The Link between the Physical and Chemical Properties of Carbon-Bearing Melts and Their Application for Geophysical Imaging of Earth’s Mantle

Significant investment in new capacities for experimental research at high temperatures and pressures have provided new levels of understanding about the physical properties of carbon in fluids and melts, including its viscosity, electrical conductivity, and density. This chapter reviews the physical properties of carbon-bearing melts and fluids at high temperatures and pressures and highlights remaining unknowns left to be explored. The chapter also reviews how the remote sensing of the inaccessible parts of the Earth via various geophysical techniques – seismic shear wave velocity, attenuation, and electromagnetic signals of mantle depths – can be reconciled with the potential presence of carbon-bearing melts or fluids. Supplemental online material is available for this chapter at www.cambridge.org/9781108477499#resources.