Frank Press

Earth models consistent with geophysical data

Abstract A suite of the most recently available geophysical data are inverted by an improved Monte Carlo procedure. The data are derived from surface waves for oceanic paths, eigenvibrations of the earth, elastic wave travel time and d t /d Δ data, mass and moment of inertia of the earth. A low velocity zone is required for the suboceanic mantle as is a high density lithosphere. The high density is related to eclogite fractionation from the underlying, partially molten asthenosphere in a process involving the creation and spreading of the lithosphere. If the asthenosphere is pyrolite or peridotite then an increase of mean atomic weigh across the transition zone seems required. Fairborns new d t /d Δ data for the lower mantle seem to show a higher shear velocity gradient than previously supposed. If correct, a compensatory lower density gradient is required. This may indicate a depletion of iron with depth in the lower mantle. The density at the top of the core is surprisingly well constrained to the range 9.9–10.2 g/cm 3 a value appropriate for a mixture of iron and about 15 wt% silicon.

Pattern recognition applied to earthquake epicenters in California

Abstract A pattern recognition procedure is explained which uses geological data and the earthquake history of a region, in this case California, and learns how to separate earthquake epicenters from other places. Sites of future earthquake epicenters are predicted as well as places where epicenters will not occur. The problem is formulated in several ways and control experiments are devised and applied in order to test the stability of the procedures and engender confidence in the results. Some of the combinations of geological features which the computer recognized as significant discriminants are discussed.

Passive seismic experiment.

Seismometer operation for 21 days at Tranquillity Base revealed, among strong signals produced by the Apollo 11 lunar module descent stage, a small proportion of probable natural seismic signals. The latter are long-duration, emergent oscillations which lack the discrete phases and coherence of earthquake signals. From similarity with the impact signal of the Apollo 12 ascent stage, they are thought to be produced by meteoroid impacts or shallow moonquakes. This signal character may imply transmission with high Q and intense wave scattering, conditions which are mutually exclusive on earth. Natural background noise is very much smaller than on earth, and lunar tectonism may be very low.

Seismic data from man-made impacts on the moon

Unusually long reverberations were recorded from two lunar impacts by a seismic station installed on the lunar surface by the Apollo 12 astronauts. Seismic data from these impacts suggest that the lunar mare in the region of the Apollo 12 landing site consists of material with very low seismic velocities near the surface, with velocity increasing with depth to 5 to 6 kilometers per second (for compressional waves) at a depth of 20 kilometers. Absorption of seismic waves in this structure is extremely low relative to typical continental crustal materials on earth. It is unlikely that a major boundary similar to the crustmantle interface on earth exists in the outer 20 kilometers of the moon. A combination of dispersion and scattering of surface waves probably explains the lunar seismic reverberation. Scattering of these waves implies the presence of heterogeneity within the outer zone of the mare on a scale of from several hundred meters (or less) to several kilometers. Seismic signals from 160 events of natural origin have been recorded during the first 7 months of operation of the Apollo 12 seismic station. At least 26 of the natural events are small moonquakes. Many of the natural events are thought to be meteoroid impacts.

New Seismic Data on the State of the Deep Lunar Interior

Direct shear-wave arrivals from seismtic events originating on the far side of the moon are not observed at some of the stations of the Apollo seismic network. These data suggest that the material in the lunar interior at a depth of 1000 to 1100 kilometers is more dissipative for seismic shear waves than the lithosphere above, and possibly exists in a partially molten state akin to the earths asthenosphere.

The Suboceanic Mantle

An independent determination of density in the suboceanic lithosphere gives 3.5 to 3.6 grams per cubic centimeter at a depth of about 100 kilometers. This high value implies the existence of an ecologitic facies. A mechanism is proposed in which eclogite fractionation from the underlying, partially molten asthenosphere plays a key role in the creation and the spreading of the rigid, lithospheric plate.

Density distribution in earth.

Earth models selected by a Monte Carlo procedure were tested against geophysical data; 5 million models were examined and six have passed all tests. Common features of successful models are an increased core radius and a chemically inhomogeneous core consistent with Fe-Ni alloy (20 to 50 percent Fe) for the solid portion and Fe-Si alloy (15 to 25 percent Fe) for the fluid core. The inhomogeneous mantle is consistent with an increase in the FeO:FeO + MgO ratio by a factor of 2 in the deep mantle. The transition zone is a region of not only phase change but also composition change; this condition would inhibit mantlewide convection. The upper-mantle solutions show large fluctuations in density; this state implies insufficient constraint on solutions for this region, or lateral variations in mantle composition ranging from pyrolite to eclogite.

Lunar crust - Structure and composition.

Lunar seismic data from artificial impacts recorded at three Apollo seismometers are interpreted to determine the structure of the moons interior to a depth of about 100 kilomneters. In the Fra Mauro region of Oceanus Procellarum, the moon has a layered crust 65 kilometers thick. The seismic velocities in the upper 25 kilometers are consistent with those in lunar basalts. Between 25 and 65 kilometers, the nearly constant velocity (6.8 kilometers per second) corresponds to velocities in gabbroic and anorthositic rocks. The apparent velocity is high (about 9 kilometers per second) in the lunar mantle immediately below the crust.

Velocity structure and properties of the lunar crust.

Lunar seismic data from three Apollo seismometers are interpreted to determine the structure of the Moons interior to a depth of about 100 km. The travel times and amplitudes ofP arrivals from Saturn IV B and LM impacts are interpreted in terms of a compressional velocity profile. The most outstanding feature of the model is that, in the Fra Mauro region of Oceanus Procellarum, the Moon has a 65 km thick layered crust. Other features of the model are: (i) rapid increase of velocity near the surface due to pressure effects on dry rocks, (ii) a discontinuity at a depth of about 25 km, (iii) near constant velocity (6.8 km/s) between 25 and 65 km deep, (iv) a major discontinuity at 65 km marking the base of the lunar crust, and (v) very high velocity (about 9 km/s) in the lunar mantle below the crust. Velocities in the upper layer of the crust match those of lunar basalts while those in the lower layer fall in the range of terrestrial gabbroic and anorthositic rocks.

Lunar structure and dynamics - results from the apollo passive seismic experiment

Analysis of seismic signals from man-made impacts, moonquakes, and meteoroid impacts has established the presence of a lunar crust, approximately 60 km thick in the region of the Apollo seismic network; an underlying zone of nearly constant seismic velocity extending to a depth of about 1000 km, referred to as the mantle; and a lunar core, beginning at a depth of about 1000 km, in which shear waves are highly attenuated suggesting the presence of appreciable melting. Seismic velocitites in the crust reach 7 km s−1 beneath the lower-velocity surface zone. This velocity corresponds to that expected for the gabbroic anorthosites found to predominate in the highlands, suggesting that rock of this composition is the major constituent of the lunar crust. The upper mantle velocity of about 8 km s−1 for compressional waves corresponds to those of terrestrial olivines, pyroxenites and peridotites. The deep zone of melting may simply represent the depth at which solidus temperatures are exceeded in the lower mantle. If a silicate interior is assumed, as seems most plausible, minimum temperatures of between 1450°C and 1600°C at a depth of 1000 km are implied. The generation of deep moonquakes, which appear to be concentrated in a zone between 600 km and 1000 km deep, may now be explained as a consequence of the presence of fluids which facilitate dislocation. The preliminary estimate of meteoroid flux, based upon the statistics of seismic signals recorded from lunar impacts, is between one and three orders of magnitude lower than previous estimates from Earth-based measurements.