<p>With some informal conversation with a peer of mine, he had suggested that there is evidence (which he couldn't find,but had remembered reading) that there was Silicon in the Earth's core. I referred to him to a rather famous paper by Micheal Drake which says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Further, there is no compelling experimental evidence that Si is extracted into the core under present core-mantle boundary conditions. For example, at the base of a high pressure/temperature terrestrial magma ocean, the metal/silicate partition coefficent for Si is approximately $10^{-3}$ to  $10^{-2}$"</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But since this paper was published 12 years ago, I am wondering if there is any compelling evidence that Si is in Earth's core, and at what concentration it might be? How might it have gotten there? </p>

<p><strong>References</strong></p>

<p>Drake, M., Righter, K., 2002. Determining the composition of the Earth. Nature 416, 39–44.</p>

<geophysics><seismology><geochemistry><planetary-science><core>
How much silicon is in the Earth's core, and how did it get there?
Neo
# How much silicon is in the Earth's core, and how did it get there?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-17)

With some informal conversation with a peer of mine, he had suggested that there is evidence (which he couldn't find,but had remembered reading) that there was Silicon in the Earth's core. I referred to him to a rather famous paper by Micheal Drake which says:

> "Further, there is no compelling experimental evidence that Si is extracted into the core under present core-mantle boundary conditions. For example, at the base of a high pressure/temperature terrestrial magma ocean, the metal/silicate partition coefficent for Si is approximately $10^{-3}$ to $10^{-2}$"

But since this paper was published 12 years ago, I am wondering if there is any compelling evidence that Si is in Earth's core, and at what concentration it might be? How might it have gotten there?

**References**

Drake, M., Righter, K., 2002. Determining the composition of the Earth. Nature 416, 39–44.

**Tags:** geophysics, seismology, geochemistry, planetary-science, core


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