We computed the global wavefield excited by Model III using the spectral element method (SEM) (1) for a 3D Earth model composed of mantle model s20rts (1), model Crust 2.0 (2), and topography from ETOPO5. We show the predicted velocities and displacements on the Earth's surface as movies. The 3D simulations were used to calibrate the effect of 3D structure on the 1D waveforms used in the inversion for Model III. By comparing the fits of synthetics computed for different models to data that were not used in the inversions these synthetics can be used to distinguish between models.This was done qualitatively when developing model III to estimate the improvements between successive versions of the model. The waveforms for model III match the overall amplitude and directivity in observed seismograms (Fig. S1) over a wide

Beneath southern Africa is a large structure about 1200 kilometers across and extending obliquely 1500 kilometers upward from the core-mantle boundary with a shear velocity reduction of about 3%. Using a fortuitous set of SKS phases that travel along its eastern side, we show that the boundary of the anomaly appears to be sharp, with a width less than 50 kilometers, and is tilted outward from its center. Dynamic models that fit the seismic constraints have a dense chemical layer within an upwardly flowing thermal structure. The tilt suggests that the layer is dynamically unstable on geological time scales.

Abstract.We present data which indicate that the broad, low shear velocity anomaly beneath southern Africa is stronger and more extensive than previously thought. Recordings of earthquakes in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean at an array of broadband seismic stations in eastern Africa show anomalously large propagation time delays of the shear phases S, ScS, and SKS which vary rapidly with epicentral distance. By forward modeling, we estimate that the low velocity anomaly extends from the core-mantle boundary about 1500 km up into the mantle and that the average shear velocity within this structure is 3% lower than in standard models such as PREM. Strong velocity contrasts exist at its margins (2% over about 300 km). These seismic characteristic are consistent with recent numerical simulations of lower mantle mega-plume formation.

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S U M M A R YTheoretical studies on ambient seismic noise (ASN) predict that complete Green's function between seismic stations can be retrieved from cross correlation. However, only fundamental mode surface waves emerge in most studies involving real data. Here we show that Mohoreflected body wave (SmS) and its multiples can be identified with ASN for station pairs near their critical distances in the short period band (1-5 s). We also show that an uneven distribution of noise sources, such as mining activity and wind-topography interaction, can cause surface wave precursors, which mask weaker body wave phases.

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More than 90% of the energy trapped on Earth by increasingly abundant greenhouse gases is absorbed by the ocean. Monitoring the resulting ocean warming remains a challenging sampling problem. To complement existing point measurements, we introduce a method that infers basin-scale deep-ocean temperature changes from the travel times of sound waves that are generated by repeating earthquakes. A first implementation of this seismic ocean thermometry constrains temperature anomalies averaged across a 3000-kilometer-long section in the equatorial East Indian Ocean with a standard error of 0.0060 kelvin. Between 2005 and 2016, we find temperature fluctuations on time scales of 12 months, 6 months, and ~10 days, and we infer a decadal warming trend that substantially exceeds previous estimates.

The Pawnee M5.8 earthquake is the largest event in Oklahoma instrument recorded history. It occurred near the edge of active seismic zones, similar to other M5+ earthquakes since 2011. It ruptured a previously unmapped fault and triggered aftershocks along a complex conjugate fault system. With a high-resolution earthquake catalog, we observe propagating foreshocks leading to the mainshock within 0.5 km distance, suggesting existence of precursory aseismic slip. At approximately 100 days before the mainshock, two M ≥ 3.5 earthquakes occurred along a mapped fault that is conjugate to the mainshock fault. At about 40 days before, two earthquakes clusters started, with one M3 earthquake occurred two days before the mainshock. The three M ≥ 3 foreshocks all produced positive Coulomb stress at the mainshock hypocenter. These foreshock activities within the conjugate fault system are near-instantaneously responding to variations in injection rates at 95% confidence. The short time delay between injection and seismicity differs from both the hypothetical expected time scale of diffusion process and the long time delay observed in this region prior to 2016, suggesting a possible role of elastic stress transfer and critical stress state of the fault. Our results suggest that the Pawnee earthquake is a result of interplay among injection, tectonic faults, and foreshocks.