The secret history of the Earth's mantle

The Earth’s mantle contains two mysterious regions, about 2,500 km below our feet, which may be the remnants of when the Earth was entirely molten. There is evidence from rocks at the surface that these regions may harbour material which has never been disturbed, but until recently there has been no way to tell if the two areas are really distinct.

This project will make use of the energy released by earthquakes, then measured at seismic stations over the world, to determine the structure of the two regions. Large computer simulations of how they allow seismic waves to pass through them will allow us to see what our data means for these structures, and hopefully reveal Earth’s secret history.