Newsletter of the Global COE program

Deep Earth Mineralogy
Center for Advanced Experimental andTheoretical Deep Earth Mineralogy
先進的実験と理論による地球深部物質学拠点

No. 4, January 31, 2010

News & Events
New hot papers in Science and PNAS
Research papers by faculty staff members of GRC have been
published in highly cited journals, Science and Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. in December 2009. Prof. Tetsuo Irifune and Dr. T. Shinmei of
GRC reported detailed phase transitions in pyrolite at pressures up
to about 50 GPa and provided new insights into the chemicalcomposition and density changes in the lower mantle. This study
has been conducted in collaboration with the research group (C. A.
McCammon, N. Miyajima, D. C. Rubie, D. J. Frost) of Bayerisches
Geoinstitut (BGI), University of Bayreuth. Meanwhile, Prof. Taku
Tsuchiya of GRC and Dr. Kenji Kawai, a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow,
estimated temperatures of the D" layer near the mantle-coreboundary, on the basis of combined ab initio calculations andseismological wave-form inversions. Both studies were reported insome major Japanese newspapers and TV news programs.

high-pressure vessels, such as multianvil apparatus and diamondanvil cell. Dr. Takahiro Ishikawa, an Assist. Prof. of GRC, foundthat a stacked disorder structure of hcp and fcc iron becomes morestable at higher temperatures under the inner core pressures, on thebasis of ab initio calculations using a new computational algorithm.
The disordering at higher temperature was also found to enhanceelastic anisotropy of iron, which should have important implications
for the structure and dynamics of the core.

Highest pressure in a cubic anvil apparatus
Dr. Takaaki Kawazoe, a COE postdoctoral fellow at GRC, andhis colleagues of the "rheology group" achieved a pressure of ~25
GPa in a DIA-type cubic apparatus (MADONNA-1500), which is
the highest pressure recorded in this type of apparatus usingtungsten carbide anvils. Dr. Kawazoe developed the "6-6 system",invented by Assoc. Prof. Norimasa Nishiyama of GRC, andsucceeded to produce such a high pressure by optimizing the cell
assembly. He further applied this technique to deformation
experiments, and some preliminary studies have been made on
high-pressure forms of olivine at pressures up to 20 GPa, at 1700K,
utilizing the D-ram system of MADONNA.

Successful synthesis of further larger HIME-DIA
Synthesis of larger ultrahard nano-polycrystalline diamond (NPD
= HIME-DIA) is one of impor tant issues in developing new
high-pressure technology for deep Earth mineralogy. Mr. Futoshi
Isobe, a master course student at GRC, succeeded in synthesizing af lawless HIME-DIA rod of ~8mm in both diameter and length,u si n g a l a r g e -vol u m e K aw a i - t y p e m u lt i a nv i l a p p a r a t u s(BOTCHAN-6000) introduced in "SOSEKI LAB" of GRC lastyear. He used an octahedral pressure medium of 30 mm edge
length, and pressurized a graphite rod of about 1 cm, using a set ofeight WC anvils with edge length of 65 mm. Thus synthesized rods
will be processed and used for new high-pressure vessels.

A possible new high-pressure form of Fe
Clarifying the crystal structure of iron at the P, T conditions of
the Earth's inner core (>330 GPa, ~5000-6000 K) is one of the
major research targets of our global COE program. Simultaneous
generation of such extremely high-pressure and temperaturec o n d it io n s , h owe ve r, h a s n ot b e e n r e a l i z e d u si ng s t a t ic

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News & Events
An interdisciplinary workshop by young scientists
The Young Earth Scientist Association (YESA) of the global
COE organized the 2nd Y ESA workshop at GRC on 28-29
September, 2009. The workshop aimed at having extensive
discussion on dynamics of the deep Earth, based on high-pressure
experimental studies, numerical simulations, and seismologicalobser vations. In this workshop, emphasis was made on theinterpretation of seismological observations by experimental andtheoretical mineral physics studies. Eight young scientists from
Hiroshima Univ., JAMSTEC, National Inst. Polar Res., Shizuoka
Univ., Tohoku Univ., TiTech., and Univ. Tokyo were invited to givetalks, while four speakers were selected from the YESA membersof GRC. The interdisciplinary workshop, also attended by about 30
GRC members, was highly successful with extensive discussions
among the young scientists, followed by further communication at
izakaya restaurants.

while basics of ATEM operation were taught individually in the
training course. Nearly 20 people of the graduate-course students,
postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members attended the lectures,and 9 of those people attended the training course. ATEM is now
becoming a f undamental tool to st udy the text ures, cr ystal
str uct ures, and compositions of nat ural and synthetic solidmaterials, and particularly, important in analyses of high-pressure
phases.

