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Seismic evidence for a global low-velocity layer within the Earth’s upper mantle

Nature Geoscience volume 3, pages 718–721 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Within the upper mantle, the seismic discontinuity at 410-km depth marks the top of the transition zone and is attributed to pressure-induced transformation of olivine into wadsleyite mineral assemblage. Just above the 410-km discontinuity, a layer characterized by low seismic wave velocities has been identified regionally1,2. This low velocity layer shows poor lateral continuity and is thought to represent partial melting induced by local effects, such as the dehydration of subducted crust1 or the dehydration of water-bearing silicates beneath continental platforms in association with mantle plumes2. However, some models predict that the low-velocity layer should extend globally, because the weaker water storage capacity of upper mantle minerals should induce partial melting of water-bearing silicates throughout this region3,4. Here we report seismic observations from 89 stations worldwide that indicate a thick, intermittent low-velocity layer is located near 350 km depth in the mantle. The low velocity layer is not limited to regions associated with subduction or mantle plumes, and shows no affinity to a particular tectonic environment. We suggest that our data image the thickest parts of a more continuous global structure that shows steep lateral variations in thickness. The presence of a global layer of partial melt above the 410-km discontinuity would modify material circulation in the Earth mantle and may help to reconcile geophysical and geochemical observations3.

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Figure 1: Signal associated with the mantle structure under individual seismic stations.
Figure 2: Modelling the low velocity layer.
Figure 3: Mapping the layer atop the 410-km discontinuity.

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Acknowledgements

Comments by David Bercovici, S-i. Karato, J. Trampert and Y. Ricard were very helpful to improve the first drafts of this manuscript. This work was supported by the French Young Researcher ANR TOMOGLOB no ANR-06-JCJC-0060 and the Dutch National Science Foundation under grant number NWO:VICI865.03.007. Computational resources were provided by the Netherlands Research Center for Integrated Solid Earth Science (ISES 3.2.5 High End Scientific Computation Resources) and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg through the Beowolf computational resources. We thank the Iris and Geoscope data centres for providing seismological data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3508 TA Utrecht, PO Box 80.021, The Netherlands

    Benoît Tauzin

  2. Laboratoire de Sciences de la Terre, Université de Lyon I, CNRS and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, UMR5570, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France

    Eric Debayle

  3. Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, UMR-CNRS 7516, 5 rue René Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France

    Gérard Wittlinger

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  1. Benoît Tauzin
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  2. Eric Debayle
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Contributions

B.T. designed the study and the numerical experiments, conducted the numerical experiments and the analysis of the seismic data and wrote the manuscript. E.D. contributed to the design of the numerical experiment and to the interpretation of the results and wrote the manuscript. G.W. developed some tools necessary to process the data and contributed to the design of the numerical experiment, the interpretation of the results and the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Benoît Tauzin.

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Tauzin, B., Debayle, E. & Wittlinger, G. Seismic evidence for a global low-velocity layer within the Earth’s upper mantle. Nature Geosci 3, 718–721 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo969

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