From Crust to Core, on Earth and Beyond
Geodynamics Research Center, Ehime University
In the city of Matsuyama in Shikoku island, Japan, geophysicists are learning the secrets of the Earth’s deep interior using cutting edge technologies in ultra-high-pressure experimental and computational studies. The Geodynamics Research Center (GRC) was founded in April 2001 as an advanced research center within Ehime University for studies of the structure, constitution, and dynamics of the Earth’s deep interior.
For experimental studies, the center houses the world’s largest multi-anvil press, as well as other large-volume and small high-pressure cells to cover the entire pressure and temperature ranges of the Earth’s interior. The latest micro-analysis equipment, including scanning and transmission electron microscopes as well as synchrotron radiation facility, can be used to conduct micro-structural analyses of samples from the deep earth and those synthesized at high pressure. At the same time experimentalists work closely with theoretical physicists to create numerical models to predict and interpret the data they find.
As well as providing a better understanding of the earth, the GRC’s advanced ultra-high-pressure technology has produced some novel functional materials, including the world’s hardest diamond - “nano-polycrystalline diamond” (NPD) or Hime-diamond. At the same time, the applicability of GRC’s theoretical research, as well as the ability to create high pressure conditions in excess of that of the earth, means researchers at GRC are able to predict, model and even synthesise the materials and dynamics of the interiors of exoplanets and super earths.