Long-term internship students from CUG Wuhan
Two master course students, Mr. Chunyin Zhou and Ms. Cuiping
Yang, from Chinese University of Geoscience (Wuhan) have been
engaged in high-pressure experimental studies at GRC for about 5
months since September 2009, with financial supports from GRC.
GRC and the national key laboratory at CUG Wuhan holds anagreement on the mutual exchange of students and researchers. Mr.
Zhou has been working on the phase relations in iron-bearing
pyroxene using the quench method, while Ms. Yang focuses herstudy on in situ observations of serpentine at high pressure andhigh temperature. Both are expected to finish their internshipstudies by the end of January, 2010, and write scientific papers onthese subjects.

Long-term visiting PhD students from Europe
A PhD student from Bayerisches
G e oi n st it ut ( BGI ), M r. St a g no
Vi ncen zo, st ayed a nd joi ned i nexperimental studies at GRC for fourmonths from September toD e c e m b e r 2 0 0 9, b a s e d o n a n
ag reement bet ween the t wo
institutes. He made some successful
high-pressure r uns with sintereddiamond anvils operated in
MADONNA and also worked with
Focused Ion Beam (FIB) for TEM
observations of some mineral inclusions in natural diamonds.
Meanwhile, another PhD student of Univ. Edinburgh, Mr. Shigeto
Hirai, stayed at GRC in November-December 2009, and made anumber of high-pressure runs to synthesize new substances withperovskite and post-perovskite structures relevant to materials
science. He is planning to visit GRC again in January 2010 for
further experimental studies in this direction.

Internship for TEM analysis
An internship for analytical transmission electron microscopy(ATEM) on ear th materials was held on October 27-30. The
lecturers were Prof. Kiyoshi Fujino and Dr. Hiroaki Ohfuji of GRC,
Ehime Univ. The program consisted of lectures and a training
course for practical ATEM operation. In the lectures, fundamental
crystallography, electron diffraction, and EDS analysis were given,

Page 2

Internship for high P-T in situ observation
An internship program "Tutorial for in situ X-ray diffraction
experiments under high-pressure and high-temperature usingsynchrotron radiations" was held on 30 November to 4 December at
the BL04B1 beamline at the SPring-8 as a part of the G-COE
program by Dr. Funakoshi and Dr. Higo (JASRI). A total of sixteen
people, including twelve beginners, participated in the internshipprogram from Ehime Univ., Univ. Tokyo, BGI (Germany), and
CUG Wuhan (China). They learned techniques relevant to in situ
X-ray observations using a combination of Kawai-type multianvil
apparatus and synchrotron radiation. In situ observations of phasetransitions in natural olivine were carried out as well as the P-V-T
measurements for each phase, followed by the data analyses
assisted by the experienced postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D students
from GRC. The participants also had an opportunity to visit otherbeamlines at the SPring-8, including XFEL (a faculty of X-ray
Free-Electron Laser at the SPring-8) under construction. A special
excursion was organized to visit Nishi-Harima Astronomical
Observatory where NAYUTA, the largest telescope in Japan, is
open to the public.

News & Events
Internship for high-temperature synthesis
Prof. Toshisuke Kawasaki of Graduate School of Science andTechnology of Ehime Univ., a member of the global COE program,offered an opportunity for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows tolearn high-temperature synthesis techniques on 12-15 January,
2010, as one of the internship programs. Details of the techniques
in high-temperat u re exper iments under cont rolled oxygen
fugacities were taught to the young scientists, mostly foreign PhD
students of GRC, followed by a practice on electron microprobe
analysis of the produced synthetic samples. The COE members of
Ehime Univ. outside GRC (Profs. T. Kawasaki, I. Ohno, and A.
Yamamoto) greatly contribute to the educational programs on thebasic techniques relevant to Deep Earth Mineralogy.

Geoscience Union (JpGU) Meeting 2010 in Makuhari during theperiod of 23 - 28 May. This session aims at presentations anddiscussions relevant to mineral physics and geodynamics of the
deep mantle, with special emphasis on (1) thermal/chemical
structure, (2) behaviours of fluids and/or hydrous minerals, and (3)rheolog y of the deep mantle. Those who are interested incontributing to this session are encouraged to submit their abstracts
by noon of 5 Febr u a r y (JST). We pa r t icula rly encou rage
researchers/students of TANDEM laboratories to give talks in thissession to enhance mutual communications and collaborations in
Asian countries. Dr. M. Kameyama, Assoc. Prof. of GRC, will act
as the main convener for this session. For further details, see JpGU
website (http://www.jpgu.org/) or directly contact with Dr.
Kameyama (kameyama@sci.ehime-u.ac.jp).

