Diffusion Coefficients in Olivine, Wadsleyite and Ringwoodite

Abstract

(Fe,Mg)2SiO4 occurs in the polymorphic forms of olivine (orthorhombic), wadsleyite (orthorhombic) and ringwoodite (cubic). These are some of the most common minerals in the inner solar system. Olivine occurs in the mantles of the Earth, the Moon and Mars, in meteorites, in plutonic and volcanic igneous rocks as well as in some metamorphic rocks. The high pressure polymorphs wadsleyite and ringwoodite have been reported from shocked meteorites. Diffusion coefficients of different elements in these phases have been widely used in several areas of the Earth, planetary and materials-sciences (see below for examples).