Global Compilation of Deep Mantle Anisotropy Observations and Possible Correlation With Low Velocity Provinces

Abstract

AbstractWe compile and make publicly available a global digital database of body wave observations of seismic anisotropy in the D′′ layer, grouped using the method used to analyze deep mantle anisotropy. Using this database, we examine the global distribution of seismic anisotropy in the D′′ layer, evaluating the question of whether seismic anisotropy is more likely to be located at the edges of the two large‐low velocity provinces (LLVPs) in Earth's mantle than elsewhere. We show that this hypothesis lacks statistical justification if we consider previously observed lowermost mantle anisotropy, although there are multiple factors that are difficult to account for quantitatively. One such factor is the global lowermost mantle ray coverage for different phases that are commonly used to detect deep mantle anisotropy in shear wave splitting studies. We find that the global ray coverage of the relevant seismic phases is highly uneven, with LLVP edges and their interiors less well‐sampled than the global average.