Determination of the effect upon wave velocities caused by trapped eclogitic melt fractions through refertilisation processes in the Earth's

Significantly, recently Pinter et al. (2015) suggested that siliceous eclogitic melt fractions are becoming trapped by a newly formed orthopyroxene reaction zone layer (RZL) through interactions between siliceous eclogitic melt fractions and ambient peridotitic mantle. When occurring along adiabatic mantle paths, this interaction process between eclogite and peridotite might be the cause of the existence of the low velocity zone (LVZ) observed globally in the Earth’s upper mantle. The proposed research intends, for the first time, to determine the effect upon compressional (VP) and shear wave velocities (VS) originating from the production of the sealed-off eclogitic melt fractions and RZL formation in mantle material containing discrete bodies of eclogite. We intend to model this behaviour during simulated adiabatic ascent from 5 to 3 GPa (i.e. 160 to 100 km mantle depth) by the combination of state-of-the-art in situ x-ray and ultrasonic interferometry measurements at ID06.