Tables A1–A4 and Figures A1–A3 are available with entire articleon microfiche. Order from American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009. Document J81‐003;$1.00. Payment must accompany order. The arrival times of direct P and S waves, measured on seismograms recorded from natural lunar seismic events, have been analyzed using linearized inversion and parameter search methods to simultaneously determine event locations, origin times, and structural parameters (seismic velocities). Polarization‐filtered record section plots are correlated with theoretical travel time curves to identify later phases and obtain additional structural and velocity information. Shear wave amplitudes plotted as a function of distance provide data on the existence and magnitude of seismic velocity gradients in the interior. These studies are used to delineate the structure of the moon below the crust to a depth of about 1100 km. This structure has been divided into an upper and a lower mantle. The upper mantle, from 60‐ to 400‐km depth, has average seismic wave velocities of Vp = 7.70 ±0.15 km/s and Vs = 4.45 ± 0.05 km/s with corresponding Q values (taken from the literature) of Qp ∼ 5000 and Qs ∼ 3000. The shear wave velocity decreases with a negative gradient of at most −6 × 10−4 km/s/km, implying a Vs variation of from 4.57 km/s at 60‐km depth to 4.37 km/s at 400‐km depth; this decrease can be accounted for by increasing temperature, and so no major compositional gradient is required in the upper mantle. A small negative P wave velocity gradient may also be present. Between 400‐ and 480‐km depth there is a transition zone with a sharply decreasing shear wave velocity and possibly an accompanying small decrease in Vp. The dominant shear velocity decrease may occur at a 480‐km interface and may represent a compositional change, although the effects of increased temperature cannot be totally ruled out. The lower mantle extends from 480‐km depth to at least 1100‐km depth; few seismic waves recorded by the lunar network penetrate below 1100 km. The average velocities are Vp = 7.6 ± 0.6 km/s and Vs = 4.2 ± 0.1 km/s. Q values (taken from the literature) are Qp ∼ 1500 and Qs ∼ 1000. Below 1100 km there is some indication that the attenuation may increase still further for shear waves, with Qs dropping to a few hundreds or less. This seismic model of the moon is well constrained, with uncertainties on the above values given explicitly by the analysis methods, and so it serves as a strong control on the present‐day lunar compositional and thermal structure.

Previous estimates of the seismic energy released by lunar events have not properly accounted for instrument bandwidth, variations in corner frequency, and the effects of intense scattering. In this paper, equations are developed that include all of these effects and give realistic estimates for source parameters. These equations are applied to seismograms and displacement spectra from near‐surface and deep moonquakes to obtain M0 (seismic moment), Ēs (seismic energy release), Eyr (seismic energy released annually by each lunar event class), Δσ (stress drop), and mb (body wave magnitude). The calculations yield M0 ∼ 3 × 1021 dyn cm, Ēs ∼ 2 × 1017 ergs, Δσ ∼ 400 bars, and mb ∼ 5.0 for the largest shallow moonquakes; and M0 ∼ 5 × 1020 dyn cm, Ēs ∼ 1 × 1013 ergs, Δσ ∼ 0.1 bars, and mb ∼ 3.0 for large deep events. The average energy released annually is Eyr = 2 × 1017 erg/yr and Eyr = 8 × 1013 erg/yr by shallow and deep events, respectively; overall, lunar energy release is dominated by the shallow events. The energy released by the deep events may be accounted for by tidal dissipation, and deep event stress drops are comparable to and smaller than the calculated tidal stresses. A comparison of the above values with those observed terrestrially (Eyr ∼ 1025 ergs) and with the energy available from heat flow and tidal dissipation emphasizes the importance of tectonic style (e.g., plate tectonics) in determining the characteristics of planetary seismicity.

During the Viking mission to Mars, the seismometer on Lander II collected approximately 0.24 Earth years of observational data, excluding periods of time dominated by wind‐induced Lander vibration. The “quiet‐time” data set contains no confirmed seismic events. A proper assessment of the significance of this fact requires quantitative estimates of the expected detection rate of the Viking seismometer. The first step is to calculate the minimum magnitude event detectable at a given distance, including the effects of geometric spreading, anelastic attenuation, seismic signal duration, seismometer frequency response, and possible poor ground coupling. Assuming various numerical quantities and a Martian seismic activity comparable to that of intraplate earthquakes, the appropriate integral gives an expected annual detection rate of 10 events, nearly all of which are local. Thus only two to three events would be expected in the observational period presently on hand and the lack of observed events is not in gross contradiction to reasonable expectations. Given the same assumptions, a seismometer 20 times more sensitive than the present instrument would be expected to detect about 120 events annually.

Observed features of moonquakes are combined with theoretical calculations of the tidal stresses to interpret the moonquake mechanisms. Tidal stresses, together with a postulated ambient tectonic stress, are sufficient to explain the depth, periodicity, and polarity reversal of moonquakes. Both of these stresses are small (on the order of 1 bar) and consistent with the small magnitudes of moonquakes.