PIER Photon Science Colloquium: The Deep Earth in the LAB: Matter at Extreme Conditions of Pressure and Temperature

by Hauke Marquardt (Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam)

Friday 2 Nov 2012, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Berlin

CFEL Lecture Hall, Bldg. 99 (DESY Hamburg)

Geological events that affect life on the Earth’s surface are driven by dynamic processes in the deep Earth. However, the Earth’s interior is not accessible to direct observation and consequently, its structure, properties and dynamics are poorly constrained. In order to better understand the inner working of the Earth, large scale geophysical observations can be compared with laboratory measurements of the physical and chemical properties of geomaterials carried out at the extreme conditions of pressure and temperature that are characteristic of the deep Earth’s interior. Here, I will introduce the principal experimental approach used to simulate the deep Earth in the lab and I will outline how relevant physical properties can be determined in-situ by employing state-of-the-art instrumentation that has just become available at DESY. I will discuss some recent results from our group and highlight their impact on geophysics, but also on materials science. I will conclude with an outlook on some future experimental studies to determine the elastic and structural properties of matter at extreme conditions.