Waveform inversion for S-wave structure in the lowermost mantle beneath the Arctic: Implications for mineralogy and chemical composition

We perform waveform inversion for the radial profile of shear wave velocity in the lowermost mantle beneath the Arctic. We use waveforms from the CANOE (CAnadian NOrthwest Experiment) array, which greatly enhances the resolution in the lowermost mantle as compared to earlier studies. We find a velocity increase at depths from 2500 to 2700 km and a velocity decrease at depths from 2700 km to the core-mantle boundary (CMB). We interpret the velocity increase as associated with the phase transition from perovskite (pv) to post-perovskite (ppv), and the velocity decrease as due to a temperature increase in the thermal boundary layer. The shear wave velocity immediately above the core-mantle boundary (CMB) is 7.11 km/s, while that beneath Central America is 7.25 km/s. This suggests that the proportion of impurities in Mg-pv or Mg-ppv beneath the Arctic is 6 mol% larger than that beneath Central America. Citation: Kawai, K., R. J. Geller, and N. Fuji (2010), Waveform inversion for S-wave structure in the lowermost mantle beneath the Arctic: Implications for mineralogy and chemical composition, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L16301, doi: 10.1029/2010GL043654.