Prof. Jie "Jackie" Li [from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, USA]
Title: Growing inner core in Earth-like planets
Time: 10:00 - 11:00, February 10
Place: Conference room 201, Building 6, HPSTAR (Shanghai)
Host: Jung-Fu Lin
Abstract:
Iron-rich cores are common in the solar system, yet only a few Earth-like planetary bodies maintain active dynamos. What is the role of core crystallization in sustaining the geodynamo? With a proportionally much larger core, why is Mercury’s magnetic field so much weaker than that of the Earth? And how did the Moon keep a long-lived dynamo in the ancient past given the tiny size of its core?
In this talk, Prof. Li will present recent experimental results on the melting behavior and physical properties of iron-sulfur and iron-carbon systems at high pressures. Depending on its composition and pressure conditions, an iron-rich core may solidify by growing an iron inner core through freezing in the 'heart" or “snowing”, or by forming a carbide inner core. The diverse freezing styles would lead to different fates of core dynamos.
Biography of the Speaker:
Associate Professor | B.S. (Geochemistry) USTC M.A (Geophysics) Harvard Ph.D. (Earth and Planetary Sciences) Harvard Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences Tharp Fellow, Columbia University Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America Helen Corley Petit Scholar, UIUC Center of Advanced Study Fellow UIUC Member, Geochemical Society Gilbert Fellow, Carnegie Inst. of Washington Member, American Geophysical Union Chair, CIDER Advisory Committee Member, COMPRES Infrastructure Committee Member, Winthrop Senior House, Harvard Guo Moruo Presidential Prize, USTC |
