ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY OF OLIVINE, A DUNITE, AND THE MANTLE

Electrical conductivity measurements have been made on a dunite from North Carolina, in the temperature range of 600°-1200°C and under controlled oxygen fugacity. Observations demonstrate that conduction in the dunite is indistinguishable from conduction in single olivine crystals. Thus the common practice of exaggerating the single-crystal conductivities to account for conduction by grain boundary phases in the mantle is unnecessary. Because the dunite conductivity is consistent with that published for single crystals under similar conditions, a combined analysis of these data has also been made. The behavior of conductivity as a function of oxygen fugacity is discussed. -from Authors