Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Resistivity of Solid Iron at Earth's Core Conditions from First Principles

Xu, Junqing; Zhang, Peng; Haule, K.; Minar, Jan; Wimmer, Sebastian; Ebert, Hubert and Cohen, R. E. (2018): Thermal Conductivity and Electrical Resistivity of Solid Iron at Earth's Core Conditions from First Principles. In: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 121, No. 9, 96601

Abstract

We compute the thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity of solid hcp Fe to pressures and temperatures of Earth's core. We find significant contributions from electron-electron scattering, usually neglected at high temperatures in transition metals. Our calculations show a quasilinear relation between the electrical resistivity and temperature for hcp Fe at extreme high pressures. We obtain thermal and electrical conductivities that are consistent with experiments considering reasonable error. The predicted thermal conductivity is reduced from previous estimates that neglect electron-electron scattering. Our estimated thermal conductivity for the outer core is 77 +/- 10 Wm(-1) K-1 and is consistent with a geodynamo driven by thermal convection.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Geosciences > Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Subjects: 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences and geology
• ISSN: 0031-9007
• Language: English