Mapping the hidden geography of Earth’s deep mantle using graph theory and AI

Our new study in Science uses graph theory to trace plausible mantle-plume pathways through seismic tomography beneath East Africa and the Indian Ocean. By comparing these pathways with independent geochemicial data with AI-based clustering analysis, we identify at least three compositionally distinct source regions within the African LLSVP and construct the first joint geophysical-geochemical zoning map of the lowermost mantle in this region.

Earth cut open beneath East Africa and the Indian Ocean, from the surface to the core-mantle boundary about 3,000 km below. Orange clouds show seismically slow, plume-like mantle; colored lines show the best plume paths identified using graph theory, connecting hotspot volcanism to deep source regions.

Seven conceptual models are shown from left to right, with their names and example references below.

The work was also covered by Harvard FAS.