Modelling the dynamics of the lower mantle, an INS study on CaTiO3

The travel times of seismic waves through Earth’s interior provide one of the few direct constraints on the physical properties of mantle rocks. If carefully compared with experimental and computational measurements of the elastic properties of minerals this data may be interpreted in terms of mantle mineralogy, chemistry and temperature; information that is not otherwise directly attainable. We have performed TAS measurements of the acoustic velocity in CaTiO3, an analogue for the third most abundant mineral in the lower mantle and found significant anomalies in the vicinity of the structural phase transitions. We now wish to map out the full vibrational spectrum using MERLIN to try to understand their physical origin.