Low electrical conductivity of dry CaSiO3 perovskite under lower mantle conditions

Abstract: Electrical conductivity (EC) provides important constraints on the composition and volatile distribution of Earth's deep mantle, yet the EC of davemaoite (CaSiO3 perovskite), a major lower-mantle phase, remains poorly constrained. We measured the EC of nominally dry CaSiO3 perovskite at pressures up to 89 GPa and temperatures up to 2200 K using impedance spectroscopy in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell. Conductivity increases with temperature but decreases systematically with pressure and it is substantially lower than previously reported, yet broadly consistent with recent theoretical predictions for oxygen-vacancy-mediated ionic transport. A distinct change in the temperature dependence coincides with the tetragonal-to-cubic phase boundary, revealing a modest enhancement of ionic transport across the structural transition. Along a normal lower-mantle geotherm, dry davemaoite is comparable in conductivity to bridgmanite near the top of the lower mantle but becomes progressively less conductive with depth. Under cold-slab conditions, dry davemaoite is substantially less conductive than dry subducted MORB and cannot account for the observed high-conductivity anomalies. Dry davemaoite therefore contributes little to bulk lower-mantle conductivity.