Lattice thermal conductivity of MgO at conditions of Earth's interior.

ABSTRACT: Thermal conductivity of the Earth's lower mantle greatly impacts the mantle convection style and affects the heat conduction from the core to the mantle. Direct laboratory measurement of thermal conductivity of mantle minerals remains a technical challenge at the pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions relevant to the lower mantle, and previously estimated values are extrapolated from low P-T data based on simple empirical thermal transport models. By using a numerical technique that combines first-principles electronic structure theory and Peierls-Boltzmann transport theory, we predict the lattice thermal conductivity of MgO, previously used to estimate the thermal conductivity in the Earth, at conditions from ambient to the core-mantle boundary (CMB). We show that our first-principles tech

SUBMITTER: Tang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2842022 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature