From minerals to rocks: the elastic properties of single- and multi-phase systems across the scales

Major processes such as plate tectonics and seismic activity are driven by the physical state and physical properties of mantle rocks. Nonetheless, the elastic behaviour of mantle rocks at P–T conditions relevant to the Earth's mantle has never been investigated. It is the Equations of State (EoS) of minerals that allow the physical properties of rocks to be inferred. However, performing such conversion – from single- to multi-phase EoS – requires upscaling from minerals to rocks. This beamtime is intended to bridge this gap. To this aim, we propose to investigate, for the first time, the elastic behaviour of multi-phase, natural bulk rock samples at P–T conditions relevant to the Earth's mantle. Results will have a major impact on our understanding of how single-phase EoS are related to each other in multi-phase systems and will contribute to building more accurate models for the variations of bulk rock physical properties in the uppermost layer of the Earth’s mantle.