neutron diffraction of iron hydride in iron-silicate-water system under high pressure and high temperature condition

Iizuka, Riko*; Yagi, Takehiko*; Goto, Hirotada*; Okuchi, Takuo*; Hattori, Takanori   ; Sano, Asami   

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the solar system and is considered to be one of the promising candidates of the light elements in the Earth's core. However, the amount of hydrogen dissolved in the core and its process are still unknown because hydrogen cannot be detected by X ray and easily escapes from iron at ambient conditions. In this study, we have conducted high-pressure and high-temperature in-situ neutron diffraction experiments on the iron-hydrous mineral system using PLANET in J-PARC. We observed that the water, which was dissociated from a hydrous mineral, reacted with iron to form both iron oxide and iron hydride at about 4 GPa. Iron hydride remained stable after further increase in temperature. This formation occurred at 1000K, where no materials melted. This suggests that hydrogen dissolved into iron before any other light elements dissolved in the very early stage of the Earth's evolution.