Detection of a ULVZ at the base of the mantle beneath the northwest Pacific

Abstract

We used the Yellowknife seismic array (YKA) to measure the slowness of 1,371 P and P diff waves from earthquakes occurring in the circum-Pacific region. The corresponding anomalies in P-velocity show a sharp reduction of up to 6% across a patch of the lowermost mantle beneath the Northwest Pacific with lateral dimensions of several hundred kilometers. The location of this ultra low velocity zone (ULVZ) correlates with a longwavelength compositional boundary revealed by probabilistic mantle tomography. We interpret the ULVZ as partial melt created by paleo-slab material that is being swept laterally from northwestern Pacific subduction zones towards the large, chemically distinct province beneath the south-central Pacific. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.