Laboratory electrical conductivity measurements on mantle relevant minerals

The influence of environmental conditions and the thermodynamic parameters which may determine the bulk electrical conductivity of, for instance, basaltic rocks are briefly discussed. At present it is not known to what extent these numerous variables determine the electrical conductivity of rocks quantitatively, since all too many laboratory measurements did not account for the required number of variables to define the system. Thus it is difficult to decide whether or not laboratory measurements on rocks have duplicated their in-situ electrical conductivity.One approach is to calculate the bulk conductivity of rocks from conductivities of constituent minerals, since it is much easier to define the thermodynamic equilibrium conditions for a single phase system. Therefore, laboratory data of the electrical conductivity of minerals, i.e. olivines and pyroxenes, are discussed to some extent particularly in the context of point-defect concentrations as a function of pO₂ and the chemical activitiesa of the binary components of the minerals.The evaluation of a quantitative relationship requires a careful sample characterization. To find a basis for a reasonable interpretation of in-situ resistivity data, the test samples should be selected in regard to those conditions which are believed to exist in the appropriate layer of the earth.