Kilometer-scale structure on the core–mantle boundary near Hawaii

The lowermost mantle right above the core-mantle boundary is highly heterogeneous containing multiple poorly understood seismic features. The smallest but most extreme heterogeneities yet observed are ‘Ultra-Low Velocity Zones’ (ULVZ). We exploit seismic shear waves that diffract along the core-mantle boundary to provide new insight into these enigmatic structures. We measure a rare core-diffracted signal refracted by a ULVZ at the base of the Hawaiian mantle plume at unprecedentedly high frequencies. This signal shows remarkably longer time delays at higher compared to lower frequencies, indicating a pronounced internal variability inside the ULVZ. Utilizing the latest computational advances in 3D waveform modeling, here we show that we are able to model this high-frequency signal and constrain high-resolution ULVZ structure on the scale of kilometers, for the first time. This new observation suggests a chemically distinct ULVZ with increasing iron content towards the core-mantle boundary, which has implications for Earth’s early evolutionary history and core-mantle interaction.