[1] We have determined the postspinel transformation boundary in Mg 2 SiO 4 by combining quench technique with in situ pressure measurements, using multiple internal pressure standards including Au, MgO, and Pt. The experimentally determined boundary is in general agreement with previous in situ measurements in which the Au scale of Anderson et al. [1989] was used to calculate pressure: Using this pressure scale, it occurs at significantly lower pressures compared to that corresponding to the 660-km seismic discontinuity. In this study, we also report new experimental data on the transformation boundary determined using MgO as an internal standard. The results show that the transition boundary is located at pressures close to the 660-km discontinuity using the MgO pressure scale of Speziale et al. [2001] and can be represented by a linear equation, P(GPa) = 25.12 À 0.0013T(°C). The Clapeyron slope for the postspinel transition boundary is precisely determined and is significantly less negative than previous estimates. Our results, based on the MgO pressure scale, support the conventional hypothesis that the postspinel transformation is responsible for the observed 660-km seismic discontinuity.

Phase relations of the olivine‐wadsleyite transition in the system (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 have been determined at 1600 and 1900 K using the quench method in a Kawai‐type high‐pressure apparatus. Pressure was determined at a precision better than 0.2 GPa using in situ X‐ray diffraction with MgO as a pressure standard. The transition pressures of the end‐member Mg2SiO4 are estimated to be 14.2 and 15.4 GPa at 1600 and 1900 K, respectively. Partition coefficients for Fe and Mg between olivine and wadsleyite are 0.51 at 1600 K and 0.61 at 1900 K. By comparing the depth of the discontinuity with the transition pressure, the temperature at 410 km depth is estimated to be 1760 ± 45 K for a pyrolitic upper mantle. The mantle potential temperature is estimated to be in the range 1550–1650 K. The temperature at the bottom of the upper mantle is estimated to be 1880 ± 50 K. The thickness of the olivine‐wadsleyite transition in a pyrolitic mantle is determined to be between 7 and 13 km for a pyrolitic mantle, depending on the efficiency of vertical heat transfer. Regions of rapid vertical flow (e.g., convection limbs), in which thermal diffusion is negligible, should have a larger transition interval than stagnant regions, where thermal diffusion is effective. This is in apparent contradiction to short‐period seismic wave observations that indicate a maximum thickness of <5 km. An upper mantle in the region of the 410 km discontinuity with about 40% olivine and an Mg# of at least 89 can possibly explain both the transition thickness and velocity perturbation at the 410 km discontinuity.

The phase boundary between spinel (gamma phase) and MgSiO3 perovskite + MgO periclase in Mg2SiO4 was determined by in situ x-ray measurements by a combination of the synchrotron radiation source (SPring-8) and a large multianvil high-pressure apparatus. The boundary was determined at temperatures between 1400 degrees to 1800 degreesC, demonstrating that the postspinel phase boundary has a negative Clapeyron slope as estimated by quench experiments and thermodynamic analyses. The boundary was located at 21.1 (+/-0.2) gigapascals, at 1600 degreesC, which is approximately 2 gigapascals lower than earlier estimates based on other high-pressure studies.

The boundary between Earth's rigid lithosphere and the underlying, ductile asthenosphere is marked by a distinct seismic discontinuity 1 . A decrease in seismic-wave velocity and increase in attenuation at this boundary is thought to be caused by partial melt 2 . The density and viscosity of basaltic magma, linked to the atomic structure 3,4 , control the process of melt separation from the surrounding mantle rocks 5-9 . Here we use high-pressure and high-temperature experiments and in situ X-ray analysis to assess the properties of basaltic magmas under pressures of up to 5.5 GPa. We find that the magmas rapidly become denser with increasing pressure and show a viscosity minimum near 4 GPa. Magma mobility-the ratio of the melt-solid density contrast to the magma viscosityexhibits a peak at pressures corresponding to depths of 120-150 km, within the asthenosphere, up to an order of magnitude greater than pressures corresponding to the deeper mantle and shallower lithosphere. Melts are therefore expected to rapidly migrate out of the asthenosphere. The diminishing mobility of magma in Earth's asthenosphere as the melts ascend could lead to excessive melt accumulation at depths of 80-100 km, at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary. We conclude that the observed seismic discontinuity at the lithosphereasthenosphere boundary records this accumulation of melt.Along the axial zone of mid-ocean ridges (MORs), asthenospheric mantle rises in response to the diverging motion of oceanic lithosphere and experiences decompression melting. Depending on the volatile content and temperature of the upper mantle, peridotite partial melting initiates at depths of about 80-130 km (ref. 10). The resulting basaltic magmas are buoyant and mobile, percolating upward to form the crust, and leaving a refractory residuum that forms the oceanic lithosphere. Along the more than 50,000-km-long global MOR system, roughly 60,000 tons of magma are processed per minute 11 , replenishing the entire ocean floor in ∼100 Myr. This process is the primary engine for present-day geochemical fractionation of our planet.Structural changes in basaltic magmas with pressure (or depth) play a central role in controlling magma mobility and melting. Pressure-dependent structural changes in silicate melts associated with transformations in the coordination of aluminium ions have been suggested from nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies of quenched glasses 3 . Such structural changes usually

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