@article{e64c77ede06344cda479510f42b5b5a2,
title = "Primordial helium extracted from the Earth{\textquoteright}s core through magnesium oxide exsolution",
abstract = "Helium is considered a key tracer for processes in Earth{\textquoteright}s deep interior as the core is thought to be a reservoir for the primordial isotope 3He. High 3He/4He ratios in ocean island basalts fed by mantle plumes are indicative of relatively undegassed reservoirs preserved in the deep mantle. Notably, ocean island basalts with tungsten isotopic and 3He/4He anomalies point to possible material contributions from the core. However, it remains unclear how helium is transported from the core to the mantle. Here we use first-principles calculations to show that helium strongly favours entering magnesium oxide at core–mantle boundary conditions. This suggests that magnesium oxide exsolved from the core can deliver appreciable amounts of helium back into the mantle. We also modelled the expected helium flux due to magnesium oxide exsolution since core formation, showing that magnesium oxide exsolved from the core may have continuously supplied helium from the core into the mantle throughout much of Earth{\textquoteright}s history, imprinting its primordial helium signature into the mantle materials. Moreover, magnesium oxide exsolution may inherit other distinct geochemical signatures from the core, thereby offering a pathway for probing core processes.",
author = "Jie Deng and Zhixue Du",
note = "Funding Information: We thank L. Stxirude, B. Karki, C. Jackson and M. Jackson for discussions. Z.D. expresses thanks for the funding from National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 42150102) and from the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Science (grant no. XDB18000000). The simulations presented in this article are performed on computational resources managed and supported by Princeton Research Computing, a consortium of groups, including the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering (PICSciE) and the Office of Information Technology{\textquoteright}s High Performance Computing Center and Visualization Laboratory at Princeton University. High-performance computing resources are also made available partially from Beijing PARATERA Technology Co., LTD. Funding Information: We thank L. Stxirude, B. Karki, C. Jackson and M. Jackson for discussions. Z.D. expresses thanks for the funding from National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 42150102) and from the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Science (grant no. XDB18000000). The simulations presented in this article are performed on computational resources managed and supported by Princeton Research Computing, a consortium of groups, including the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering (PICSciE) and the Office of Information Technology{\textquoteright}s High Performance Computing Center and Visualization Laboratory at Princeton University. High-performance computing resources are also made available partially from Beijing PARATERA Technology Co., LTD. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",
year = "2023",
month = jun,
doi = "10.1038/s41561-023-01182-7",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "16",
pages = "541--545",
journal = "Nature Geoscience",
issn = "1752-0894",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "6",
}