In addition to a mantle layer adjacent to the CMB, the amount of heat conducted from the Earth’s core is also much controlled by transport properties of its constituent materials, which is essentially iron with fraction of other elements. In this respect, the thermal conductivity of iron is crucial for understanding the Earth’s dynamics and thermal evolution.
We will report results of high-pressure study on the thermal conductivity of iron under conditions of planetary interiors obtained by numerical modeling of heat transfer in the diamond anvil cell, using an input data from laser-heating experiments and synchrotron x-ray diffraction up to a pressure of 60 GPa, and temperatures up to a vicinity of melting. For an experimental sample geometry, measured temperature gradients and laser heat fluxes are reproduced by the pressure and temperature dependent thermal conductivity of iron. Published data on the thermal conductivity of MgO pressure medium has also been critically assessed. Finite element modeling is performed in full 3D geometry, following the real shapes of iron foils used in the experiments. Sensitivity of results to various parameters has been explored in a detail and will serve as a valuable guide for the design of future experiments on the thermal conductivity in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell.