TheX-discontinuity,whichappearsatthedepthofapproximately300km,isanimportantseismicinterfacewithpositivevelocitycontrastsintheuppermantle.Detectingitspresenceandtopographycanbeusefultounderstandphasetransformationsofrelevantmantlemineralsunderthehigh-temperatureandhigh-pressurecircumstanceoftheEarth'sinterior.Inthisstudy,wedetecttheX-discontinuitybeneaththeRyukyusubductionzoneusingfiveintermediate-deptheventsrecordedbythedenseAlaskaRegionalNetwork(AK).TheX-discontinuityissuccessfullyrevealedfromtherobustslantstackingofthesecondarydown-goingandconvertingSdPphases.Fromthedepthdistributionofconversionpoints,wefindthattheX-discontinuity'sdepthrangesbetween269kmand313km,withanaveragedepthof295km.Alltheconversionpointsarelocatedbeneaththedown-dippingsideofthePhilippineSeaslab.Fromenergycomparisonsinvespagramsforobservedandsyntheticseismograms,thestrongconvertedenergyismorelikelyfromathinhigh-velocitylayer,andtheS-wavevelocityjumpsacrosstheX-discontinuityareupto5%to8%withanaverageof6.0%.Accordingtopreviouspetrologicalandseismologicalstudies,theX-discontinuitywedetectedcanbeinterpretedasthephasetransformationofcoesitetostishoviteineclogiticmaterialswithintheoceaniccrust.
