According to Adam Dziewonski, a professor of geophysics at Harvard University, this paper describes the "highest resolution available for three-dimensional, seismological models of the Earth." He relates that such models are important because they help geologists understand the composition and movement of materials below the Earth's crust.
Earth-Shattering: Harvard's Adam Dziewonski and colleagues developed a 3-D seismological model of the Earth
"The single-dimensional models treat the Earth as a homogeneous body, while in reality the composition is highly varied," Dziewonski notes. "This results in up to 10 percent deviations in the [measurement of] properties [such as temperature] at the surface, decreasing to a depth of 1,000 kilometers, and then increasing again as we approach the mantle.
"Then, about 20 years ago, we realized that it was possible to build three-dimensional models of the Earth, which take changes in such properties as temperature and composition into account. These in turn affect ...
