Summary Microphones and seismographs were co-located in arrays on Skidaway Island, Georgia, for the launchings of Apollo 13 and 14, 374 km to the south. Simultaneous acoustic and seismic waves were recorded for both events at times appropriate to the arrival of the acoustic waves from the source. Significant comparisons of the true signals are (1) the acoustic signal is relatively broadband compared to the nearly monochromatic seismic signal; (2) the seismic signal is much more continuous than the more pulse-like acoustic signal; (3) ground loading from the pressure variations of the acoustic waves is shown to be too small to account for the seismic waves; (4) the measured phase velocities of both acoustic and seismic waves across the local instrument arrays differ by less than 6 per cent and possibly 3 per cent if experimental error is included. It is concluded that the seismic waves are generated by resonant coupling to the acoustic waves along some 10 km of path on Skidaway Island. The thickness of unconsolidated sediment on the island is appropriate to a resonant ground wave frequency of 3.5 to 4 Hz, as observed. Under appropriate conditions, ground wave observations may prove more effective means of detecting certain aspects of acoustic signals in view of the filtering of wind noise and amplification through resonance.

ABSTRACT An 838 cm oxidizing core consisting of red clay with negligible carbonate was taken at 6510 m from the northern wall of the Puerto Rican Trench. Concentrations of Mn, Fe, Zn, Ni, Co, and Cu were determined in the interstitial water and in the hydrogenous and non-hydrogenous fractions of the sediments. Anomalous concentrations of manganese found at depth in the interstitial water are probably caused by the release of Mn+2 during bacterial decay of organic matter and by the reduction of Mn+4 to Mn+2 in the microenvironment of the decaying organics. The observed enrichment of dissolved Mn, Fe, Ni, and Co at deeper levels with a corresponding depletion of solid phase hydrogenous Mn, Fe, Ni, and Co suggests dissolution of iron-manganese oxide at depth with ubsequent upward migration and reprecipitation; a process which may be important in the formation of the manganese nodules which have been reported from this general area. No evidence for a similar migration of Zn and Cu was found. The apparent remobilization of metals in an oxidizing core is difficult to explain and this report confirms the earlier view that in many cases the concentration of dissolved metals does not correlate with any measurable parameter such as Eh, pH, or lithology.

Deep sounding seismic reflection data show undeformed reflectors at depths down to 11 kilometers beneath the continental rise and abyssal plain and 7 kilometers in basins of the lower slope. Weak reflectors are visible beneath the salt of the Sigsbee Scarp and within salt ridges separating the lower slope basins.

A new, inexpensive and easy-to-handle box corer (47 × 47 × 114 cm3) is described. It is found to be extremely handy when operated from ships equipped with piston coring devices. The box corer uses the same piston core-head (∼1000 kg) and the same trigger mechanism as used in piston coring. The whole operation is similar to that of piston coring. At three sites in the nodule-rich abyssal-hill province in the northwest Atlantic, the vertical distributions of the manganese nodules were obtained from the box cores. More than 75% of the nodules by weight is present in the top 10 cm of the sediment; 16–24% is present in the 10–20 cm interval and about 1% in the 20–30 cm interval. Very few nodules are found below 30 cm.

Analysis of data returned from the four stations of the Apollo Seismic Network has revealed that the lunar interior can be divided into two major zones: a rigid, dynamically inactive outer shell, about 1000 km thick (the lunar lithosphere); and a relatively weak central zone (the lunar asthenosphere) in which partial melting is probable. The transition between these two zones is gradual. Seismic activity within the moon is far below that of the earth. The small moonquakes that do occur originate near the base of the lithosphere, and appear to fall within two major belts. Tidal energy appears to be an important, if not the dominant, source of energy released as moonquakes. A secular component of moonquake energy release may result from slight thermal expansion or contraction of the moon, weak convection in the asthenosphere, or secular recession of the moon from the earth. Lack of shallow moonquake activity implies that the moon is neither expanding nor contracting at an appreciable rate at present.

Direct shear-wave arrivals from seismtic events originating on the far side of the moon are not observed at some of the stations of the Apollo seismic network. These data suggest that the material in the lunar interior at a depth of 1000 to 1100 kilometers is more dissipative for seismic shear waves than the lithosphere above, and possibly exists in a partially molten state akin to the earth's asthenosphere.

Lunar seismic data from artificial impacts recorded at three Apollo seismometers are interpreted to determine the structure of the moon's interior to a depth of about 100 kilometers. In the Fra Mauro region of Oceanus Procellarum, the moon has a layered crust 65 kilometers thick. The seismic velocities in the upper 25 kilometers are consistent with those in lunar basalts. Between 25 and 65 kilometers, the nearly constant velocity (6.8 kilometers per second) corresponds to velocities in gabbroic and anorthositic rocks. The apparent velocity is high (about 9 kilometers per second) in the lunar mantle immediately below the crust.