Further evidence for radial velocity anomalies in the lower mantle

Abstract

Wright andLyons (1981) used a least-squares matching technique (LMM) and an adaptive processing method (ADP) to study the behaviour of slowness and azimuth measurements made on two synthetic interfering wavelets having different arrival vectors and onset times. We have applied these results to the analysis of real array seismograms. Some of the effects generated synthetically are frequently observed on real seismograms of earthquakes recorded at Yellowknife at distances close to 50° and 90°. We have also processed sufficient data to illustrate how the interference phenomenon can be used to confirm the presence of radial velocity anomalies in the lower mantle. NumerousP arrivals from South American earthquakes at distances between 78° and 98° suggest the presence of two radial velocity anomalies at depths close to 2400 and 2730 km below the Caribbean region; these anomalies also appear to vary laterally.