International Frontier Seminer
13th (24 September)"Physical reasons for abandoning plastic deformation measuresin plasticity and viscoplasticity theory"
Lecturer : Prof. Miles B. Rubin (Israel Institute of Technology,
Israel)14th (5 October)"Behavior of Xe-SiO2 and Xe-Fe systems under the condition of
the Earth's interior -Application to the "Missing Xenon Problem"
Lecturer : Prof. Takehiko Yagi (Institute for Solid State
Physics, University of Tokyo, Japan)

An international session at JpGU 2010 Meeting
An international session entitled "Mineral physics and dynamics
of deep mantle" will be held as one of the sessions of the Japan

15th (14 January)"Let's creep! - Part II"
Lecturer : Prof. Yanbin Wang（Center for Advanced Radiation
Sources, The University of Chicago, USA)

Forthcoming Events
The 3rd International Special Lecture
Lecturer: Dr. Catherine McCammon(Staff Scientist, Bayerisches Geoinstitut,
Universität Bayreuth, Germany)
Date: 9-10 February, Ehime Univ.
Lecture I (13:00-16:00, 9 February)"Transition metal chemist r y and theEarth's interior"
1. Introduction
2. Crystal field theory
3. Crystal chemistry of transition metal-bearing minerals
4. Trace element geochemistry
5. Mantle geochemistry
16th Internarional Frontier Seminar (17:00-18:00, 9 February)"Effect of spin transitions on properties and dynamics of thelower mantle"
Lecture II (9:00-12:00. 10 February)"Oxygen fugacity and the Earth's interior"
1. Introduction
2. Thermodynamics
3. Controlling oxygen fugacity
4. Measuring oxygen fugacity: experiment
5. Measuring oxygen fugacity: natural samples
6. Oxygen fugacity in the Earth's mantle

Global COE activity report meeting
A meeting will be held to review the activity of the global COE
program on Deep Earth Mineralogy, attended by the president of
Ehime Univ. and four distinguished professors of the evaluationcommittee outside GRC. The outline of the whole COE activity will
be presented by the program leader, Prof. T. Irifune, followed by thereports on the achievements in education and research programs by
Profs. T. Inoue and T. Tsuchiya, respectively. Then the leaders ofs e ve n m ajo r r e s e a r ch g r o u p s , i n f ive e x p e r i m e nt a l a n d 2computational sciences, of GRC will report the activities of theindividual groups. The allied members of the global COE program
will also give talks on their achievements during the past two years,
as follows:
Date: 15 and 16 March, 2010
Venue: 6th floor, Integrated Research Building,
Ehime Univ., Matsuyama
Tentative program(15 March)
9:00-10:40 Outline of the global COE activities
11:10-15:15
Reports from individual groups (I)
15:30-17:50 Poster session
18:00-20:00 Reception(16 March)
8:30-15:10 Reports from individual groups (II)
15:30-16:00 Discussion and concluding remarks

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New Members
Kazuki KOMATSU (Project Lecturer)

Fulong WANG (PhD student)

I have joined to COE as a project
lecturer at the Univ. of Tokyo fromJan 2009, after finishing a postdoc
position in the Univ. of Edinburgh.
My scientific specialty is X-ray andneutron crystallography for hydrous
mi nerals, hyd rogen bonded
material, and molecule crystals. I
have a par ticular interest in thepeculiar properties and structure ofhigh pressure polymorphs of ice. I
have enthusiastically joined the high pressure neutron research
project collaborated with ma ny h ig h pressu re or neut ron
researchers in the world. My cur rent work is the technicaldevelopments for high pressure neutron study, especially for
installing the Paris-Edinburgh cells at J-PARC. I am also
developing high pressure and high /low temperat ure X-ray
diffraction systems in our laboratory using an X-ray focusing
mirror, which allows us to take diffraction patterns under pressure
without using a synchrotron. It's my pleasure to invite you tocollaborate with us if interested in these studies or techniques.

