Bulk attenuation in the earthʹs mantle due to phase transitions

The calculated bulk attenuation due to phase transition from mineral physics data is reported here. With relaxation time less than 1 s, the calculated value for a pyrolite mantle is consistent with the inverted bulk attenuation of the upper mantle from seismic observations. The two important mechanisms of phase transitions, diffusion-controlled and kinetics-controlled, have different relaxation time as indicated by the models here. The diffusion controlled is more likely to contribute to the observed seismic bulk attenuation than the kinetic-controlled process based on the available diffusivity and kinetics data. The correlation between the bulk attenuation and relaxation time emphasizes the importance of a number of parameters in the mineral physics database such as Fe–Mg diffusivity and kinetics in olivine–wadsleyite–ringwoodite–perovskite, Mg–Ca–Al–Si diffusivity and kinetics in pyroxene–garnet–Ca perovskite, some of which are still unknown.