First principles elasticity of olivine

ORAL

Abstract

We examine by first principles the static elaticity of olivine, Mg$_{2-x}$Fe$_{x}$SiO$_{4}$ ($x = 0.125$), a major constituent of the Earth's upper mantle. We investigate the effect of atomic arrangement and composition on single crystal and poly-crystalline elastic moduli. Wave propagation anisotropy in single crystals and polarization anisotropy in aggregates with preferred orientation are also investigated and compared with those of forsterite for a thorough understanding of the effect of iron on these properties.

*Research supported by NSF/ATM 0428774 and EAR 0810272. Computations were performed at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute

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Authors

  • Maribel N\'u\~nezValdez

    • School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota

  • Renata Wentzcovitch

    • University of Minnesota
    • Dept. of Chemical Engineering and Material Sciences, University of Minnesota

  • Koichiro Umemoto

    • Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota
    • University of Minnesota