Constraints on grain size and stable iron phases in the uppermost Inner Core from multiple scattering modeling of seismic velocity and attenuation

TL;DR

This study models the uppermost inner core as an aggregate of randomly oriented anisotropic patches, constraining iron grain size and elastic properties through seismic wave scattering analysis, and suggests cubic iron stability without melt.

Contribution

It introduces a multiple scattering model of seismic waves in the inner core to constrain iron grain size and elastic constants, supporting cubic iron stability.

Findings

Patch size around 400 meters.

Good agreement with recent cubic iron models.

Melt may not be necessary to explain low shear wave speeds.

Abstract

We propose to model the uppermost inner core as an aggregate of randomly oriented anisotropic ``patches''. A patch is defined as an assemblage of a possibly large number of crystals with identically oriented crystallographic axes. This simple model accounts for the observed velocity isotropy of short period body waves, and offers a reasonable physical interpretation for the scatterers detected at the top of the inner core. From rigorous multiple scattering modeling of seismic wave propagation through the aggregate, we obtain strong constraints on both the size and the elastic constants of iron patches. We perform a systematic search for iron models compatible with measured seismic velocities and attenuations. An iron model is characterized by its symmetry (cubic or hexagonal), elastic constants, and patch size. Independent of the crystal symmetry, we infer a most likely size of patch of the order of 400 m. Recent {\it bcc} iron models from the literature are in very good agreement with the most probable elastic constants of cubic crystals found in our inversion. Our study (1) suggests that the presence of melt may not be required to explain the low shear wavespeeds in the inner core and (2) supports the recent experimental results on the stability of cubic iron in the inner core, at least in its upper part.