Large-scale mantle discontinuity topography beneath Europe: Signature of akimotoite in subducting slabs

The mantle transition zone is delineated by seismic discontinuities around 410 and 660 km, which are generally related to mineral phase transitions. Study of the topography of the discontinuities further constrains which phase transitions play a role and, combined with their Clapeyron slopes, what temperature variations occur. Here we use P to S converted seismic waves or receiver functions to study the topography of the mantle seismic discontinuities beneath Europe and the effect of subducting and ponding slabs beneath southern Europe on these features. We combine roughly 28,000 of the highest quality receiver functions into a common conversion point stack. In the topography of the discontinuity around 660 km, we find broadscale depressions of 30 km beneath central Europe and around the Mediterranean. These depressions do not correlate with any topography on the discontinuity around 410 km. Explaining these strong depressions by purely thermal effects on the dissociation of ringwoodite to bridgmanite and periclase requires unrealistically large temperature reductions. Presence of several wt % water in ringwoodite leads to a deeper phase transition, but complementary observations, such as elevated Vp/Vs ratio, attenuation, and electrical conductivity, are not observed beneath central Europe. Our preferred hypothesis is the dissociation of ringwoodite into akimotoite and periclase in cold downwelling slabs at the bottom of the transition zone. The strongly negative Clapeyron slope predicted for the subsequent transition of akimotoite to bridgmanite explains the depression with a temperature reduction of 200–300 K and provides a mechanism to pond slabs in the first place

Deep Earth explorers

The Cambridge Deep Earth Seismology group has an exhibition at the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge, aimed at increasing understanding of our planet and changing perceptions of geophysics – and geophysicists. Group members Jennifer Jenkins, Jess Bartlet and Sanne Cottaar tell us more

Evidence for a kilometre-scale seismically slow layer atop the core-mantle boundary from normal modes

Geodynamic modelling and seismic studies have highlighted the possibility that a thin layer of low seismic velocities, potentially molten, may sit atop the core-mantle boundary but has thus far eluded detection. In this study we employ normal modes, an independent data type to body waves, to assess the visibility of a seismically slow layer atop the core-mantle boundary to normal mode centre frequencies. Using forward modelling and a dataset of 353 normal mode observations we find that some centre frequencies are sensitive to one-dimensional kilometre-scale structure at the core-mantle boundary. Furthermore, a global slow and dense layer 1 - 3 km thick is better-fitting than no layer. The well-fitting parameter space is broad with a wide range of possible seismic parameters, which precludes inferring a possible composition or phase. Our methodology cannot uniquely detect a layer in the Earth but one should be considered possible and accounted for in future studies

The Transition Zone Beneath West Argentina‐Central Chile Using P ‐to‐ S Converted Waves

We investigate the mantle transition zone beneath the Chile‐Argentina flat subduction region by means of P‐to‐S conversions at mantle discontinuities from teleseismic events recorded at 103 seismic stations. From the analysis of receiver functions, we obtain clear converted phases from the 410 and 660 discontinuities, and we identify a robust precursory signal to P660s, of negative amplitude, that we name P590s. We observe little frequency dependence in the amplitude of the P410s converted phase, while the P660s is less visible toward higher frequencies. The 410 is on average deeper than 410 km by 10 ± 1 km in the higher‐frequency bands, and it is relatively sharp, being consistent with a 10% velocity jump over less than 20 km. The observed 660 depth varies with frequency; it is deeper by up to 18 ± 2 km for lower frequencies and close to reference at higher frequencies, being consistent with a 13% broad velocity gradient over 30–40 km, probably caused by a composite of multiple phase transitions. The transition zone thickness is controlled by the frequency‐dependent depth variability of the 660. Our findings of relative depth, width, and velocity jump of the detected discontinuities, combined with tomographic images of the mantle transition zone, cannot be explained by thermal variations alone. Compositional constraints from mineral physics show that a near pyrolitic mantle is consistent with the ratio of the estimated velocity jumps. However, the negative P590s phase in this region could be signal from the velocity reduction due to basalt accumulation at the base of the transition zone

The root to the Galápagos mantle plume on the core-mantle boundary

Ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) are thin anomalous patches on the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle, revealed by their effects on the seismic waves that propagate through them. Here we map a broad ULVZ near the Galápagos hotspot using shear-diffracted waves. Forward modelling assuming a cylindrical shape shows the patch is ~600 km wide, ~20 km high, and its shear velocities are ~25% reduced. The ULVZ is comparable to other broad ULVZs mapped on the core-mantle boundary near Hawaii, Iceland, and Samoa.  Strikingly, all four hotspots where the mantle plume appears rooted by these ‘mega-ULVZs’, show similar anomalous isotopic signatures in He, Ne, and W in their ocean island basalts. This correlation suggests mega-ULVZs might be primordial or caused by interaction with the core, and some material from ULVZs is entrained within the plume. For the Galápagos, the connection implies the plume is offset to the west towards the base of the mantle

