Mapping structures on the core–mantle boundary using Sdiff postcursors: Part I. Method and Validation

International audienceUltra-low velocity zones (ULVZs) are patches of extremely slow seismic velocities on the core-mantle boundary (CMB). Here, we target them using the postcursors to S core-diffracted phases (Sdiff) caused by ULVZs. We use traveltimes of these postcursors to make probabilistic maps using a reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo inversion setup. For the forward model, we extend 2-D wave front tracking (2DWT) softw are, pre viousl y de veloped for surface wave multipathing studies, to the CMB. The 2DWT is able to model the full multipathing behaviour of Sdiff postcursors and compute arri v al times for a given ULVZ input velocity structure on the order of a few CPU seconds, as opposed to 100s of CPU hours required for 3-D full waveform synthetics. We validate the method using synthetic data sets produced by the 2DWT, as well as 3-D full waveform synthetics, using a parametrisation formed from a collection of ellipses. We also test idealistic data cov erage v ersus a case of more realistic coverage. We show ULVZ size and velocity reduction can typically be well recovered, and our maps show the inherent trade-off between these parameters around the edge of the ULVZ. Our method cannot directly constrain ULVZ height; tests show that it underestimates ULVZ velocity reductions and overestimates ellipticity for thinner ULVZs due to neglecting mantle effects