GSE_ADA/RSV is a free software package for custom analysis of single-crystal micro X-ray diffraction (SCμXRD) data, developed with particular emphasis on data from samples enclosed in diamond anvil cells and subject to high pressure conditions. The package has been in extensive use at the high pressure beamlines of Advanced Photon Source (APS), Argonne National Laboratory and Advanced Light Source (ALS), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The software is optimized for processing of wide-rotation images and includes a variety of peak intensity corrections and peak filtering features, which are custom-designed to make processing of high pressure SCμXRD easier and more reliable.

Synchrotron‐based high‐pressure/high‐temperature single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction experiments to ~24 GPa and 700 K were conducted on eclogitic garnets (low‐Fe: Prp₂₈Alm₃₈Grs₃₃Sps₁ and high‐Fe: Prp₁₄Alm₆₂Grs₁₉Adr₃Sps₂) and omphacites (low‐Fe: Quad₅₇Jd₄₂Ae₁ and high‐Fe: Quad₅₃Jd₂₇Ae₂₀), using an externally heated diamond anvil cell. Fitting the pressure‐volume‐temperature data to a third‐order Birch‐Murnaghan equation of state yields the thermoelastic parameters including bulk modulus (K_T0), its pressure derivative (K′_T0), temperature derivative ((∂K_T/∂T)_P), and thermal expansion coefficient (α_T). The densities of the high‐Fe and low‐Fe eclogites were then modeled along typical geotherms of the normal mantle and the subducted oceanic crust to the transition zone depth (550 km). The metastable low‐Fe eclogite could be a reason for the stagnant slabs within the upper range of the transition zone. Eclogite would be responsible for density anomalies within 100–200 km in the upper mantle of Asia.

Synchrotron‐based high‐pressure and temperature single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction experiments were conducted on two hydrous orthoenstatite samples (oEn#1: Mg_1.004Si_0.996O₃, ~619 ppm water; oEn#2: Mg_0.947Ni_0.055Si_0.998O₃, ~696 ppm water) to ~34 GPa and 700 K, using resistively heated diamond anvil cells. The α‐opx (Pbca space group)→β‐opx (P2₁/c space group) phase transition of oEn#1 occurs at 12.90(2) GPa, and the β‐opx phase persists to 34.25(1) GPa. The α‐β transition of oEn#2 occurs at 13.50(1) GPa, and a new isosymmetric β‐opx→β‐opxII transition takes place at 29.80(4) GPa. The β‐opxII phase is preserved down to 24.53(3) GPa during decompression. The transition to the monoclinic β‐opxII phase is interpreted as a result of incorporation of Ni²⁺ into the orthoenstatite structure. Fitting the third‐order Birch‐Murnaghan thermal equation of state to the single‐crystal P‐V‐T data yields the thermoelastic parameters of the α‐ and β‐opx phases for both orthoenstatite samples. This study is the first attempt to determine the thermal equation of state of the β‐opx phase. Our results suggest that several hundred ppm of water has negligible effects on the bulk modulus of orthoenstatite but notably enhances the thermal expansion. The potential effects of metastable orthoenstatite on subduction zone dynamics are discussed, and the possible contributions of displacive phase transitions to enhancement of the transformational faulting mechanism of the deep‐focus earthquakes in subducted slabs are considered. The presence of metastable orthoenstatite within cold slabs could promote slab stagnation above the 660‐km discontinuity.

(Mg, Fe)SiO₃ orthopyroxene is an abundant mineral of oceanic subducting slabs. In‐situ high‐pressure and high‐temperature single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction has been used to investigate the phase transition of orthopyroxene across the enstatite‐ferrosilite (En‐Fs) join (En₇₀Fs₃₀, En₅₅Fs₄₅, En₄₄Fs₅₆ and Fs₁₀₀) up to 24.3 GPa and 800 K, simulating conditions within the coldest part of a subduction zone consisting of an old and rapidly subducting slab. Instead of the orthopyroxene → high‐pressure clinopyroxene transition, the α‐opx → β‐opx and β‐opx → γ‐opx phase transition are observed at 7.2–15.3 and 11.6–21.1 GPa (depending on the Fs content), respectively. This study indicates that the pressure‐induced phase transition of (Mg, Fe)SiO₃ orthopyroxene under relatively low temperature (800 K). Additionally, the α‐opx → β‐opx → γ‐opx phase transition could exist within the center of the extremely cold slabs (like Tonga), where such low temperature persists to ~600‐km depth.

For more than a decade, the CheMin X-ray diffraction instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, has been returning definitive and quantitative mineralogical and mineral–chemistry data from ~3.5-billion-year-old (Ga) sediments in Gale crater, Mars. To date, 40 drilled rock samples and three scooped soil samples have been analyzed during the rover’s 30+ km transit. These samples document the mineralogy of over 800 m of flat-lying fluvial, lacustrine, and aeolian sedimentary rocks that comprise the lower strata of the central mound of Gale crater (Aeolis Mons, informally known as Mt. Sharp) and the surrounding plains (Aeolis Palus, informally known as the Bradbury Rise). The principal mineralogy of the sedimentary rocks is of basaltic composition, with evidence of post-depositional diagenetic overprinting. The rocks in many cases preserve much of their primary mineralogy and sedimentary features, suggesting that they were never strongly heated or deformed. Using aeolian soil composition as a proxy for the composition of the deposited and lithified sediment, it appears that, in many cases, the diagenetic changes observed are principally isochemical. Exceptions to this trend include secondary nodules, calcium sulfate veining, and rare Si-rich alteration halos. A surprising and yet poorly understood observation is that nearly all of the ~3.5 Ga sedimentary rocks analyzed to date contain 15–70 wt.% of X-ray amorphous material. Overall, this >800 m section of sedimentary rock explored in lower Mt. Sharp documents a perennial shallow lake environment grading upward into alternating lacustrine/fluvial and aeolian environments, many of which would have been habitable to microbial life.