
shear strength in the fluid outer core, so that the P-wavespeed depends
just on the bulk modulus and density. No shear waves can be trans-
mitted through the outer core so that only the K propagation legs
can be present (see Seismic phases).
The process of core formation requires the segregation of heavy
iron-rich components in the early stages of the accretion of the earth
(e.g., O'Neill and Palme, 1998). The core is believed to be largely
composed of an iron-nickel alloy, but its density requires the presence
of some lighter elemental components. A wide variety of candidates
have been proposed for the light components, but it is difficult to
satisfy the geochemical constraints on the nature of the bulk composi-
tion of the Earth.
The inner core appears to be solid and formed by crystallization of
material from the outer core, but it is possible that it could include
some entrained fluid in the top 100 km or so. The shear wavespeed
for the inner core inferred from free-oscillation studies is very low
and the ratio of P- to S-wavespeeds is comparable to a slurry-like
material. The structure of the inner core is both anisotropic and shows
three-dimensional variation (e.g., Creager, 1999). The variations are
complex with some apparent variation between hemispheres, but
may be influenced by the passage of phases such as PKIKP through
the strong heterogeneity at the base of the mantle in D
00
.
The fluid outer core is conducting and motions within the core cre-
ate a self-sustaining dynamo which generates the main component of
the magnetic field at the surface of the Earth. The dominant compo-
nent of the geomagnetic field is dipolar but with significant secondary
components. Careful analysis of the historic record of the variation
of the magnetic field has lead to a picture of the evolution of the
flow in the outer part of the core (e.g., Bloxham and Gubbins,
1989). The presence of the inner core may well be important for the
action of the dynamo, and electromagnetic coupling between the inner
and outer cores could give rise to differential rotation between the two
parts of the core (Glatzmaier and Roberts, 1996). Efforts have been
made to detect this differential rotation using the time history of
different classes of seismic observations but the results are currently
inconclusive.
Even though the main features of the variation in seismic wave-
speeds through the core are well established, there are noticeable dif-
ferences in the details of models proposed by different authors for
the regions near the core-mantle boundary and the boundary between
the inner core and outer core (Figure E5). The detailed structure just
below the core-mantle boundary is primarily controlled by the proper-
ties of the multiple reflections SKKS, SKKKS,... from the underside
of the core-mantle boundary. The most detailed models of the structure
of the boundary region between the inner and outer cores come from
matching of observed and calculated waveforms as in the
PREM2 model
of Song and Helmberger (1992). This work indicates the need for a
reduction in seismic wavespeeds just above the inner core boundary,
and is supported by studies of the differential times between the
branches of the PKP phase that take different paths through the core.
However, such studies are susceptible to the influence of heterogeneity
and anisotropy in the inner core.
Differential time information was used in the construction of the
AK135 model, which is close to PREM2, and differs from SP6 (Morelli
and Dziewonski, 1993) that uses a single cubic representation for
P-wavespeed throughout the whole core, in a similar way to
PREM
(Dziewonski and Anderson, 1981).
Brian Kennett
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