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Progress in Earth and Planetary Science
Fig. 12 | Progress in Earth and Planetary Science

Fig. 12

From: Iron snow, crystal floats, and inner-core growth: modes of core solidification and implications for dynamos in terrestrial planets and moons

Fig. 12

Melting temperature of Mars core. Effect of pressure on the (Fe, Ni)–S system. Eutectic melting temperatures for (Fe, Ni)–S with Fe:Ni = 10.6:1 are shown as dotted blue lines. Eutectic temperature inflections around 14 and 20 GPa are owing to the stabilization of Fe3S2 and Fe3S above these pressures. Liquidus temperatures for core S contents of 10.6, 14.2, and 16.2 wt.% are presented as solid black lines. The 16.2 wt.% curve has a positive slope, because its S content is higher than eutectic. Shown is the present-day mantle temperature profile and core adiabat of Fei and Bertka (2005), as well as the core adiabat based on CMB temperature determinations by Bertka and Fei (1997), Williams and Nimmo (2004), and Hauck and Phillips (2002) using parameters from Williams and Nimmo (2004). The pressure of the CMB, the mantle solidus, and the melting curve of pure Fe (Fei and Bertka 2005) are given for reference (after Stewart et al. 2007)

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