Global tomography

We use seismology as a tool to study the interior of the Earth, addressing geophysical issues as, in particular, the amount of vertical downward (slabs) and upward (plumes) mass transport in a convecting mantle. This involves looking at global body-wave traveltimes, sensitive to the middle to lower mantle and to the core-mantle boundary region, and at surface waves, which constrain upper mantle structure and the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary.

We have naturally become interested in the theory of seismic wave propagation and its impact on tomographic resolution. Our more theoretical works include applications of the "banana-doughnut" theory to surface-wave tomography, with an assessment of its resolution; surface-wave ray-tracing in the presence of azimuthal anisotropy; numerical modeling of surface-wave propagation in the membrane-wave approach. Additionally, we have been interested in the Earth's rheology and viscoelastic rebound.