Jonathan Wolf

I use earthquake waves to study the structure and dynamics of Earth’s mantle. To learn more about Earth’s interior, I analyze waves from distant earthquakes recorded by seismometers across the globe. Often, I computationally model how these waves propagate through Earth and how different material properties and structures influence them. The dynamics of Earth’s mantle are important because they tell us how Earth evolved over time, why Earth is the way it is at present day, why and how the Earth’s plates are moving and how all this influences the Earth system as a whole.

My research topics include:

• The dynamics of the lowermost mantle, just above the core-mantle boundary. In this region seismic waves sometimes travel at different speeds dependent on propagation direction. This material property is indicative of deformation and ultimately mantle flow.
• Constraining thin features with very low seismic velocities just above the core-mantle boundary (called ultra-low velocity zones), and mantle dynamics around them.
• Using measurement of directionally dependent seismic wavespeeds to infer how material flows in the upper mantle. A project that I am currently part of focuses specifically on the upper mantle in subduction zones.
• I am also involved in a collaborative project in which we analyze waves that travel through the outermost core to better understand its velocity structure.

For my latest publications, please check my Google Scholar.