I moved to GRC in
September 2009 after
finishing my Master's Degree
i n h ig h pre ssu re a nd h ig htemperature science at
Sichuan Universit y in July
2009. I majored in developing
technology for large volume
high pressure and hight e m p e r a t u r e ( LV H P H T )experiments. I have an extensive experimental background, and my
Master's dissertation research focused on developing a new type of
two-stage LVHPHT apparatus based on the hinge-type cubic-anvilpress. The pressure can be taken up to 20 GPa using the phasetransitions of Bi, Ba, Ge, Si, ZnS, and GaAs, and the temperature
can be up to 2000 K. This is the f irst time to achieve suchconditions in China. I'd like to continue this interesting research at
GRC. In addition, the system MgO-FeO-SiO 2 is fundamental to
our understanding of its constituents and dynamics because thetotal amounts of MgO, FeO, and SiO2 make up more than 90 wt %of the bulk silicate Earth. Researching the MgO-FeO-SiO2 system,
therefore, is also my current research interest.

Takehiko TANAKA (PhD student)

Yongtao ZOU (PhD student)

I star ted st udying at
Ehime Universit y as a
PhD student in October
2009. Usually, I work at as e n io r h ig h s ch o ol of
Mie-prefect u re as aphysics teacher. I havecontinued studying thehigh-pressure propertiesof methane hyd rate byusing a diamond anvilcell. The high pressure phase of methane hydrate called "filled ice"
is expected to exhibit symmetrization of the framework ofhydrogen bonds. In my PhD study, I am going to try to confirm
this experimentally. Also, I am interested in the pedagogy ofscience as I have tried to foster scientific interest for the youth at
the high school where I am working.

A f t e r g r a d u a t i n g f r o m Sic hu a n
University in June 2009, I have been a
GRC st udent of the Novel Mater ial
Synthesis Group for my PhD courses
st udy. I m ajore d i n H ig h P re ssu re
S c ie n c e a n d Te c h n olog y w it h t h e
guidance of Prof. Duanwei He, one of
the TA N DEM members, oni nve st igat ion of t he h ig h pre ssu rebehaviors of MgAl 2 O 4 nanoceramics
and /or high-pressu re sy nthesis andcharacterization of superhard/hard materials of the B-C-N-O
system. My current interests are focused on the study of highpressure behaviors of such mantle materials as Mg 3Al 2Si 3O12 Mg3Cr 2Si3O12 system. In the coming years, I will devote myself tostudying this system with the guidance of Prof. Irifune and Dr.
Shinmei.

Internship Report
Akihiro Yamada (COE postdoctoral fellow)
I visited Advanced
Photon Source in Argonne
National Laboratory, which
is a third generationsynchrotron radiation sourcein the US, on October 20th
to 27th. We are working on
a i n - sit u ob se r vat ion ofsilicate melt st r uct u re athigh pressure andtemperature with a Paris-Edinburgh press using X-ray diffraction.
The present experiment has been performed at sector 16 BMB
beamline, which is operated by HPCAT, Geophysical Laboratory,

Page 4Carnegie institution of Washington. Members from GSECars,
University of Chicago have also been collaborating with us. A
Pa r is-E d i nbu rg h pre ss ha s a la rge a dva nt age i n t he w ide
accessibility of 2θ angle due to the simple geometry of the device.
At that beamtime, we successfully obtained X-ray diffraction
patterns of NaAlSi 3O 8 melt up to 5.5 GPa and 1600 ºC. Very few
experiments under such high temperature conditions using a
Paris-Edinburgh press have been reported, so far. In particular,
there is no work on the structure of silicate melt, which consists of
low Z elements (requires large-volume sample). The present
technique is promising for the neutron diffraction of silicate melt at
high pressure and temperature as well. At last, I would like to say
thank the faculty at GRC very much for their kind consideration in
supporting my travel to Argonne National Laboratory.

Hot Researches by Young Scientists
Intermolecular interactions in hydrogen hydrate under high pressure
Shinichi MACHIDA( COE Postdoctoral Fellow)

Hydrogen hydrate is made of hydrogenbonded water molecules forming cages orframeworks that include hydrogenmolecules. In planetary sciences, hydrogenhydrate is thought to play an important role.
Hydrogen hydrate has attracted attention asa material to trap hydrogen molecules into
ice in interstellar space (Mao et al., 2002).
Thus, hydrogen hydrate would help to storehydrogen in the planets, from which it could
be a reservoir of hydrogen molecules
proposed for formation and evolution. To
understand the behavior of hydrogenhydrate in planets, the properties of hydro-

