Electrical conductivity measurement

Electrical conductivity measurements of silicate and carbonate melts provide many constraints to our knowledge of the structure and composition of the Earth’s crust and mantle in combination with electromagnetic observation. This chapter presents a review of laboratory measurement methods and data of electrical conductivity of melts and partial molten rocks. In this century, laboratory techniques for electrical conductivity measurement of magmas under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions using solid-medium high-pressure apparatus have been developed. Sections 2 and 3 focus on the principles and methods of the conductivity measurement of liquid under high pressure. Sections 4 and 5 review the currently available conductivity data of melts and partial molten rocks. The presence of volatile components such as H₂O and CO₂ significantly increases melt conductivity, suggesting that the tiny amount of partial melt has an ability to generate high conductivity anomalies observed in the Earth’s interior.