Geophysical remote-sensing methods, particularly seismology, provide an incredibly detailed view of the structure and composition of Earth’s mantle. The seismic velocity structure of the deep mantle can be used, in theory, to constrain its temperature, mineralogy and composition. However, inversion of the mantle velocity structure relies on quantitative knowledge of the elastic properties of Earth’s mantle minerals. Knowledge of the elastic properties of mantle minerals is primarily derived from experimental in situ measurements of sound-wave velocities at high pressure and temperature. In this Technical Review, we highlight the major methodologies that are used to constrain the elastic properties of deep-mantle minerals and discuss their advantages, limitations and future potential. We focus on light-scattering techniques in the diamond-anvil-cell and ultrasonic methods in large-volume presses, which have provided the majority of elasticity data on deep-mantle minerals to date and will likely continue to do so in the foreseeable future. We summarize the current state of knowledge with respect to the elastic properties of typical minerals in the mantle transition zone and lower mantle, where substantial advances have recently been made, and highlight major gaps in the published data.

地球物理遥感方法，特别是地震学，提供了有关地幔结构和组成的令人难以置信的详细视图。从理论上讲，深地幔的地震速度结构可用于限制其温度，矿物学和组成。然而，地幔速度结构的反演依赖于对地球地幔矿物弹性特性的定量认识。有关地幔矿物弹性特性的知识主要来自于在高压和高温下对声波速度进行的原位实验测量。在本技术评论中，我们重点介绍了用于限制深地幔矿物弹性特性的主要方法，并讨论了它们的优势，局限性和未来潜力。我们专注于大容量压机中金刚石-砧室中的光散射技术和超声方法，迄今为止，这些方法已提供了有关深层地幔矿物的大部分弹性数据，并且在可预见的将来可能会继续这样做。我们总结了有关地幔过渡带和下地幔中典型矿物的弹性特性的最新知识，并指出了最近的重大差距。