Geosciences

GEOSCIENCES BY PETER J. SMITH Department of Earth Sciences Open University Milton Keynes, U.K. " On 1 August 1986, a seismic disturbance occurred near the Novaya Zemlya, USSR, nuclear test sites at a time when the Soviet Union claimed to be observing a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. This caused some concern, because the area is relatively aseismic. Regional seismic data failed to answer the obvious question, but teleseismic data now show that the disturbance was indeed an earthquak

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BY PETER J. SMITH
Department of Earth Sciences
Open University
Milton Keynes, U.K.

" On 1 August 1986, a seismic disturbance occurred near the Novaya Zemlya, USSR, nuclear test sites at a time when the Soviet Union claimed to be observing a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. This caused some concern, because the area is relatively aseismic. Regional seismic data failed to answer the obvious question, but teleseismic data now show that the disturbance was indeed an earthquake.

P.D. Marshall, R.C. Stewart, R.C. Lilwall, “The seismic disturbanceof 1986 August I near Novaya Zemlya: a source of concern?” Geophysical Journal, 98, 565-73, September 1989. (Ministry of Defense, Reading, England)

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