Seismically determined elastic parameters for Earth’s outer core

Turbulent convection of the liquid iron alloy outer core generates Earth’s magnetic field and supplies heat to the mantle. The exact composition of the iron alloy is fundamentally linked to the processes powering the convection and can be constrained by its seismic properties. Discrepancies between seismic models determined using body waves and normal modes show that these properties are not yet fully agreed upon. In addition, technical challenges in experimentally measuring the equation-of-state (EoS) parameters of liquid iron alloys at high pressures and temperatures further complicate compositional inferences. We directly infer EoS parameters describing Earth’s outer core from normal mode center frequency observations and present the resulting Elastic Parameters of the Outer Core (EPOC) seismic model. Unlike alternative seismic models, ours requires only three parameters and guarantees physically realistic behavior with increasing pressure for a well-mixed homogeneous material along an isentrope, consistent with the outer core’s condition. We show that EPOC predicts available normal mode frequencies better than the Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) while also being more consistent with body wave–derived models, eliminating a long-standing discrepancy. The velocity at the top of the outer core is lower, and increases with depth more steeply, in EPOC than in PREM, while the density in EPOC is higher than that in PREM across the outer core. The steeper profiles and higher density imply that the outer core comprises a lighter but more compressible alloy than that inferred for PREM. Furthermore, EPOC’s steeper velocity gradient explains differential SmKS body wave travel times better than previous one-dimensional global models, without requiring an anomalously slow ~90- to 450-km-thick layer at the top of the outer core

Heterogeneity and Flow in the Deep Earth

Over the past half century, study of deep regions in the Earth has revealed them to be complex and dynamic. Much of our knowledge comes from seismological data, and ultimately these observations need to be linked to results from geodynamics and mineral physics in order to make inferences about compositional heterogeneities and flow. One example of a strongly-heterogeneous region is the lower thermal boundary layer of the mantle, i.e. the layer of several hundred kilometers thickness above the core-mantle boundary, commonly referred to as D’’. This region appears to be characterized by two large provinces of distinctive slow shear velocities, 4000-5000 km across, one beneath the Pacific and one beneath Africa. Surrounding these regions, seismic velocities are faster, and often interpreted as corresponding to a graveyard of slabs. A recently discovered phase transition from perovskite to postperovskite may also occur in this depth range and has been associated with an intermittently observed seismic discontinuity at the top of D’’ This study adds to the seismological evidence for complexities both in isotropic seismic velocities as well as in anisotropic velocities and how those can be linked to flow of material. We map a distinctive small "pile" of slow shear velocity beneath Russia through direct waveform evidence. This "pile" is less than 1000 km across, and thus much smaller than the Pacific and African provinces. Its height is several hundreds of kilometers and its velocity reduction suggests it is composed of the same material as the large provinces of slow shear velocity. Beneath Hawaii, at the northern edge of the Pacific province, we find an extended thin zone of ultra-low velocities. This is the first time the three-dimensional extent of such a zone is constrained with some accuracy. The constraints on its morphology come from the presence of strong postcursors to shear waves diffracted along the core-mantle boundary, delayed by 30 to 50 seconds with respect to the main diffracted arrival. The zone is almost 1000 km across and roughly 25 km high. Its shear velocity is reduced by ~20% with respect to the global average, which is possible through strong iron enrichment or the presence of partial melt. Given its location, one can speculate that this zone may represent an anchor to a whole-mantle plume reaching the surface of the Earth beneath the Hawaiian hotspot and may also represent the source of geochemical anomalies in Hawaiian basalts.Around the southern margin of the African low shear velocity province, we map strong variations in anisotropic velocity structure. These could be interpreted as evidence for strong flow outside the region of slow velocity, and insignificant flow within. To understand observations of seismic anisotropy in terms of flow in a more general context, we adopt a multi-disciplinary approach. We forward model anisotropic texture development through geodynamical models, reflecting mineral-physical constraints on the deformational behavior and elastic constants of possible compositions. In both two and three-dimensional models, we find that perovskite and post-perovskite result in distinctive anisotropic patterns. Deformation on different crystallographic lattice planes within post-perovskite also results in different signatures. In general, the presence of post-perovskite appears to best explain seismic observations of anisotropy in the deep mantle.One other region of strong heterogeneous and anisotropic velocity variations is the inner core. In the last chapter, we model thermal histories to assess the possibility of episodes of convection over the course of the inner core growth. Our numerical model predicts strains due to convective flow that could cause texturing and seismic anisotropy. An early termination of this convection can explain the stronger anisotropy seen in the innermost inner core (the most central 500 km)

Observations of changing anisotropy across the southern margin of the African LLSVP

We present evidence for the presence of complex anisotropy in the lowermost mantle from 3-D waveform modelling of observed core-diffracted shear waves that sample the southern edge of the African Large Low Shear Velocity Province (LLSVP). The anomalously strong amplitude of the SV component for the shear core-diffracted phase at large distances indicates the presence of anisotropy. We measure shear wave splitting parameters to determine which part of the elastic tensor is constrained by this particular data set. The modelling is performed using the spectral element method. The anisotropy is strong outside the LLSVP, weakens or rotates close to its boundary, and appears to be absent inside the LLSVP. The presence of the LLSVP margin may cause flow in the mantle to change direction. The occurrence of strong anisotropy in the region of fast seismic velocities is compatible with lattice-preferred orientation in post-perovskite due to accommodation of flow through dislocation creep