Deep within the Earth’s mantle,above the core-mantle boundary(CMB),lie two enigmatic structures known as Large Low-Velocity Provinces(LLVPs).Revealed from global seismic tomography,a technique akin to medical compute...Deep within the Earth’s mantle,above the core-mantle boundary(CMB),lie two enigmatic structures known as Large Low-Velocity Provinces(LLVPs).Revealed from global seismic tomography,a technique akin to medical computed tomography(CT)scans but for the Earth,the LLVPs take almost antipodal regions in the lowermost mantle,one beneath the Pacific Ocean,one beneath Africa[1].Each of the two vast regions occupies roughly the size of a continent laterally and extends 500–1500 km above the CMB[2,3].They are characterized by anomalous seismic properties,i.e.,seismic waves noticeably decelerate upon encountering these regions.This has led to numerous questions about their origin,composition,and role in Earth’s geodynamic processes,and also has intrigued Earth scientists especially geophysicists for decades.展开更多
文摘Deep within the Earth’s mantle,above the core-mantle boundary(CMB),lie two enigmatic structures known as Large Low-Velocity Provinces(LLVPs).Revealed from global seismic tomography,a technique akin to medical computed tomography(CT)scans but for the Earth,the LLVPs take almost antipodal regions in the lowermost mantle,one beneath the Pacific Ocean,one beneath Africa[1].Each of the two vast regions occupies roughly the size of a continent laterally and extends 500–1500 km above the CMB[2,3].They are characterized by anomalous seismic properties,i.e.,seismic waves noticeably decelerate upon encountering these regions.This has led to numerous questions about their origin,composition,and role in Earth’s geodynamic processes,and also has intrigued Earth scientists especially geophysicists for decades.
