubble-bearing melts. Cylindrical specimens of phonolitic composition, initial water content of 1.5 wt.% and 2 vol.% bubbles, have been deformed in simple-shear (torsional configuration) in an internally heated Paterson-type pressure vessel at temperatures of 798-848 K, 100-180 MPa confining pressure and different final strains. Micro-structural analyses of the samples before and after deformation have been performed in two and three dimensions using optical microscopy, a nanotomography machine and synchrotron tomography. The water content of the glasses before and after deformation has been measured using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). In samples strained up to a total of γ ∼ 2 the bubbles record accurately the total strain, whereas at higher strains (γ ∼ 10) the bubbles become very flattened and elongate in the direction of shear. The residual water content of the glasses remains constant up to a strain of γ ∼ 2 and then decreases to about 0.2 wt.% at γ ∼ 10. Results show that strain enhances bubble coalescence and degassing even at low bubble volume-fractions. Noticeably, deformation produced a strongly water under-saturated melt. This suggests that degassing may occur at great depths in the volcanic conduit and may force the magma to become super-cooled early during ascent to the Earth's surface potentially contributing to the genesis of obsidian