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Large-Scale Thermo-chemical Structure of the Deep Mantle: Observations and Models

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The Earth's Heterogeneous Mantle

Part of the book series: Springer Geophysics ((SPRINGERGEOPHYS))

Abstract

Seismic tomography indicates that the lowermost mantle, from 2400 km down to the core–mantle boundary (CMB) is strongly heterogeneous at large wavelengths. The most striking features are two large low-shear-wave velocity provinces (LLSVPs), where shear-wave velocity drops by a few percent compared to averaged mantle. Several seismic observations further show that lowermost mantle seismic anomalies cannot be purely thermal in origin. Compositional anomalies are required to fully explain observations like the anti-correlation between shear- and bulk-sound velocities, and the distribution of density mapped by normal modes. In the meantime, models of thermo-chemical convection indicate that reservoirs of dense, chemically differentiated material can be maintained in the lowermost mantle over long periods of time and that thermal plumes rising up to the surface are generated at the surface of these reservoirs. Model parameter searches indicate that maintaining such reservoirs requires a moderate density contrast between dense and regular material and a large thermal viscosity contrast . Current models of thermo-chemical convection also explain details revealed by travel time and seismic waveform data, in particular the LLSVP sharp edges, and the distribution of plumes at the surface of LLSVPs. A remaining question is the detailed nature of the lower mantle large-scale chemical heterogeneities . Reservoirs of dense material may result either from early partial differentiation of the mantle or recycling of oceanic crust (MORB). Seismic sensitivities inferred from a coherent mineral physics database suggest that LLSVPs are better explained by warm material enriched in iron and silicate, than by high-pressure MORB. By contrast, if colder than the surrounding mantle by ~400 K, high-pressure MORB explains well seismic velocity anomalies in regions where ancient slabs are expected to rest, e.g., beneath the Japan subduction zones and beneath Central and South America. The post-pervoskite phase certainly plays a significant role in explaining seismic observations, in particular the D″ discontinuity, but is unlikely to explain all seismic observations alone.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dan Bower and two other anonymous colleagues for their detailed and constructive reviews that helped improving the first version of this chapter. This work was funded by Academia Sinica (Taiwan) grant AS-102-CDA-M02, National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC) grant 101-2116-M-001-001-MY3, and Swiss National Science Fundation (SNF) grants 200021_129510 and 200021_149625. Models of thermo-chemical convection shown here were calculated on the ETH Linux cluster brutus.

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  1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Road Sec. 2, Nangang, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan

    Frédéric Deschamps

  2. Institute of Geophysics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Sonnegstrasse 5, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Yang Li & P. J. Tackley

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  1. Frédéric Deschamps
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  2. Yang Li
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Correspondence to Frédéric Deschamps .

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  1. Institute of Geophysics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Amir Khan

  2. Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

    Frédéric Deschamps

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Deschamps, F., Li, Y., Tackley, P.J. (2015). Large-Scale Thermo-chemical Structure of the Deep Mantle: Observations and Models. In: Khan, A., Deschamps, F. (eds) The Earth's Heterogeneous Mantle. Springer Geophysics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15627-9_15

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