Study on the silicate melt structureusing Paris-Edinburgh press
Akihiro YAMADA(COE Postdoctoral Fellow)

We have been working on silicate melt
structure at high pressure and temperatureusing synchrotron X-rays. I'm currently
pursuing simultaneous measurement of thestructure and physical properties (density)of silicate melt at high pressure. To achieve
this project a Paris-Edinburgh press, which
has simple geometry and the capacity for alarge volume sample, is being used as thehigh pressure device. As the first stage ofthis project, we tried to establish the system
for the melt(glass)-structure experiment.
The present experiment has been
performing at Sector 16 BMB beamline,
which is operated at HPCAT (Carnegie
institution of Washington) at Advanced
Phot o n S ou r c e of A r go n n e Na t io n a lLaborator y i n the US. Members f rom
GSECars, University of Chicago are also

gen hydrate under high-pressure are very
important.
A high-pressure structure of hydrogenhydrate, filled ice Ic structure (FIIcS), wasreported to be maintained up to 60 GPa(Vos et al. 1996). The filled ice structures ofmany other gas-hydrates decompose below
6.5 GPa, thus, the FIIcS of hydrogenhydrate shows remarkable stability. But, thereasons for the stability of the FIIcS underhigher pressures have not yet been
explained. In my research, high-pressure
experiments of the FIIcS for hydrogenhydrate were performed by using a diamondanvil cell. Then, the reasons for the stability
were examined with regard to the intermolecular interactions between hydrogen andwater molecules.
In the Raman measurements, a roton(rotation mode) revealed that the rotation of
the hydrogen molecules seemed to be
suppressed at around 20 GPa (Fig. 1). In thecase of solid hydrogen, ordering of therotation for hydrogen molecules wasconsidered to require low temperatures,
below 85K, and high pressures, above 110
GPa (Mao and Hemley 1994). Therefore,
suppression of the rotation of hydrogenmolecules observed in the FIIcS under low
pressure indicated that the intermolecularinteractions in the FIIcS were very remarkable. And, these intermolecular interactions

might induce the stability of the FIIcS forhydrogen hydrate.

collaborat i ng with us. Polych romat ic
X-rays from a bending magnet with thee ne rg y r a nge bet we e n 20 -150 keV isavailable at this beamline. Also, a very
accurate stage for the solid state detector
which can be set 2θ widely in the horizontal
direction is available at this beamline. A
Paris-Edinburgh press, which has been
installed by GSECars, is put in the center ofthe stage. Despite the wide accessibility ofthe device, very few experiments underhigh temperature conditions such as them e l t i n g p o i n t of s i l i c a t e h a ve b e e nreported, so far. Particularly, there is norepor t of the work on the silicate melt
str uct ure due to the diff iculties of theexperiment. Specif ically, not only therefractory property but light elements makethe experiment challenging because it
requires a large volume sample to get agood X-ray diffraction signal from thesample.
O n e of t h e r e s u l t s of t h e p r e s e n texperiment, the radial distribution function(G(r)) of NaAlSi 3O 8 melt collected at 5.5
GPa and 1600 ºC, is shown in the Fig. 1. Bytaking advantage of the Paris-Edinburgh
press, we successfully extended 2θ up to37º, which allows us to get diffraction data
up to 〜22 Å-1. This is very effective for the
improvement of the resolution of the radial
distribution function, which can be derived
by transformation of the structure factor.
Previously, we obtained diffraction patterns
up to 25º with DIA-type multianvil press(e.g., Yamada et al., 2007). A sharp peak at〜1.63 Å corresponds to the local structureof aluminum silicate melt which consists ofa tetrahedral unit of SiO4 and AlO4 (shownin the Fig. 1). We cannot distinguish thepeak position of Al-O from Si-O because
both distances are very close to each other(Si- O =〜1.6 Å, Al- O =〜1.7 Å). If thec o ord i n at ion nu mb e r of t he A l at omchanges at a lower pressure than Si as
previous studies have indicated, the we
could see a split t i ng of t he T- O pea kbecause the highly coordinated Al has alonger bond length (〜1.9 Å). In order toinvestigate this structural change in themelt, I will try to obtain structural data at
higher pressure conditions.

Fig. 1. The representative photograph of thehydrogen hydrate in the diamond anvil cellat 27.0 GPa, and the Raman spectra of theroton (rotation mode) of the hydrogenmolecules for hydrogen hydrate. The intensity of the roton decreased at 19.9 GPa.

