Résumé
The dense hydrous magnesium silicate called the D phase is the most likely candidate to recycle hydrogen into the lower mantle in subduction zones. As seismology represents the preferred method to detect this mineral in subduction zones, the single crystal elastic tensor has been calculated using first principle methods. A triple cell (View the MathML source) was used to account for an ordered ideal composition of the D phase to lower mantle pressures. The elastic tensor of the mineral at ambient conditions is predicted to be C11 = 387.7, C33 = 287.7, C44 = 100.4, C12 = 108.0, C13 = 51.1, C14 = − 14.6 in GPa with bulk modulus at zero pressure Ko = 163 GPa and a statistical error of about 4.0 GPa for all constants. The pressure derivatives of the elastic constants have been determined to pressure of 80 GPa. Our tensor correctly predicts the published experimental measurements of linear compressibility along the a- and c-axes, the logarithmic pressure derivative of the c/a axial ratio and bulk modulus at zero pressure. It contradicts the experimentally measured elastic tensor reported by (Liu, L.-G., Okamoto, K., Yang, Y.-J., Chen, C.-C., Lin, C.-C., 2004. Elasticity of single-crystal phase D (a dense hydrous magnesium silicate) by Brillouin spectroscopy. Solid State Commun. 132, 517–520), which fails to reproduce the experimental compressibility data. Using the elastic constants and density predicted to 85 GPa, the seismic anisotropy of P- and S-waves has been calculated as a function of pressure. The single crystal has high P-wave velocities and shear wave splitting in the basal plane below 20 GPa. At high pressures, the maximum P-wave velocities have threefold symmetry normal to a-axes in the basal plane, whereas the maximum shear wave splitting is parallel to a-axes with twofold symmetry. The D phase has high Vp and Vs anisotropy at ambient pressure, 17.6% for Vp and 19.9% for Vs. The Vp anisotropy decreases with increasing pressure to about 30 GPa, while it remains constant at 8% from 30 to 85 GPa. The Vs anisotropy decreases to 17% at 20 GPa and then increases to 22% at 85 GPa. The isotropic velocity ratios of S to P (Rs/p), bulk sound to S (Rphi/s) and density to S (Rρ/s) are calculated as a function of pressure. The Rs/p shows very little variation with pressure with low value of 0.6, whereas both Rphi/s and Rρ/s increase with pressure to peak values of 2.8 and 2.0 respectively at about 60 GPa. The presence of the D phase in subducted horizontal ‘stagnant' plates in the circum Pacific could contribute to a number of seismic observations, such as the observed velocity heterogeneity at depths between 500 and 1000 km and the fast S-waves travelling horizontally with horizontal polarization in this depth range. Further the lower density of the D phase compared with anhydrous minerals could influence buoyancy of the hydrated ‘stagnant' slabs. The transformation of the D phase to perovskite plus ferripericlase during thermal annealing may be responsible for horizontal slab seismogenesis.