Abstract
Olivine, the dominant mineral in the Earth's uppermost mantle, undergoes one, or possibly a series of phase transformations to adopt a spinel structure at pressures above ∼13 GPa. The mechanism by which the transformation is accomplished could have important implications for understanding mantle dynamics and deep focus earthquakes. Recently, it has been proposed that the transformation may proceed by a martensitic mechanism1–5. We discuss here the characteristic properties of martensitic transformations and present evidence that the analogous transformation in Mg2GeO4 does not proceed by such a process.
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Vaughan, P., Green, H. & Coe, R. Is the olivine–spinel phase transformation martensitic?. Nature 298, 357–358 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/298357a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/298357a0
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