Effects of lateral variations in megaregolith thickness on predicted lunar seismic signals

Abstract

We use a modified phonon synthetic seismogram method to investigate the effects of laterally varying megaregolith thickness on the propagation of seismic energy and on the resulting seismic signals recorded at various epicentral distances from the source. We show that receivers located in large impact structures, with thin crust and thinner megaregolith, can record seismic signals that are less affected by high levels of scattering. In particular, receivers located away from the basin edge by a distance greater than or equal to the thickness of the surrounding megaregolith can record seismograms in which secondary arrivals containing important information about interior structure can be more readily identified. Seismic sources located beneath the near-surface scattering layer, such as deep lunar quakes, are also advantageous because the resulting seismograms are less affected by high levels of scattering than those from sources within the scattering layer or surface impacts.