The Earth's Inner Core Revealed by Observational Seismology

The inner core is a planet within a planet: a hot sphere with a mass of one hundred quintillion tons of iron and nickel that lies more than 5000 kilometres beneath our feet. It plays a crucial role in driving outer core fluid motion and the geodynamo, which generates the Earth's magnetic field. This book is the first to provide a comprehensive review of past and contemporary research on the Earth's inner core from a seismological perspective. Chapters cover the collection, processing and interpretation of seismological data, as well as our current knowledge of the structure, anisotropy, attenuation, rotational dynamics, and boundary of the inner core. Reviewing the latest research and suggesting new seismological techniques and future avenues, it is an essential resource for both seismologists and non-seismologists interested in this fascinating field of research. It will also form a useful resource for courses in seismology and deep Earth processes.

Preface; 1. On the history of inner core discovery; 2. Seismological tools to study the inner core; 3. Inner core surface and its interior; 4. Inner core anisotropy; 5. Inner core rotational dynamics; 6. The limitations, the obstacles, and the way forward; Appendix A. Transmission/reflection coefficients for the flat inner core boundary; Appendix B. The angle between PKIKP waves and the rotation axis of the Earth; Appendix C. P-wave velocity in a transversely isotropic inner core; Appendix D. Transdimensional Bayesian inversion; References; Index.

Hrvoje Tkalčić is an Associate Professor in the Seismology and Mathematical Geophysics Group at the Australian National University. The author of over 60 research papers, his research interests include mathematical geophysics and the structure and dynamics of the Earth's interior using observational seismology. His recent projects focus on developing new approaches in lithospheric and mantle imaging and studying seismic sources. Dr Tkalčić is a manager of the Warramunga Seismic and Infrasound Array in Northern Territory, Australia, and he also participates in improving global coverage of seismic data by deployment in remote regions.