Sharpness of the paired 660-km discontinuity beneath the Izu-Bonin area

Abstract

The 660-km discontinuity that separates the Earth's upper and lower mantle has primarily been attributed to phase changes in olivine and other minerals. Resolving the sharpness is essential for predicting the composition of the mantle and for understanding its dynamic effects. In this study, we used S-to-P conversions from the 660-km interface, termed S660P, arriving in the P-wave coda from one earthquake in the Izu–Bonin subduction zone recorded by stations in Alaska. The S660P signals were of high quality, providing us an unprecedented opportunity to resolve the sharpness of the discontinuity. Our study demonstrated, based on the impedance contrast given by the IASP91 model, that the discontinuity has a transitional thickness of ~5 km. In addition, we observed a prominent arrival right after the S660P, which was best explained by S-to-P conversions from a deeper discontinuity at a depth of ~720 km with a transitional thickness of ~20 km, termed S720P. The 720-km discontinuity is most likely the result of a phase transition from majoritic garnet to perovskite in the segregated oceanic crust (mainly the mid-oceanic ridge basalt composition) at the uppermost lower mantle beneath this area. The inferred phase changes are also consistent with predictions from mineral physics experiments.