Inner-core shear-wave anisotropy and texture from an observation of PKJKP waves

James Wookey () and George Helffrich
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James Wookey: University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, BS8 1RJ, UK
George Helffrich: University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, BS8 1RJ, UK

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7206, 873-876

Abstract: The centre of the Earth: solid evidence At the centre of the Earth is the inner core, a solid ball composed mostly of iron, about 2,400 km in diameter. At a temperature of over 5,000 K, it is thought to have formed by slow freezing of liquid iron from the outer core. Seismology is the best available method of imaging the deep Earth to learn more about the inner core, but the core is a difficult target. Now, using an array of over 700 seismometers across Japan, James Wookey and George Helffrich have been able to detect the very subtle inner-core shear-wave phase 'PKJKP'. From an analysis of timing, amplitude and waveform of the PKJKP phase they derive constraints on inner core compressional-wave velocity and shear attenuation, which differ from standard core models. The differences may reflect inner core shear-wave anisotropy.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07131

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