Fig. 1. Radial distribution function, G(r),of NaAlSi3O8 melt collected at 5.5 GPa and
16 0 0 º C. a pic t u r e i n t he f ig u r e i s aschematic illustration of TO 4 tetrahedron(T= Si, Al), which is the local structure ofaluminous silicate melt.

Page 5TANDEM

THE ASIAN NETWORKIN DEEP EARTH MINERALOGY
Message from COMPRES to TANDEM
Robert C. Liebermann(Former President of COMPRES)Distinguished Service Professor,
Department of Geosciences,
Stony Brook University
For the past 6 ½ years [from August
2003 to January 2010], I have had theprivilege of serving as President of theCOnsortium for Materials Properties
Research in Ear th Sciences [COM PR ES]. COM PR ES is acommunity-based consortium whose goal is to enable Earth
Science researchers to conduct the next generation of high-pressurescience on world-class equipment and facilities. It facilitates theoperation of beam lines, the development of new technologies forhigh pressure research, and advocates for science and educational
programs to the various funding agencies.
Established in 2001 as the result of a proposal to the National
Science Foundation Division of Earth Sciences by representativesof 18 academic institutions in the U. S., COMPRES has grown tobe an inter national organization with 55 U. S. instit utional
members and 34 foreign affiliate members. See details at thewebsite: www.compres.us.
One of the most remarkable signs of progress and expansion of
the f ield of mi neral physics has been the large nu mber offaculty-level appointments in major academic institutions in the U.
S. and the world during the COMPRES era. For example, from2007-2009, there were 11 such appointments in U. S. universities

and 23 in foreign universities [including 8 at Ehime University in
Matsuyama]. This is the clearest signal of the vitality of thisscientific field.
We i n COM PR ES took special note of t he for mat ion of
TANDEM, the Asian Network in Deep Earth Mineralogy, as aninternational network in the Asian region for the advancement ofexperimental and computational studies on the physical properties,
structures, dynamics, and evolution of the Earth's deep interior. Of
the 20 TANDEM laboratories, 8 are foreign affiliate members of
COMPRES; additional members are welcome to apply, using theprocedures found at: http://www.compres.us/index.php?option=
com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=60.
COM PR ES looks for ward to i ncreased cooperation andexchanges with the faculty, staff and students of the TANDEM
laboratories in the future.

News & Events
A mineral physics session for WPGM at Taipei
A session related to Deep Earth Mineralogy, entitled "Structure
and Composition of the Earth's Interior" will be held during theWestern Pacific Geophysical Meeting (WPGM) in Taipei on 22-25
June. This session is convened mainly by the representative
persons of TANDEM members (i.e. Baosheng Li, SUNY; Jennifer
Kung, NCKU; Tetsuo Irifune, GRC; Ian Jackson, ANU; Eiji
Ohtani, Tohoku U.), and solicits presentations from experimental
and computational studies on physical and chemical processes
inside the Earth's mantle and the core. We encourage the scientistsof TANDEM members to submit papers to this session. The
deadline for abstract submission is 25 February. For further
details: http://www.agu.org/meetings/wp10/.

Special volume of Journal of Earth Sciences
A special volume of Journal of Earth Sciences (Springer) will be
published for celebration of the career contribution of Prof.

Page 6

Zhenmin Jin of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan).
Zhenmin published over 110 scientific papers which highlight melt
topology in partially molten mantle peridotite during ductile
deformation, microfabrics in peridotite xenoliths of Eastern China,
eclogite rheology, and physical properties of ultrahigh-pressure
metamorphic rocks from China. He is a leading figure in highpressure Earth sciences of China, who contributes to broader
scientific issues through his role as a senior CUG professor,
member of the Chinese Academy of Science, and China NSF
Advisory Committee. Zhenmin also plays as the representative of
the TANDEM members in China, and will convene the second
TANDEM symposium to be held in Wuhan in this Autumn. The
deadline for article submission is 15 March 2010.
For further details, please contact following guest editors:
Larissa Dobrzhinetsklaya (larissa@ucr.edu)
Tetsuo Irifune (irifune@dpc.ehime-u.ac.jp)
Junfeng Zhang (jfzhang@cug.edu.cn).

