Caveats on tomographic images
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review
Geological and geodynamic models of the mantle often rely
on joint interpretations of published seismic tomography
images and petrological/geochemical data. This approach
tends to neglect the fundamental limitations of, and uncertainties
in, seismic tomography results. These limitations and
uncertainties involve theory, correcting for the crust, the lack
of rays throughout much of the mantle, the difficulty in
obtaining the true strength of anomalies, choice of what
background model to subtract to reveal anomalies, and what
cross-sections to select for publication. The aim of this review
is to provide a relatively non-technical summary of the most
important of these problems, collected together in a single
paper, and presented in a form accessible to non-seismologists.
Appreciation of these issues is essential if final geodynamic
models are to be robust, and required by the scientific
observations.
on joint interpretations of published seismic tomography
images and petrological/geochemical data. This approach
tends to neglect the fundamental limitations of, and uncertainties
in, seismic tomography results. These limitations and
uncertainties involve theory, correcting for the crust, the lack
of rays throughout much of the mantle, the difficulty in
obtaining the true strength of anomalies, choice of what
background model to subtract to reveal anomalies, and what
cross-sections to select for publication. The aim of this review
is to provide a relatively non-technical summary of the most
important of these problems, collected together in a single
paper, and presented in a form accessible to non-seismologists.
Appreciation of these issues is essential if final geodynamic
models are to be robust, and required by the scientific
observations.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Journal | Terra Nova |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 4 |
Pages (from-to) | 259-281 |
Number of pages | 23 |
ISSN | 0954-4879 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2013 |
ID: 49248737