WANG Duo-jun, YU Ying-jie, GUO Ying-xing, LIU Zai-yang , LI Dan-yang
College of Earth's Sciences , Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100049, China

Abstract:  Experiment al studies on elect rical conductivities of minerals and rocks are critical to unders tanding the distributions of electrical conductivities of the Earth's interior and geodynamics processes. We invest igated several minerals and rocks in the crust and the upper mantle and compared the experiments results with those derived from MT. The results indicate that both dehydration of hydrous minerals and water stored in the nominally anhydrous minerals can significantly enhance the electrical conductivity of minerals and rocks. The high conductivity layers (HCLs) in the crust were attributed to the dehydration of hydrous minerals. In contrast, the high conduct ivity layers ( HCLs) in the upper mantel were caused by the water dissolved in the nominally anhydrous minerals such as olivine and pyroxene. Comparisons of experimental electrical conductivity determined with those from field geophysical models provide a clue to study the thermal states and distribution of water in the earth's interior.

Key words: minerals and rocks; electrical conductivity; geothermic gradient; HCLs

*Corresponding Author, E-Mail: duojunwang@gucas.ac.cn

Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry Vol. 30, No.1, 2011, page 40-45

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