Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026

Electron Channeling Contrast Imaging for Rapid III-V Heteroepitaxial Characterization
Published on: July 17, 2015
Changes in seismic anisotropy shed light on the nature of the Gutenberg discontinuity
Caroline Beghein1, Kaiqing Yuan, Nicholas Schmerr
1Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, 595 Charles Young Drive East, Box 951567, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA.
Abstract:
The boundary between the lithosphere and asthenosphere is associated with a platewide high-seismic velocity "lid" overlying lowered velocities, consistent with thermal models. Seismic body waves also intermittently detect a sharp velocity reduction at similar depths, the Gutenberg (G) discontinuity, which cannot be explained by temperature alone. We compared an anisotropic tomography model with detections of the G to evaluate their context and relation to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB). We find that the G is primarily associated with vertical changes in azimuthal anisotropy and lies above a thermally controlled LAB, implying that the two are not equivalent interfaces. The origin of the G is a result of frozen-in lithospheric structures, regional compositional variations of the mantle, or dynamically perturbed LAB.
More Related Videos
06:55Kinematic History of a Salient-recess Junction Explored through a Combined Approach of Field Data and Analog Sandbox Modeling
Published on: August 5, 2016
07:58Data Processing Methods for 3D Seismic Imaging of Subsurface Volcanoes: Applications to the Tarim Flood Basalt
Published on: August 7, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
Elastic Strain Energy for Shearing Stresses
Electrostatic Boundary Conditions
The surface integral of an electric field is given by Gauss's law in integral form and is related to...
Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity
Limits with Oscillating Discontinuities
Significance of Displacement Current