Low viscosity of the bottom of the Earth’s mantle inferred from the analysis of Chandler wobble and tidal deformation

Viscosity of the D″ layer of the Earth’s mantle, the lowermost layer in the Earth’s mantle, controls a number of geodynamic processes, but a robust estimate of its viscosity has been hampered by the lack of relevant observations. A commonly used analysis of geophysical signals in terms of heterogeneity in seismic wave velocities suffers from major uncertainties in the velocity-to-density conversion factor, and the glacial rebound observations have little sensitivity to the D″ layer viscosity. We show that the decay of Chandler wobble and semi-diurnal to 18.6 years tidal deformation combined with the constraints from the postglacial isostatic adjustment observations suggest that the effective viscosity in the bottom ∼300 km layer is 1019–1020 Pa s, and also the effective viscosity of the bottom part of the D″ layer (∼100 km thickness) is less than 1018 Pa s. Such a viscosity structure of the D″ layer would be a natural consequence of a steep temperature gradient in the D″ layer, and will facilitate small scale convection and melt segregation in the D″ layer.

► We examine the decay time of Chandler wobble and tidal deformation. ► We show that these provide a strong constraint on the viscosity of D″ layer. ► We examine the viscosity of the D″ layer of the Earth’s mantle. ► We found that the effective viscosity of the D″ layer is1019–1020 Pa s.