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Title: Upper mantle velocity heterogeneities beneath the Colorado Rocky Mountains determined from P residuals

Journal Article · · J. Geophys. Res.; (United States)

The teleseismic P wave residuals of three underground nuclear explosions (Rulison, Rio Blanco, Gasbuggy) and three Denver earthquakes were examined as a function of azimuth. The location and origin times of these six sources are known to a high accuracy, and they are all located in or near the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The data covered the azimuth range from approximately 50 /sup 0/ west of north to 160 /sup 0/ east of north. The P residuals were corrected for the average receiver residuals. It was found that the travel times in the sector from N40 /sup 0/W to N are clearly delayed by about 1 s compared to the sector from N to N40 /sup 0/E. This observation can be interpreted to be due to a termination of the pronounced western U.S. low-velocity layer, which coincides approximately with the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains.

Research Organization:
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado/NOAA, Boulder, Colorado 80309
OSTI ID:
5287147
Journal Information:
J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Vol. 85:B4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English