The Earth's Heterogeneous Mantle: A Geophysical, Geodynamical, and Geochemical Perspective (Springer Geophysics)

This book highlights and discusses recent developments that have contributed to an improved understanding of observed mantle heterogeneities and their relation to the thermo-chemical state of Earth's mantle, which ultimately holds the key to unlocking the secrets of the evolution of our planet. This series of topical reviews and original contributions address 4 themes. Theme 1 covers topics in geophysics, including global and regional seismic tomography, electrical conductivity and seismic imaging of mantle discontinuities and heterogeneities in the upper mantle, transition zone, and lower mantle. Theme 2 addresses geochemical views of the mantle including lithospheric evolution from analysis of mantle xenoliths, composition of the deep Earth, and the effect of water on subduction-zone processes. Theme 3 discusses geodynamical perspectives on the global thermo-chemical structure of the deep mantle. Theme 4 covers application of mineral physics data and phase equilibrium computations to infer the regional-scale thermo-chemical structure of the mantle. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Global Heterogeneity of the Lithosphere and Underlying Mantle: A Seismological Appraisal Based on Multimode Surface-Wave Dispersion Analysis, Shear-Velocity Tomography, and Tectonic Regionalization....Pages 3-46 Origin of Lateral Heterogeneities in the Upper Mantle Beneath South-east Australia from Seismic Tomography....Pages 47-78 Imaging Mantle Heterogeneity with Upper Mantle Seismic Discontinuities....Pages 79-104 Interpreting Radial Anisotropy in Global and Regional Tomographic Models....Pages 105-144 Relationships Between Seismic Wave-Speed, Density, and Electrical Conductivity Beneath Australia from Seismology, Mineralogy, and Laboratory-Based Conductivity Profiles....Pages 145-171 Heterogeneity of Electrical Conductivity in the Oceanic Upper Mantle....Pages 173-204 Melt Pockets and Spongy Clinopyroxenes in Mantle Xenoliths from the Plio-Quaternary Al Ghab Volcanic Field, NW Syria: Implications for the Metasomatic Evolution of the Lithosphere....Pages 205-257 Elasticity of Continental Crust Around the Mantle Transition Zone....Pages 259-274 Effect of Water on Subduction of Continental Materials to the Deep Earth....Pages 275-299 Front Matter....Pages 301-301 The Composition of the Deep Earth....Pages 303-328 Chemical Geodynamics in a Non-chondritic Earth....Pages 329-366 Seismic Detections of Small-Scale Heterogeneities in the Deep Earth....Pages 367-390 Seismic Detection of Post-perovskite Inside the Earth....Pages 391-440 Thermally Dominated Deep Mantle LLSVPs: A Review....Pages 441-477 Large-Scale Thermo-chemical Structure of the Deep Mantle: Observations and Models....Pages 479-515 Back Matter....Pages 517-530