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Melbourne & Helmberger 1998
Melbourne, T. and Helmberger, D. (1998). Fine structure of the 410-km discontinuity. Journal of Geophysical Research 103: doi: 10.1029/98JB00164. issn: 0148-0227.

The April 14, 1995, earthquake in western Texas (Mw 5.7) produced a strong topside reflection off the 410-km discontinuity which was recorded on a multitude of seismic arrays throughout the southwestern United States. Data from 394 vertical short-period and 24 broadband instruments provide dense coverage of this event from distances of 11¿ to 19¿ and provide a detailed look at the subcontinental 410-km structure. The salient features of this data set are (1) the strong dependence on wavelength of the 410-km triplication range, (2) the uniform amplitude ratio of the direct P and reflected P410 phases on both short-period and broadband recordings throughout the triplication, and (3) the abrupt termination of the short-period P410 phase at 13.3¿. These features are best modeled by a composite discontinuity in which a sharp velocity jump of 3% is overlain by a linear velocity jump of 3.5% spread over 14 km. The interference of energy turning in the diffuse and sharp portions of this discontinuity structure reproduces both the long- and short-period triplication range and the step-like behavior of the P410 short-period amplitude, which cannot be reproduced with either a simple linearly diffuse or a purely sharp discontinuity. This composite structure produces a triplication range which depends on source frequency and has an apparent depth which depends on observation frequency. Additionally, this is the structure expected from mineralogical arguments for the α to β olivine phase transition. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union

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Abstract

Keywords
Seismology, Core and mantle, Seismology, Lithosphere and upper mantle, Seismology, Theory and modeling, Mineralogy and Petrology, Metamorphic petrology
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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