Dependence of theP-wave amplitude spectrum on focal depth

Summary Four spectral parameters, each of which reflects a certain spectral characteristic, are computed for 67 power spectra of earthquakes. The analyzed signals used in this work are theP-phases recorded by short-period, vertical-component seismographs.In correlating the values of the spectral parameters with the respective focal depths, a qualitative spectrum-depth relation is obtained. The most outstanding feature of the relationship thus computed, is a pronounced anomaly in the depth-range of 50–250 km. This is found to correlate rather well with the location of the low-velocity layer which many seismologists have shown to exist in the earth's upper mantle. With the aid of results obtained from experimental work on rock blasts, it is argued that the anomalous zone has more viscous character than the overlying and underlying media.On leave of absence from the Ministry of Oil and Minerals, Baghdad, Iraq