A frequency-dependent log-quadratic Pn spreading model in the Northeast China and Korean peninsula

Abstract:

In 9 October 2006, 25 May 2009, and 12 February 2013, North Korea conducted three successive nuclear tests near the China-Korea border. Based on 297 broadband stations distributed in East China, South Korea, and Japan, the digital seismograms from these nuclear tests are collected to investigate the geometric spreading and attenuation of seismic Pn waves in Northeast China and Korean Peninsula. A highly accurate broadband Pn-wave data set generated by North Korean nuclear tests is used to constrain parameters of a frequency-dependent log-quadratic geometric spreading function and a power-law Pn Q model. The geometric spreading function and apparent Pn wave Q is obtained for the studied area between 2.0 and 10.0 Hz. By taking the two-station amplitude ratios of the Pn spectra, followed by correcting it for the known spreading function, we can strip the effects of source and crust legs from the apparent Pn Q, and retrieve the P-wave attenuation information along the pure upper mantle path. We then use a tomographic approach to obtain the upper mantle P-wave attenuation in Northeast China and Korean Peninsula. The Pn wave spectra observed in China are compared with those recorded in Japan, and the result reveals that the high-frequency Pn signal across the oceanic path attenuated faster than those through the continental path. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 41174048 and 41374065).