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Download Volume II Accomplisments (28 Mb pdf). - IRIS

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Upper Mantle Discontinuity Topography from Thermal and<br />

Chemical Heterogeneity<br />

Nicholas Schmerr (Carnegie Institution of Washington), Edward Garnero (Arizona State University)<br />

Utilizing high resolution stacks of precursors to the seismic phase SS, we investigated seismic discontinuities associated with<br />

mineralogical phase changes at approximately 410 and 660 kilometers deep within the Earth beneath South America and the<br />

surrounding oceans. We utilized a dataset of over 17,000 broadband seismograms collected from the <strong>IRIS</strong> DMC and EarthScope.<br />

Our maps of phase boundary topography revealed deep 410- and 660-km discontinuities in the down-dip direction of subduction,<br />

inconsistent with cold material at 410-km depth. We explored several mechanisms invoking chemical heterogeneity within<br />

the mantle transition zone to explain this feature. In some regions, we detected multiple reflections from the discontinuities,<br />

consistent with partial melt near 410-km depth and/or additional phase changes near 660-km depth. Thus, the origin of upper<br />

mantle heterogeneity has both chemical and thermal contributions, and is associated with deeply rooted tectonic processes.<br />

References<br />

Schmerr, N., and E. Garnero (2007), Upper mantle discontinuity topography from thermal and chemical heterogeneity, Science, 318(5850),<br />

623-626.<br />

Acknowledgements: NSF Awards EAR-0453944 and EAR-0711401<br />

A cross section explaining our results, whereby iron is removed by melting in the mantle wedge and the Mg-enriched residue is swept into the transition zone along<br />

with the subducting lithosphere. This increases the pressure at which olivine transforms into wadsleyite, deepening the 410 km boundary.<br />

2010 <strong>IRIS</strong> Core Programs Proposal | <strong>Volume</strong> <strong>II</strong> | Upper Mantle Structure and Dynamics | <strong>II</strong>-225

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