Measurement of Q−1 for S waves in mudstone at Chikura, Japan: Comparison of incident and reflected phases in borehole seismograms

Abstract

Abstract Seismograms from small events in the southern Kanto region have been recorded by a seismometer installed in a 732-m-deep borehole at Chikura observatory, Japan, where mudstone of early Pliocene age is found from the ground surface to the bottom of the borehole. Strong phases occurring 1.5 ∼ 1.6 sec after the S-wave arrival were interpreted as reflections at the ground surface. Ray path directions of the incident S waves were determined from the minimum principal axis of the three-dimensional trajectory ellipsoid, which represents the particle motion for a head wave of S phase. Transverse horizontal SH components were used to estimate the Q−1 value for S waves. Assuming the free surface acted as an 100% reflector for the SH waves and the incident SH phase as an input and the reflected phase as an output, we calculated system functions. The Q−1 value was measured from the transfer characteristics between the incident and the reflected phases in a single seismogram, thus no corrections were necessary for source or site (including instrument) effects. If we applied a power law model, the following relationship was obtained from the regression analyses of 20 events: log 10 ( Q − 1 ) = ( − 0.52 ± 0.48 ) ⋅ log 10 ( f ) − ( 1.28 ± 0.22 ) ( 1.0 < f < 5.0 Hz ) , where f is frequency in Hz and error values are the 95% confidence levels of the regression coefficients.