Low electrical conductivity of dry CaSiO3 perovskite under lower mantle conditions

Abstract

Electrical conductivity (EC) provides important constraints on the composition and volatile distribution of Earth's deep mantle, yet the EC of davemaoite (CaSiO3 perovskite), a major lower-mantle phase, remains poorly constrained. We measured the EC of nominally dry CaSiO3 perovskite at pressures up to 89 GPa and temperatures up to 2200 K using impedance spectroscopy in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell. Conductivity increases with temperature but decreases systematically with pressure and it is substantially lower than previously reported, yet broadly consistent with recent theoretical predictions for oxygen-vacancy-mediated ionic transport. A distinct change in the temperature dependence coincides with the tetragonal-to-cubic phase boundary, revealing a modest enhancement of ionic transport across the structural transition. Along a normal lower-mantle geotherm, dry davemaoite is comparable in conductivity to bridgmanite near the top of the lower mantle but becomes progressively less conductive with depth. Under cold-slab conditions, dry davemaoite is substantially less conductive than dry subducted MORB and cannot account for the observed high-conductivity anomalies. Dry davemaoite therefore contributes little to bulk lower-mantle conductivity.