Slab control on the mega-sized North Pacific ultra-low velocity zone

Abstract

Ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) are localized small-scale patches with extreme physical properties at the core-mantle boundary that often gather at the margins of Large Low Velocity Provinces (LLVPs). Recent studies have discovered several mega-sized ULVZs with a lateral dimension of ~900 km. However, the detailed structures and physical properties of these ULVZs and their relationship to LLVP edges are not well constrained and their formation mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we break the degeneracy between the size and velocity perturbation of a ULVZ using two orthogonal seismic ray paths, and thereby discover a mega-sized ULVZ at the northern edge of the Pacific LLVP. The ULVZ is almost double the size of a previously imaged ULVZ in this region, but with half of the shear velocity reduction. This mega-sized ULVZ has accumulated due to stable mantle flow converging at the LLVP edge driven by slab-debris in the lower mantle. Such flow also develops the subvertical north-tilting edge of the Pacific LLVP.

Abstract

Ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) are localized small-scale patches with extreme physical properties at the core-mantle boundary. Here, the authors discover a mega-sized ULVZ (1,500 × 900 km) at the northern edge of the Pacific Large Low Velocity Province.