SPICeD: Imaging the deep earth

Abstract

There are two boundaries in the Earth's deep interior that are as significant in terms of contrast in material properties and dynamics as the lithosphere-atmosphere boundary, where we live. The natures of the core-mantle boundary and the inner-core/outer-copre boundary have significant implications for the stability of the Earth's magnetic field, style of convection, moment of inertia and legnth of day. An array of broadband three-component seismometers (SPICeD) spanning Scotland, England and France has been deployed with the aim of studying these dramatic interfaces within the Earth. A secondary aim of the deployment was to install a working prototype for a permanent three-componet broadband seismic network in the UK, as advocated by Alan Douglas in the previous issue of this journal (Douglas 2001).