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The studies on the structure and physical properties of the mantle by Chinese geophysicists from 2003 to 2007 are reviewed in this report. It mainly contains studies on the seismic velocity structure of the mantle, anisotropy of the mantle, mantle discontinuities, mantle convection and the physical properties of mantle. The review concerns mainly the contents, the methods used and the results of the studies. It can be found that new progress in the study on the structure and physical properties of mantle has been made in the last four years in China. In some preexistent areas much progress has been made, advanced methods have been adopted, extensive international co-operation has been conducted in many ways, and the scope of the co-operation has gradually expanded. Moreover, some new fields appear as well.

Some influential factors on the complication of SS waveform (with epicentral distance within 40°∼180°) are analyzed quantitatively by calculating the full-wave synthetic seismogram using propagation matrix method. Our results show that the transmission-conversion and reflection-conversion phases of S wave at the interface of Moho and free surface beneath bounce points are mainly responsible for the complication of SS waveform, the velocity contrast between the two sides of Moho boundary under SS bounce point also has great effects on the amplitudes of all the conversion and the reverberation phases; the properties of the crust at seismic station also play a role in the complication of SS waveform while the crustal thickness beneath bounce point is thinner relatively. At the same time, two sets of real SS waveform data at the two positions in eastern and western China are analyzed, and the splitting time between SS transverse component and radial component is measured by cross-correlation. Our analysis demonstrates that there is a positive correlation between crustal thickness and the splitting time because of the influences of adjacent conversion and reverberation phases, the splitting time in west with thick crust is obviously greater than that in the east with thin crust. Moreover, It is promising that one new method of measurement of crustal thickness will be developed by using the observed SS splitting time.

The arrival times of first teleseismic phases are difficult to be measured precisely because of slowly and gradually changed onsets and weak amplitudes. The arrival times measured manually are usually behind the real ones. In this paper, using the ratio method of fixed scale wavelet transformations improved by us, the arrival times for the first arrival phases (such as P and PKIKP) at the teleseismic and far-teleseimic distances were measured. The results are reasonable and reliable based on the analysis and discussion of the reliabilities and errors.

3-D velocity structure of P wave in the upper mantle beneath southwestern China and its adjacent areas (10°N–36°N, 70°E–110°E) down to the depth of 400 km has been studied by using 80 974 P-wave first arrival times recorded at 165 stations from 7 053 events both within the studying areas, selected from the ISC bulletin and the Bulletin of China and NEIC fundamental seismic network. With a resolution of grid spacing of 2°×2°, the velocity heterogeneity on the horizontal profile is obvious though it attenuates with the depth increasing. On the vertical profiles of velocity along the latitude of 16°N and 24°N, the collision and extrusion of India plate to Eurasia plate is displayed, and a remarkable velocity difference between India plate and Eurasia plate is shown. In the vertical profile along the longitude of 90°E, the subducting of India plate northward beneath Eurasia plate (Tibet plateau) is also obvious. On the horizontal profile at the depth of 90 km, a slow velocity stripe from Myitkyina, Myanmar to Donghai, Vietnam seems to be related to Honghe fault belt. An illustration method of describing the resolution more directly and exactly has been proposed and utilized in this paper.

In order to deepen the understanding of the spatial change images of upper mantle media for strain strength and polarization direction, anisotropy and shear wave splitting, anisotropy and strain, strain and the tectonic process, based on the theory on the characteristics of shear wave splitting parameters in the presence of two weak azimuthal anisotropic layers and observations concerned, and using signal identification methods with high precision, the results for 136 earthquakes are obtained. The pictures of anisotropy strength and polarization direction beneath twenty stations are got. Combining the results existed previously, the characteristics and origin of the upper mantle anisotropy are discussed.

This paper studied some properties of PdSwr phase related to 670 km discontinuities in detail, and theoretically processed a preliminary analysis to this phase. We discussed the relationships between the incident angle i h of PdSwr phase with its path, epicentral distance, travel-time and relative amplitude due to low velocity zone (LVZ) of upper mantle, and preliminarily pointed out the main characters of PdSwr phase recorded in seismogram. The PdSwr phase is concentrated in range of 13.5°–96.5°. When epicentral distance is greater than 33°, the start point of PdSwr phase is relatively well distinguishable and could thus be determined more easily. When the epicentral distance is between 13.5° to 33°, the triplication of PdSwr’s travel-time curve could be slightly distinguished due to the low velocity zone and 220 km seismic velocity discontinuity of upper mantle. The relevant observed PdSwr phase should be in a more complex pattern and it should be more difficult to determine its start point.

This paper describes a sort of new method identifying seismic phase by the name of wavelet packet transform. Perfectness and development of the wavelet packet transform is based upon the idea of its multiscale analysis. The method of wavelet packet transform can depict the anomalous changes information of transient spectra of seismic wave onset, and come true the target of identifying seismic phase especially weak seismic phase. Then this paper presents discriminating examples of simulating digital signals and actual seismic phase. Compared with conventional seismic phase discrimination, studied results show that the wavelet packet transform method is an available tool of weak signal analyses, and have unexampled merits and attractive application foreground.

Several strong earthquakes occurred in the regions of Batang and Xiaojin of Sichuan Province in 1989. This paper uses broadband waveform data from GDSN, by the forward trial-and-error modeling for multiple subevent, in terms of analysis on quasi-source time function or qSTF of station, to study source rupture characteristics of these strong earthquakes and to discuss tectonic background of earthquake occurrence regions preliminarily.

The M s=7.3 earthquake of June, 8 1993, off the eastern coast of Kamchatka was very complicated in the rupture history. The rupture feature of this event was discussed by the broadband waveform modelling method as well as the combining analysis on the subevent stack and the quasi-time difference. The results suggest that the rupture propagation of the event was in a strong unidirection and its main rupture processes can be expressed as: rupture nucleation→NEE→near east by north→near east by south→stop, from deep to shallow.

In this paper we discuss two types of crust models with abnormal density, velocity of wave and certain geometrical structures. The far-field synthetic seismograms of P and SH wave are calculated by the far-field vertical displacement formulas of P and SH waves with the double couple point source and the formulas of reflection coefficient, radiation pattern and travelling time difference derived from the models suggested in the paper. It is shown by the results that the effect of special crust structures near focus on the far-field seismograms can be ignored if the densities and wave velocity of the special structure are less than average those of the crust (model I). However the effect should be noticed if the densities and wave velosities of the structure are large than average those of the crust (modelI). The effect of the special crust structure on the far-field seismograms has not been studied further before. Seismic records of the Haicheng earthquake and the crust structure in Haicheng region are studied by the calculation method in the paper.