Bubble optics: Upward emerging ray paths

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Selmke ◽  
James Lock
Keyword(s):  
1971 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 1061-1071
Author(s):  
R. C. Searle ◽  
P. Gouin

abstract A study of Pn, Sn and Lg phases from 86 earthquakes which have occurred within 12.4° of WWSS station AAE is presented. Travel-time curves for each phase have been determined, and the corresponding seismic velocities have been deduced from them. Velocities of 7.95 km/sec and 4.29 km/sec were found for Pn and Sn respectively. Two different Lg velocities were found: 3.50 km/sec for ray paths between Uganda and Addis Ababa, and 3.73 km/sec for ray paths in the Red Sea and northern Ethiopia. The travel-time curves also allow an upper limit of 48 km to be placed on the crustal thickness under AAE. Regional variations in the efficiency of propagation of Sn and Lg are discussed. Efficient propagation of Lg from epicenters near the center of the Red Sea suggests that not all of the Red Sea floor is pure oceanic crust. Sn is not propagated across northern Afar, suggesting that a gap occurs in the lithosphere there, but it is propagated efficiently across much of southern Afar. Finally, the seismic parameters deduced here indicate the existence of a widespread region of high temperature, low velocity, low density upper-mantle material underlying the Afar triple junction and the surrounding regions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Pickering ◽  
Matthew H. Alford

Abstract Observations are reported of the semidiurnal (M2) internal tide across Kaena Ridge, Hawaii. Horizontal velocity in the upper 1000–1500 m was measured during eleven ~240-km-long shipboard acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) transects across the ridge, made over the course of several months. The M2 motions are isolated by means of harmonic analysis and compared to numerical simulations using the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). The depth coverage of the measurements is about 3 times greater than similar past studies, offering a substantially richer view of the internal tide beams. Sloping features are seen extending upward north and south from the ridge and then downward from the surface reflection about ±40 km from the ridge crest, closely matching theoretical M2 ray paths and the model predictions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 3278-3285
Author(s):  
Baolong Zhang ◽  
Xiangfang Zeng ◽  
Jun Xie ◽  
Vernon F. Cormier

Abstract P ′ P ′ precursors have been used to detect discontinuities in the lower mantle of the Earth, but some seismic phases propagating along asymmetric ray paths or scattered waves could be misinterpreted as reflections from mantle discontinuities. By forward modeling in standard 1D Earth models, we demonstrate that the frequency content, slowness, and decay with distance of precursors about 180 s before P′P′ arrival are consistent with those of the PKPPdiff phase (or PdiffPKP) at epicentral distances around 78° rather than a reflection from a lower mantle interface. Furthermore, a beamforming technique applied to waveform data recorded at the USArray demonstrates that PKPPdiff can be commonly observed from numerous earthquakes. Hence, a reference 1D Earth model without lower mantle discontinuities can explain many of the observed P′P′ precursors signals if they are interpreted as PKPPdiff, instead of P′785P′. However, this study does not exclude the possibility of 785 km interface beneath the Africa. If this interface indeed exists, P′P′ precursors at distances around 78° would better not be used for its detection to avoid interference from PKPPdiff. Indeed, it could be detected with P′P′ precursors at epicentral distances less than 76° or with other seismic phases such as backscattered PKP·PKP waves.


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