KeckCAVES Users (login required)
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Deep Earth Dynamics Global seismic tomography aims to improve our understanding of mantle dynamics by providing constraints on three-dimensional (3D) temperature and composition, using elastic velocities as proxies. The last decade has seen a spectacular increase in the quality and quantity of data available for global tomographic studies, as well as improvements in the theoretical approaches. Global 3D models of the mantle now span the entire depth range of the mantle, and achieve lateral resolutions corresponding to wavelengths of 500—1000 km. In addition to solving for volumetric heterogeneity, tomographers are also starting to investigate other types of seismologically derived information, such as lateral variations in anisotropy, attenuation, density, and the topography of upper mantle discontinuities, as well as the relation between P and S velocity distributions. One challenge facing tomographers is to achieve adequate sampling of the mantle, especially in regions of particular interest, such as those surrounding the “superplumes”. These data are usually presented using slices and isosurfaces; visualization in the KeckCAVES allows us to examine the data from any perspective, to compare different seismic models, and to compare seismological observations with geodynamics models.
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