Brief Communications
A visit to CHINA
I visited China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CUGB),
Peking University, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)(CUGW), and Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) with aninvitation from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes
and Mineral Resources from November 7 to 16. This invitation was
arranged by Prof. Shengrong Li of CUGB and Prof. Zhenmin Jin of
CUGW. At these 4 organizations, I introduced GRC and the Global
COE program of the GRC, and gave a talk on the two topics,"Discovery of natural silicate ilmenite and perovskite in theshocked meteorite" and "FeAlO3 substitution in MgSiO3 perovskite
in the Earth's lower mantle - why is ferric iron more dominant thanferrous in the lower mantle?-". About 30 to 60 people, both students
and researchers attended the presentations. It was impressive to me
that the students gave me straightforward questions about the issues
which might not be familiar to them. I also discussed with theresearchers and the students various issues.
A lt houg h C UGB a nd C UGW a re now a comprehe n sive
university, their geosciences schools are still at a higher level thanthe other schools. CUGB seems to have a strong background in the
traditional geoscience areas, while at CUGW the new areas such as
mineral physics and rheology are also active. Geochemistry is also
active at CUGW. At Peking University, Profs Xi Lie (having been

in Matsuyama) and Xiang Wu (having been in Misasa) are setting
up a high pressure laboratory in the School of Earth and Space
Sciences. At GIG, Prof. Hongping He arranged my stay, and here I
me t P r of. X ia nde X ie who wa s onc e a p r e side nt of I M A(International Mineralogical Association) after several years'
absence. GIG belongs to the Chinese Academy of Science and has
graduate-course students. It was equipped with new apparatuses
related to geochemistry.
This was my first trip to China, and my impression is 'In China,
everything is changing so rapidly'. (article by K. Fujino)Internship Reports at GRC
Cuiping YANG
I ca me here i n t he m idd le ofSeptember from China University ofGeosciences (Wuhan), and I study here
as an internship student. I am glad that
I have the chance to study at the GRC
and meet so many kind people. My
research topic here is "Equation of stateof antigorite and chlorite under highpressure and high temperature (HPHT)
determined by in-situ X-ray diffraction", and Prof. Inoue is mysupervisor.
During this internship, I went to the Photon Factory (PF) to do
my in-situ X-ray diffraction experiments for one week, andcollected many diffraction data about antigorite and chlorite to
draw the P-V-T path of these minerals, which is important because
antigorite and chlorite are main hydrous minerals in subduction
zones, and their equation of state controls their stability field at
HPHT. Previous data on P-V-T of antigorite and chlorite were
measured at room temperature and high pressure, which cannot
represent the real situation in the earth's interior. This is my firstexperiment, and for t unately, with the help of Inoue-sensei,
Yamada-san and Sogabe-san the result was quite successful.
After the experiment at PF, I attended the special internshipprogram at SPring-8, to learn how to do synchrotron in situ X-ray
diffraction experiments under high pressure and high temperature.
From this program I learned a lot, about the synchrotron X-ray
system, about the way to conduct an experiment well, and aboutteam work and communication. I am proud to be one member ofTeam 3. During this internship, Funakoshi-san arranged sightseeing
at the ast ronomical obser vator y in Harima, which is reallyinteresting, and after that, we had a small party to celebrate thisinternship, every one of us had a lot of fun with that, and weappreciate this special internship indeed.

I like this beautiful and clean city, and my life here is enjoyable
and the people here are kind and helpful. I hope next year I cancome here and start my PhD course with these lovely people.

Chunyin ZHOU
I'm ver y honored to have thisopportunity to study high-pressure and-temperature technology at the GRC from
September (2009) to Januar y (2010).
There are developed facilities for me tocarry out experiments in phase transitionsof ( M g 0 . 9 3 , Fe 0 . 0 7 ) S i O 3 , w h i c h i s a
representative composition of pyroxene inharzburgite of subducted oceanic slabs. It
will help to advance our knowledge of themineralogy of the mantle transition zone and geodynamics. So far I
have obtained some high qualit y experimental results withmulti-anvil apparatus of ORANGE 2000 in the ultra high pressurelaboratory. And I've also learned many experimental skills in thelaboratory. In addition, their teamwork at GRC impressed me verymuch. Young scientists from France, Germany, USA, and China
cooperate and communicate with each other as an international
scientific group.
Fortunately, I had a chance to take part in the beamtime at
SPring-8 as part of the Global COE internship program. We visitedthe world famous scientific facilities and conducted in-situ X-ray
diffraction experiments with synchrotron radiation at the BL04B1.
The experience at SPring-8 is wonderful and very important to mycareer.
I'm so grateful to GRC faculties, particularly Prof. Irifune andNishiyama-san for their creative advice and guidance. Yano-san and
Wada-san taught me how to operate the machines and make parts
for t he c el l s. A nd Sh i n mei- s a n help e d me a lot w it h myexperiments. Thanks are given to all the people above.

