Application of Network-averaged Teleseismic P-wave Spectra to Seismic Yield Estimation of Underground Nuclear Explosions

Abstract

A set of procedures is described for estimating network-averaged teleseismic P-wave spectra for underground nuclear explosions and for analytically inverting these spectra to obtain estimates of mb/yield relations and individual yields for explosions at previously uncalibrated test sites. These procedures are then applied to the analyses of explosions at the former Soviet test sites at Shagan River, Degelen Mountain, Novaya Zemlya and Azgir, as well as at the French Sahara, U.S. Amchitka and Chinese Lop Nor test sites. It is demonstrated that the resulting seismic estimates of explosion yield and mb/yield relations are remarkably consistent with a variety of other available information for a number of these test sites. These results lead us to conclude that the network-averaged teleseismic P-wave spectra provide considerably more diagnostic information regarding the explosion seismic source than do the corresponding narrowband magnitude measures such asmb M,andmb(L g )and, therefore, that they are to be preferred for applications to seismic yield estimation for explosions at previously uncalibrated test sites.