Continent-sized anomalous zones with low seismic velocity at the base of Earth's mantle

EJ Garnero, AK McNamara, SH Shim - Nature Geoscience, 2016 - nature.com
Seismic images of Earth's interior reveal two massive anomalous zones at the base of the
mantle, above the core, where seismic waves travel slowly. The mantle materials that …

Core–mantle boundary heat flow

T Lay, J Hernlund, BA Buffett - Nature geoscience, 2008 - nature.com
The Earth can be viewed as a massive heat engine, with various energy sources and sinks.
Insights into its evolution can be obtained by quantifying the various energy contributions in …

High accuracy mantle convection simulation through modern numerical methods

M Kronbichler, T Heister… - Geophysical Journal …, 2012 - academic.oup.com
Numerical simulation of the processes in the Earth's mantle is a key piece in understanding
its dynamics, composition, history and interaction with the lithosphere and the Earth's core …

A review of large low shear velocity provinces and ultra low velocity zones

AK McNamara - Tectonophysics, 2019 - Elsevier
Seismic tomography reveals 2 extensive regions in the lowermost mantle, beneath Africa
and the Pacific, that exhibit lower-than-average seismic wave speeds. These regions have …

High accuracy mantle convection simulation through modern numerical methods–II: realistic models and problems

T Heister, J Dannberg, R Gassmöller… - Geophysical Journal …, 2017 - academic.oup.com
Computations have helped elucidate the dynamics of Earth's mantle for several decades
already. The numerical methods that underlie these simulations have greatly evolved within …

Persistence of strong silica-enriched domains in the Earth's lower mantle

MD Ballmer, C Houser, JW Hernlund… - Nature …, 2017 - nature.com
The composition of the lower mantle—comprising 56% of Earth's volume—remains poorly
constrained. Among the major elements, Mg/Si ratios ranging from∼ 0.9–1.1, such as in …

Reconciling dynamic and seismic models of Earth's lower mantle: The dominant role of thermal heterogeneity

DR Davies, S Goes, JH Davies, BSA Schuberth… - Earth and Planetary …, 2012 - Elsevier
Two large low-shear-velocity provinces (LLSVPs) in the deep mantle beneath Africa and the
Pacific are generally interpreted as hot but chemically dense 'piles', which have remained …

Slab control on the mega-sized North Pacific ultra-low velocity zone

J Li, D Sun, DJ Bower - Nature Communications, 2022 - nature.com
Ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) are localized small-scale patches with extreme physical
properties at the core-mantle boundary that often gather at the margins of Large Low …

Tracking deep mantle reservoirs with ultra-low velocity zones

AK McNamara, EJ Garnero, S Rost - Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2010 - Elsevier
Some regions of the Earth's lowermost mantle exhibit anomalous seismic properties within a
thin zone, less than tens of kilometers in thickness, that directly overlies the core-mantle …

Compositional mantle layering revealed by slab stagnation at~ 1000-km depth

MD Ballmer, NC Schmerr, T Nakagawa, J Ritsema - Science advances, 2015 - science.org
Improved constraints on lower-mantle composition are fundamental to understand the
accretion, differentiation, and thermochemical evolution of our planet. Cosmochemical …