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TANDEM Laboratories
Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science,
Hiroshima University

Hiroshima University was established in 1949 by combining thevarious preexisted higher educational institutions. It now has 11
faculties, 12 graduate schools, a research institute, a university
hospital, and 11 attached schools. The numbers of students are ca.
10,980 and ca. 4,520 in undergraduate and graduate courses,
respectively. Academic staffs are ca. 1,800. Hiroshima University
has 2 campuses which are located in Hiroshima city, known as theInternational City of Peace and Culture, and Higashi-Hiroshimacity. The latter is the main campus, covering 252 hectares in theverdant area, where we are located.
The main members of TANDEM at Hiroshima University are
Drs. J. Ando and I. Katayama who are also visiting researchers at
the Geodynamic Research Center of Ehime University. They belong
to the Department of Earth and Planetary Systems Science at
Hiroshima University. This department currently has 14 faculty
members, 5 post-docs, 13 PhD students, and 26 master-course
students in addition to 25 x 4 undergraduate students. These
members include a Chinese graduate st udent and a Korean
post-doc. The department organizes 3 research/education groups
named "Evolution of Earth and Planetary System", "Geodynamics",
and "Environmental and Resource Science". The research/education
activities of these groups cover a wide range of Earth sciences
including sedimentology, paleontology, petrology, structuralgeology, mineralogy, geodynamics, seismology, geochemistry,cosmochemistry, and economic geology. In 2007, our department
was selected for the program for improving graduate school
education by JSPS. This educational program is designed to raise
the academic level of our students through incorporation of theresearch results achieved in the field of basic science and thoseachieved in the field of science offering natural hazards.
"Rheology of the crust/mantle minerals" is a key term in our
research. We have studied plasticity of olivine and garnet so far andrecently focused on serpentine. To proceed with these interesting
topics, we emphasize two research methods which are deformation
experiments and microstructural observations. For the deformation
experiments, we usually use a solid medium deformation apparatus
which was designed to be able to generate up to 4 GPa pressure and1400 ºC temperature conditions. This apparatus can conduct two
types of deformation experiments, namely constant strain rate andcreep tests. The microstructural observations of recovered samples
and naturally deformed mantle rocks (peridotite and eclogite) arever y i mpor t ant to clar if y the defor mation mechanism anddeformation process in the real mantle. An important technique forthe observation is TEM with 200 kV accelerating voltage. SEM,
FTIR, and Laser-RAMAN are also useful analytical instruments
for these experiments. These instruments are all installed in our
department.
In addition to the solid medium deformation apparatus, ourdepartment has the following rigs; 1) High temperature biaxial
frictional testing machine, 2) Rotary shear high velocity frictional
testing machine, 3) High temperature high pressure deformationand fluid flow gas apparatus and 4) Intra vessel deformation andf luid f low apparat us. All these rigs are developed by Prof.
Shimamoto who is one of our faculty members. The first machineis equipped with a furnace which can heat up to ca. 1000 ºC and agear train loading system with 0.03 mm/yr to 1.5 mm/s in slip rate.

The second machine allows the reproduction of seismic slip rates of
up to a few m /s and simultaneously measu r ing mechanicalproperties of simulated faults. The third machine is a standard gas
apparatus with 220 MPa maximum pressure, but equipped with agood servo-controlling system for pore pressure of either gas or
liquid, which has been used for permeability measurements. The
final machine is a high quality triaxial apparatus for deformationand fluid flow studies with 200 MPa maximum pressure.
Using these apparatuses, we can now conduct the various
rheological studies of crust and mantle constituent rocks/minerals
here. Moreover, our department focuses on the study of tectonics ofthe East Asia combined with a chronological study using Sensitive
High Resolution Ion Micro-Probe (SHRIMP). This high quality
instrument is also installed in our department. We'd like to welcome
any members of TANDEM who are interested in the research areasof our department, not only "Rheology of the mantle minerals", tomake future collaborations.

Correspondence:
Jun-ichi ANDO (jando@hiroshima-u.ac.jp)
Ikuo KATAYAMA (katayama@hiroshima-u.ac.jp)

Global COE Newsletter, issued Jan., May and Sep.
Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University
2-5 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama 790-8577, Japan
Tel & Fax : +81-89-927-8405
E-mail : g-coe@sci.ehime-u.ac.jp
URL: http://deep-earth-mineralogy.jp/
Edited by Akira Yamada and Tomo Ohkuma
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