Crystallographic Preferred Orientation of Phase D at High Pressure and Temperature: Implications for Seismic Anisotropy in the Mid‐Mantle

Abstract

AbstractSeismic anisotropy has been widely observed in the lower mantle transition zone and the uppermost lower mantle near several subducting slabs, which is typically attributed to the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) of constituent minerals. In this study, well‐controlled uniaxial and simple shear deformation experiments were conducted on Mg‐endmember phase D and Al‐bearing phase D aggregates at 20 GPa and 500–1,000°C. Strong (0001) fabrics were observed in the uniaxially compressed samples. The CPO from all experiments, including extension and simple shear, indicated that the most active slip systems in phase D were <110>(0001) and <100>(0001), with a dominance of <110>(0001). The calculated seismic velocity suggests that the deformed phase D generates positive radial seismic anisotropy (VSH > VSV) in both subhorizontal shearing and subvertical compression, causing significant shear‐wave splitting time. Our results suggest that the observed seismic anisotropy in the mid‐mantle in several cold subduction zones can be well explained by the presence of deformed phase D.