Shock temperatures in anorthite glass

Temperatures of CaAl_2Si_2O_8 (anorthite glass) shocked to pressures between 48 and 117 GPa have been measured in the range from 2500 to 5600 K, using optical pyrometry techniques. The pressure dependence of the shock temperatures deviates significantly from predictions based on a single high-pressure phase. Either a variable specific heat, or the existence of three phase transitions, at pressures of about 55, 85 and 100 GPa and with transition energies of about 0.5 MJ kg^(−1) each (≈ 1.5 MJ kg^(−1) total) can explain the shock-temperature data. The proposed phase transition at 100 GPa can possibly be identified with the stishovite melting transition. Theoretical models of the time dependence of the thermal radiation from the shocked anorthite based on the geometry of the experiment and the absorptive properties of the shocked material yield good agreement with observations, indicating that it is not necessary to invoke intrinsic time dependences to explain the data in many cases. Observed time dependences were used to calculate absorption coefficients of the shocked material of from about 2 mm^(−1) to greater than 24 mm^(−1) — an increasing function of shock pressure. The assumption that the shocked material radiates as a black body is supported by the theoretical model, and by the close agreement between measured and calculated black body spectral radiance as a function of wavelength