Presents the first comprehensive overview of the composition and structure of the Earth's lower mantle
Summarizes geological, mineralogical, experimental and geophysical data on the Deep Earth
Broadens readers' understanding and presents a compositional model of the lowermost mantle and geodynamic processes at the core/mantle boundary

Inhalt
Introduction: History of the problem.- Models of the Earth's mantle.- High-pressure experimental data on ultramafic and mafic systems.- Natural lower-mantle minerals.- Lower-mantle mineral associations.- Some problems in the mineral composition of the lower mantle.- Iron spin crossover in lower mantle minerals.- Phase transitions in lower-mantle minerals.- Crystallographic features (regularities) of lower-mantle mineral phases.- Changes in properties of chemical elements under high pressures and possible new mineral compounds in Deep Earth.- Seismic inhomogeneities in the lower mantle and their nature.- Local inhomogeneities in the lower mantle.- Geochemistry of the lower mantle.- Oxidation potential in the lower mantle.- D" layer: transition from the lower mantle to the Earth's core. (Postperovskite and other minerals in the D" layer).- Conclusions, Compositional model of the lower mantle, and further problems.- References.- Subject index.