title: A detailed map of the 660-kilometer discontinuity beneath the izu-bonin subduction zone.
abstract: Dynamical processes in the Earth's mantle, such as cold downwelling at subduction zones, cause deformations of the solid-state phase change that produces a seismic discontinuity near a depth of 660 kilometers. Observations of short-period, shear-to-compressional wave conversions produced at the discontinuity yield a detailed map of deformation beneath the Izu-Bonin subduction zone. The discontinuity is depressed by about 60 kilometers beneath the coldest part of the subducted slab, with a deformation profile consistent with the expected thermal signature of the slab, the experimentally determined Clapeyron slope of the phase transition, and the regional tectonic history.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Wicks
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Richards