The inner inner core of the Earth: Texturing of iron crystals from three-dimensional seismic anisotropy

Xinlei Sun; Xiaodong Song

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.01.049

The inner inner core of the Earth: Texturing of iron crystals from three-dimensional seismic anisotropy

Xinlei Sun, Xiaodong Song

Earth Science and Environmental Change

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We present a three-dimensional model of the seismic anisotropy and texturing of iron crystals in the inner core. The form of the anisotropy changes suddenly at slightly less than half of the inner core radius. The outer part is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along the spin axis of the Earth. The inner part may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	56-65
Number of pages	10
Journal	Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Volume	269
Issue number	1-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.01.049
State	Published - May 15 2008

Keywords

inner core anisotropy
inner inner core
iron alignment
seismic waves

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
Geochemistry and Petrology
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1016/j.epsl.2008.01.049

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title = "The inner inner core of the Earth: Texturing of iron crystals from three-dimensional seismic anisotropy",

abstract = "We present a three-dimensional model of the seismic anisotropy and texturing of iron crystals in the inner core. The form of the anisotropy changes suddenly at slightly less than half of the inner core radius. The outer part is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along the spin axis of the Earth. The inner part may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment.",

keywords = "inner core anisotropy, inner inner core, iron alignment, seismic waves",

author = "Xinlei Sun and Xiaodong Song",

note = "Funding Information: We thank stimulating discussion with Bruce Buffett and Gerd Steinle-Neumann and comments from Jay Bass and Jie Li on the early draft of the paper. We also thank constructive comments from two anonymous reviewers, and comments and preprint from Lidunka Vocadlo, which helped improve the manuscript. This work was supported by NSF EAR-0409251. ",

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AU - Sun, Xinlei

AU - Song, Xiaodong

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PY - 2008/5/15

Y1 - 2008/5/15

N2 - We present a three-dimensional model of the seismic anisotropy and texturing of iron crystals in the inner core. The form of the anisotropy changes suddenly at slightly less than half of the inner core radius. The outer part is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along the spin axis of the Earth. The inner part may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment.

AB - We present a three-dimensional model of the seismic anisotropy and texturing of iron crystals in the inner core. The form of the anisotropy changes suddenly at slightly less than half of the inner core radius. The outer part is composed of iron crystals of a single phase with different degrees of preferred alignment along the spin axis of the Earth. The inner part may be composed of a different phase of crystalline iron or have a different pattern of alignment.

KW - inner core anisotropy

KW - inner inner core

KW - iron alignment

KW - seismic waves

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The inner inner core of the Earth: Texturing of iron crystals from three-dimensional seismic anisotropy

Abstract

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