Tomographic imaging of the lowermost mantle with differential times of refracted and diffracted core phases (PKP, Pdiff)

Abstract

The mapping of variations in P wave speed in the deep mantle is restricted by the uneven sampling of P waves, in particular beneath the Southern Hemisphere. To enhance data coverage, we augmented the ∼1.6 million summary rays of P, pP, and pwP that we used in previous studies with differential travel times of diffracted and refracted core phases. The joint inversion puts better constraints on the long‐wavelength variations in the very deep mantle and yields an increase in the amplitude of velocity perturbations near the CMB that is in agreement with but still smaller than inferences from shear wave studies. Resolution tests indicate that in some regions the enhanced definition of structure is significant, but in most regions the improvements are subtle and structure remains poorly resolved in large regions of the mantle.