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Nature 430, 409-410 (22 July 2004) | doi:10.1038/430409a; Published online 21 July 2004

Earth science:  Deeper understanding

Thomas S. Duffy1

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The boundary between the core and mantle is one of the most enigmatic regions of Earth's interior. Analyses of a newly discovered crystalline phase should yield a fuller understanding of this region.

The lowermost 250 km or so of Earth's mantle, known for historical reasons as D", is comparatively small in volume but potentially holds the key to understanding a host of geophysical phenomena — among them the formation of plumes in the mantle, interactions between core and mantle, and the ultimate fate of subducting slabs of crust that are driven into the interior by tectonic forces. Investigations of this region largely depend on interpreting the behaviour of seismic waves, which have shown that it is highly complex.

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