Calculated compressional-wave arrivals from underground nuclear detonations

Abstract Analytical expressions have recently been derived by Červený (1965) for the principal waves generated at a plane interface between two elastic solids attributable to a spherical compressional wave arriving at an arbitrary angle of incidence. These results are generalized to incorporate a nuclear seismic source function acting in a multilayered, linearly inelastic half-space. Using a seismic source function appropriate for the nuclear event BOXCAR and an approximate crustal model, the particle velocity profiles corresponding to those compressional-wave types which are routinely identified on measured, near-field seismograms are calculated and compared with the observed data for this event. These comparisons indicate that the peak amplitudes of some important compressional-wave types can be predicted with reasonable accuracy using a relatively simple model of the seismic transmission path.