Properties of the Core-Mantle Boundary

The core-mantle boundary (CMB), separating the molten metallic core from the overlying solid silicate mantle, marks the largest discontinuity in mechanical properties within the Earth. The ∼ 200 km thick region just above the CMB, named D″ by Bullen (1950), is characterized by an anomalous gradient in seismic velocity versus depth. D″ was originally interpreted as a region with a strong compositional gradient due to the accumulation of dense material at the base of the mantle. Subsequently, the anomalous gradient was interpreted as the result of a strong temperature gradient in a hot thermal boundary layer at the base of the mantle, an interpretation motivated by the requiremnet that heat involved in generating the geodynamo must be transported out of the core and through the mantle by convection.