高温・高圧下における鉱物の合成・相平衡からの地球内部の理解  [in Japanese] Recent progress in the experimental study of mineral systems at high pressure and temperature  [in Japanese]

Experimental mineralogy is aimed at understanding the process of rock- and mineral-formation in the earth, and further at exploring the origin of the earth, based on the experimental study on the natural and synthetic rocks and mineral-systems under the controlled conditions in the laboratory. Recent progress in the experimental study on the mineral-system owes much to the advancement in the ultra-high pressure techniques. Some experimentalists have been trying to devise high pressure apparatus such as split sphere apparatus, multi-anvil slide system and the shock compression apparatus. They have succeeded in producing pressures of more than 500 kbar. Transformation of silicate minerals at high pressure was studied by many investigators. They found that the decomposition of silicate minerals can explain the change in the internal structure of the mantle. The commonly used ion exchange geothermometers and barameters cover a wide range of geologically feasible pressure and temperature. Experimental studies for calibrating such geothermometers and barometers have been discussed in many works. Experimental techniques for controlling various volatile components have made possible the interpretation of the important role played by these volatiles in the upper mantle. Various approaches have been made to determine the role of water in the upper mantle or lower crust. It is truly interdisciplinary in that the work is profoundly related to petrology and mineralogy on the one hand, and to physics and chemistry, and further to geophysics and geochemistry on the other.