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Structural characterization of natural UO2 at pressures up to 82 GPa and temperatures up to 2200 K
-
Steeve Gréaux
,
Laurent Gautron
Published/Copyright:
April 1, 2015
Abstract
Uranium is one of the main heat sources in the Earth, as about 25% of the total heat is produced by the radioactive decay of U. The location of U in the deep mantle is then essential for a better understanding of the geodynamics and thermal behavior of the Earth. For the first time, the crystal structure of natural simple dioxide UO2 uraninite has been studied by X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation (ESRF, Grenoble, France), in situ in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell at pressures and temperatures relevant to the deep Earth’s mantle. Fluorite-type UO2 displays a new sequence of phase transitions at high P and T, with a cubic modified fluorite Pa3 observed at 18 GPa, and an orthorhombic Pbca structure from 33 GPa up to 82 GPa. Using a second-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, we calculated room-pressure bulk modulus K0 = 166(7) GPa with pressure derivative K′0 = 4.0 for the Pa3̄ structure, and K0 = 225(8) GPa with K′0 = 4 for the Pbca structure. The expected Pnma cotunnite structure was not observed but is not excluded at pressures higher than 82 GPa. Since UO2 displays a Pbca structure stable up to 82 GPa and presents a density much higher than the average density of the surrounding mantle, UO2 could be a host of U in the deep lower mantle.
Received: 2007-7-6
Accepted: 2008-1-18
Published Online: 2015-4-1
Published in Print: 2008-7-1
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
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Keywords for this article
Heat sources;
uranium oxide;
X-ray diffraction;
crystal structure;
deep mantle
Articles in the same Issue
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- The crystal chemistry of Li in gadolinite
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- The structure of monohydrocalcite and the phase composition of the beachrock deposits of Lake Butler and Lake Fellmongery, South Australia
- First-principles calculation of the infrared spectrum of hematite
- In situ observations of muscovite dissolution under alkaline conditions at 25–50 °C by AFM with an air/fluid heater system
- Ramanite-(Cs) and ramanite-(Rb): New cesium and rubidium pentaborate tetrahydrate minerals identified with Raman spectroscopy
- Pressure-temperature studies of talc plus water using X-ray diffraction
- Hematite and magnetite precipitates in olivine from the Sulu peridotite: A result of dehydrogenation-oxidation reaction of mantle olivine?
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