北京高压科学研究中心
Center for High Pressure Science &Technology Advanced Research

Prof. Jie "Jackie" Li [from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, USA]


Title: Growing inner core in Earth-like planets

Time: 10:00 - 11:00, February 10

Place: Conference room 201, Building 6, HPSTAR (Shanghai)

Host: Jung-Fu Lin


Abstract:

Iron-rich cores are common in the solar system, yet only a few Earth-like planetary bodies maintain active dynamos. What is the role of core crystallization in sustaining the geodynamo? With    a proportionally much larger core, why is Mercury’s magnetic field so much weaker than that of the Earth? And how did the Moon keep a long-lived dynamo in the ancient past given the tiny size of its core?


In this talk, Prof. Li will present recent experimental results on the melting behavior and physical properties of iron-sulfur and iron-carbon systems at high pressures. Depending on its composition and pressure conditions, an iron-rich core may solidify by growing an iron inner core through freezing in the 'heart" or “snowing”, or by forming a carbide inner core. The diverse freezing styles would lead to different fates of core dynamos.


Biography of the Speaker:


Associate Professor

             B.S. (Geochemistry) USTC
             M.A (Geophysics) Harvard
             Ph.D. (Earth and Planetary Sciences) Harvard
       
             Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences
             Tharp Fellow, Columbia University
             Fellow, Mineralogical Society of America
             Helen Corley Petit Scholar, UIUC
             Center of Advanced Study Fellow UIUC
             Member, Geochemical Society
             Gilbert Fellow, Carnegie Inst. of Washington
             Member, American Geophysical Union
             Chair, CIDER Advisory Committee
             Member, COMPRES Infrastructure Committee
             Member, Winthrop Senior House, Harvard
             Guo Moruo Presidential Prize, USTC