The melting point of iron is experimentally well defined for pressures less than 50 GPa.
For greater pressures, published data (as of 2007) put the γ-ε-liquid triple point at pressures that differ by tens of gigapascals and 1000 K in the melting point. Generally speaking, molecular dynamics computer simulations of iron melting and shock wave experiments suggest higher melting points and a much steeper slope of the melting curve than static experiments carried out in diamond anvil cells.
The melting and boiling points of iron, along with its enthalpy of atomization, are lower than those of the earlier group 3d elements from scandium to chromium, showing the lessened contribution of the 3d electrons to metallic bonding as they are attracted more and more into the inert core by the nucleus; however, they are higher than the values for the previous element manganese because that element has a half-filled 3d subshell and consequently its d-electrons are not easily delocalized. This same trend appears for ruthenium but not osmium.