Abstract
Partitioning of sulfur (S), oxygen (O) and silicon (Si) between liquid Fe‐Ni‐alloy (LA) and liquid silicate (LS) was studied with a multi‐anvil apparatus at pressures between 2 and 25 GPa and temperatures between 2073 and 2623 K. We found that S has a strong affinity for liquid Fe‐Ni‐alloy at all the experimental conditions investigated. Partition coefficient of S between liquid Fe‐Ni‐alloy and liquid silicate (DSLA/LS) increases with pressure and decreases with temperature. At the proposed pressure and temperature of core‐mantle equilibrium during early Earth differentiation [Li and Agee, 1996; Righter et al., 1997], S is highly siderophile (DSLA/LS ∼ 1000), while Si and O are highly lithophile (DSiLA/LS, DOLA/LS < 0.03). Our study suggests that if the core composition was largely established by equilibrium partitioning in a deep magma ocean, then S is the most plausible principle light element in the core.
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