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. Contains step-by-step derivations of key mathematical concepts in seismology, and conceptual representations, to help students and researchers from other disciplines to follow research methods Electronic supplements include inner core-sensitive datasets used to study the physical phenomena discussed in the book, along with 3D visualisations, enabling researchers to use these data in their own studies Proposes new methods and installations of seismic instruments in remote regions of the planet to stimulate future seismological research and improve global coverage of the inner core.