EAGER: Collaborative Research: A New Approach to Imaging Mantle Discontinuity Structure with USArray

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The goal of this project is to develop new methods of analyzing seismic data from densely spaced seismometer arrays, such as EarthScope?s USArray. A key seismological tool for answering the fundamental question of how the mantle circulates is the imaging of seismic discontinuities that are sensitive to the thermal and chemical properties of the mantle. The wealth of data provided by EarthScope allows geoscientists to study the structure of seismic discontinuities on a scale and at a level of detail that have never been possible before. The first phase of this project is funded by the EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) program, bringing together a team of seismologists with a broad range of expertise that is led by Dr. Nicholas Schmerr at the University of Maryland and Goddard Space Flight Center. The team is developing a new algorithm and suite of computational tools to analyze seismic energy that reflects from the topside of a seismic discontinuity, providing detailed upper mantle discontinuity structure at scale lengths of several hundred kilometers or less. This tool requires the use of array methodologies enabled by the dense station spacing of the USArray. Development of this new data analysis methodology should stimulate fundamental advances in understanding of the mantle in the fields of mineral physics, mantle petrology, seismology, and geodynamics, adding to the richness of information on the geological history of the mantle beneath the North American continent. The project is providing next-generation open-source scientific research tools, datasets, and measurements made freely available to the scientific community to empower a broader cross section of scientists to handle large datasets such as those provided by EarthScope. These newly developed seismological tools and discontinuity models are being disseminated to the scientific community through the PI?s website.