Strong mantle flow near CMB. (Image courtesy of MIT OpenCourseWare.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Sang-Heon (Dan) Shim
Prof. Stephane Rondenay
MIT Course Number
12.570
As Taught In
Spring 2004
Level
Graduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
The Core Mantle Boundary (CMB) represents one of the most important physical and chemical discontinuities of the deep Earth as it separates the solid state, convective lower mantle from the liquid outer core. In this seminar course, the instructors will examine our current understanding of the CMB region from integrated seismological, mineral physics and geodynamical perspectives. Instructors will also introduce state-of-the-art methodologies that are employed to characterize the CMB region and relevant papers will be discussed in class. Topics will include CMB detection and topography, D'' anisotropy, seismic velocity anomalies (e.g., ultra-low velocity zones), temperature, chemical reactions, phase relations, and mineral fabrications at the core-mantle boundary. These results will be integrated to address the CMB's fundamental role in both mantle and core dynamics.