Experimental constraints on the thermodynamics and sound velocities of hcpFe to core pressures

[1] We report the high-pressure thermoelastic and vibrational thermodynamic parameters for hexagonal close-packed iron (e-Fe), based on nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and in situ X-ray diffraction experiments at 300K. Long data collection times, high-energy resolution, and quasi-hydrostatic sample conditions produced a high-statistical quality data set that comprises the volume-dependent phonon density of states (DOS) of e-Fe at eleven compression points. From the integrated phonon DOS, we determine the Lamb-Mössbauer factor (fLM), average force constant (Φ), and vibrational entropy (Svib) of e-Fe to pressures relevant to Earth’s outer core. We find fLM= 0.923 0.001 at 171GPa, suggesting restricted thermal atomic motion at large compressions. We use Φ to approximate e-Fe’s pressureand temperature-dependent reduced isotopic partition function ratios (b-factors), which provide information about the partitioning behavior of iron isotopes in equilibrium processes involving solid e-Fe. In addition, we use the volume dependence of Svib to determine the product of e-Fe’s vibrational thermal expansion coefficient and isothermal bulk modulus, which we find to be pressure-independent and equal to 5.70 0.05MPa/K at 300K. Finally, from the low-energy region of each phonon DOS, we determine the Debye sound velocity (vD), from which we derive the compressional (vP) and shear (vS) sound velocities of e-Fe. We find vD= 5.60 0.06, vP = 10.11 0.12, and vS = 4.99 0.06 km/s at 171GPa, thus providing a new tight constraint on the density dependence of e-Fe’s sound velocities to outer core pressures.