OnP F and other phases in the early part of seismogram

Summary It has been found that when seismic energy propagates along the surface of the homogeneous crust beside usual Rayleigh waves, it produces certain instability in layers through which it propagates. In the light of this instability, a type of motion corresponding to longitudinal wave will be prominent in horizontal component compared to the vertical component; while transverse wave will be prominent in the vertical component but weak in the horizontal component, a contradiction with the existing knowledge. This has been identified withP _F phase. On taking the medium of propagation as slightly heterogeneous which allows existence of low velocity layer, a few larger number of such instabilities have been found. Velocity equation for Rayleigh waves for such media reveals existence of different velocities corresponding to vertical and horizontal components. Table for these velocities has been furnished.