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Updated: May 24, 2026

Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 15, 2013
Evidence for a phase transition in silicate melt at extreme pressure and temperature conditions
D K Spaulding1, R S McWilliams, R Jeanloz
1Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-4767, USA.
Abstract:
Laser-driven shock compression experiments reveal the presence of a phase transition in MgSiO(3) over the pressure-temperature range 300-400 GPa and 10 000-16 000 K, with a positive Clapeyron slope and a volume change of ∼6.3 (±2.0) percent. The observations are most readily interpreted as an abrupt liquid-liquid transition in a silicate composition representative of terrestrial planetary mantles, implying potentially significant consequences for the thermal-chemical evolution of extrasolar planetary interiors. In addition, the present results extend the Hugoniot equation of state of MgSiO(3) single crystal and glass to 950 GPa.
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