The flow properties of the mineral olivine under lithospheric conditions, as seen in the transmission electron microscope (TEM).

Constraining the thermal and compositional state of the mantle is crucial for deciphering the formation and evolution of Mars. Mineral physics predicts that Mars’ deep mantle is demarcated by a seismic discontinuity arising from the pressure-induced phase transformation of the mineral olivine to its higher-pressure polymorphs, making the depth of this boundary sensitive to both mantle temperature and composition. Here, we report on the seismic detection of a midmantle discontinuity using the data collected by NASA’s InSight Mission to Mars that matches the expected depth and sharpness of the postolivine transition. In five teleseismic events, we observed triplicated P and S waves and constrained the depth of this discontinuity to be 1,006 ± 40 km by modeling the triplicated waveforms. From this depth range, we infer a mantle potential temperature of 1,605 ± 100 K, a result consistent with a crust that is 10 to 15 times more enriched in heat-producing elements than the underlying mantle. Our waveform fits to the data indicate a broad gradient across the boundary, implying that the Martian mantle is more enriched in iron compared to Earth. Through modeling of thermochemical evolution of Mars, we observe that only two out of the five proposed composition models are compatible with the observed boundary depth. Our geodynamic simulations suggest that the Martian mantle was relatively cold 4.5 Gyr ago (1,720 to 1,860 K) and are consistent with a present-day surface heat flow of 21 to 24 mW/m 2 .

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is an open access repository that collects the work of Arts et Métiers ParisTech researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. We report a first application of an improved second-order (SO) viscoplastic self-consistent model for multiphase aggregates, applied to an olivine + diopside aggregate as analogue for a dry upper mantle peridotite deformed at 10 À15 s À1 shear strain rate along a 20-Ma ocean geotherm. Beside known dislocation slip systems, this SO-model version accounts for an isotropic relaxation mechanism representing 'diffusionrelated' creep mechanisms in olivine. Slip-system critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) are evaluated in both phases -as functions of P, T, oxygen fugacity (fO 2 ) and strain rate -from previously reported experimental data obtained on single crystals and first-principle calculations coupled with the Peierls-Nabarro model for crystal plasticity; and the isotropic-mechanism dependence on T and P matches that of Si selfdiffusion in olivine, while its relative activity is constrained by reported data. The model reproduces well the olivine and diopside lattice preferred orientations (LPO) produced experimentally and observed in naturally deformed rocks, as well as observed sensitivities of multiphase aggregate strength to the volume fraction of the hard phase (here diopside). It shows a significant weakening of olivine LPO with increasing depth, which results from the combined effects of the P-induced

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The investigation of materials plastic properties at high pressure is a fastgrowing field, owing to the coupling of high-pressure deformation apparatuses with X-ray synchrotron radiation. In such devices, materials strain and strain rate are measured by time-resolved radiography, while differential stress is deduced from the elastic response of the d spacing of the crystallographic planes as measured by X-ray diffraction. Here a new protocol is presented, which allows the in situ measurement of stress and texture development in aggregates deformed at high pressure for experiments carried out with the recently installed ten-element energy-dispersive detector at the X17B2 beamline of the National Synchrotron Light Source (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, USA). Cycling deformation of a forsterite specimen was carried out at a pressure of $6 GPa and a temperature of $1373 K, using a deformation-DIA apparatus. Diffraction peak energies are analysed in terms of differential stress and principal stress direction, while the intensities of peaks obtained at different azimuths are analysed in terms of lattice preferred orientation (LPO). The development and evolution of a marked LPO, with the (010) plane perpendicular to the compression axis, is observed in situ during the run and is confirmed by electron backscatter diffraction measurements on the run product.

a b s t r a c tThe rheology of polycrystalline forsterite was investigated in the Deformation-DIA (D-DIA) using in situ X-ray diffraction at pressure between 3.1 and 8.1 GPa, temperature in the 1373-1673 K range, and at steady-state strain rate ranging from 0.5 Â 10 À5 to 5.5 Â 10 À5 s À1 . Microscopic observations of the run products show characteristic microstructures of the so-called ''dislocation creep regime'' in wet conditions. Based on the present data at 1473 K, the pressure effect on forsterite plasticity is quantified using an activation volume V Ã Fo ¼ 12:1 AE 3:0 cm 3 mol À1 . A comparison between the strain rates of San Carlos olivine and forsterite specimens deformed together indicates that, at the experimental conditions, they compare with each other within less than half an order of magnitude. This comparison also allows for the determination of the stress exponent of forsterite of n Fo = 2.3 ± 0.6. Our results, combined with data from the literature, indicate a clear trend of increasing stress exponent with Fe content in olivine.