Seismology Surface Waves And Earth Oscillations

Methods in Computational Physics, Volume 11: Seismology: Surface Waves and Earth Oscillations is a five-chapter text that deals with the computational analysis of surface waves and the eigenvibrations of the Earth. Chapter 1 describes the advances in the numerical modeling of geological structures where the appropriate partial differential equations with boundary conditions for heterogeneous materials are solved using an intricate finite difference scheme. Chapter 2 presents the computer techniques of processing seismograms to obtain information on the dispersion of seismic surface waves, while Chapter 3 explains the fast algorithms for computation of eigenvalues in surface wave and terrestrial eigenvibration problems. Chapter 4 presents a competing method, much used in structural engineering and soil mechanics. Chapter 5 is devoted to the propagation of surface waves in layered media, which indicate that density and elasticity vary only in the vertical direction. This chapter also provides the fundamentals and numerical aspects of the theory of seismic surface waves. This book is an invaluable source for seismologists, earthquake engineers, and graduate students.

Surface waves form the longest and strongest portion of a seismic record excited by explosions and shallow earthquakes. Traversing areas with diverse geologic structures, they 'absorb' information on the properties of these areas which is best retlected in dispersion, the dependence of velocity on frequency. The other prop erties of these waves - polarization, frequency content, attenuation, azimuthal variation of the amplitude and phase - arc also controlled by the medium between the source and the recording station; some of these are affected by the properties of the source itself and by the conditions around it. In recent years surface wave seismology has become an indispensable part of seismological practice. The maximum amplitude in the surface wave train of virtually every earthquake or major explosion is being measured and used by all national and international seismological surveys in the determination of the most important energy parameter of a seismic source, namely, the magnitude M,. The relationship between M, and the body wave magnitude fI1t, is routinely employed in identification of underground nuclear explosions. Surface waves of hundreds of earthquakes recorded every year are being analysed to estimate the seismic moment tensor of earthquake sources, to determine the periods of free oscillations of the Earth, to construct regional dispersion curves from which in turn the crustal and upper mantle structure in various areas is derived, and to evaluate the dissipative parameters of the mantle material.

Earthquakes come and go as they please, leaving behind them trails of destruc tion and casualties. Although their occurrence is little affected by what we do or think, it is the task of earth scientists to keep studying them from all possible angles until ways and means are found to divert, forecast, and eventually control them. In ancient times people were awestruck by singular geophysical events, which were attributed to supernatural powers. It was recognized only in 1760 that earthquakes originated within the earth. A hundred years later, first systematic attempts were made to apply physical principles to study them. During the next century scientists accumulated knowledge about the effects of earthquakes, their geographic patterns, the waves emitted by them, and the internal constitution of the earth. During the past 20 years, seismology has made a tremendous progress, mainly because of the advent of modern computers and improvements in data acquisi tion systems, which are now capable of digital and analog recording of ground motion over a frequency range of five orders of magnitude. These technologic developments have enabled seismologists to make measurements with far greater precision and sophistication than was previously possible. Advanced computational analyses have been applied to high-quality data and elaborate theoretical models have been devised to interpret them. As a result, far reaching advances in our knowledge of the earth's structure and the nature of earthquake sources have occurred.

After every major earthquake, the Earth rings like a bell for several days. These free oscillations of the Earth and the related propagating body and surface waves are routinely detected at broad-band seismographic stations around the world. In this book, F. A. Dahlen and Jeroen Tromp present an advanced theoretical treatment of global seismology, describing the normal-mode, body-wave, and surface-wave methods employed in the determination of the Earth's three-dimensional internal structure and the source mechanisms of earthquakes. The authors provide a survey of both the history of global seismological research and the major theoretical and observational advances made in the past decade. The book is divided into three parts. In the first, "Foundations," Dahlen and Tromp give an extensive introduction to continuum mechanics and discuss the representation of seismic sources and the free oscillations of a completely general Earth model. The resulting theory should provide the basis for future scientific discussions of the elastic-gravitational deformation of the Earth. The second part, "The Spherical Earth," is devoted to the free oscillations of a spherically symmetric Earth. In the third part, "The Aspherical Earth," the authors discuss methods of dealing with the Earth's three-dimensional heterogeneity. The book is concerned primarily with the forward problem of global seismology--detailing how synthetic seismograms and spectra may be calculated and interpreted. As a long-needed unification of theories in global seismology, the book will be important to graduate students and to professional seismologists, geodynamicists, and geomagnetists, as well as to astronomers who study the free oscillations of the Sun and other stars.

Elastic Waves in the Earth provides information on the relationship between seismology and geophysics and their general aspects. The book offers elastodynamic equations and derivative equations that can be used in the propagation of elastic waves. It also covers major topics in detail, such as the fundamentals of elastodynamics; the Lamb's problem, which includes the Cagniard-de Hoop theory; rays and modes in a radially inhomogeneous earth and in multilayered media, which includes the Thomson-Haskell theory; the elastic wave dissipation; the seismic source and noise; and the seismographs. The book consists of 33 chapters. The first 16 chapters include basic material related to the propagation of elastic waves. Topics covered by these chapters include scalars, vectors, and tensors in cartesian coordinates, stress and strain analysis, equations of elasticity and motion, plane waves, Rayleigh waves, plane-wave theory, and fluid-fluid and solid-solid interfaces. The second half of the book covers various ray and mode theories, elastic wave dissipation, and the observations and theories of seismic source and seismic noise. It concludes by discussing earthquake seismology and different seismographs, like the pendulum seismometer and the strain seismometer.

Treatise on Geophysics: Seismology and Structure of the Earth, Volume 1, provides a comprehensive review of the state of knowledge on the Earths structure and earthquakes. It addresses various aspects of structural seismology and its applications to other fields of Earth sciences. The book is organized into four parts. The first part principally covers theoretical developments and seismic data analysis techniques from the end of the nineteenth century until the present, with the main emphasis on the development of instrumentation and its deployment. The second part reviews the status of knowledge on the structure of the Earths shallow layers, starting with a global review of the Earth's crustal structure. The third part focuses on the Earth's deep structure, divided into its main units: the upper mantle, the transition zone and upper-mantle discontinuities, the D region at the base of the mantle, and the Earth's core. The fourth part comprises two chapters which discuss constraints on Earth structure from fields other than seismology: mineral physics and geodynamics. Self-contained volume starts with an overview of the subject then explores each topic with in depth detail Extensive reference lists and cross references with other volumes to facilitate further research Full-color figures and tables support the text and aid in understanding Content suited for both the expert and non-expert

This radical revision of Professor Bullen's acclaimed and widely used text provides an introduction to modern seismological theory, with emphasis on both the physical models and the mathematical descriptions of earthquakes and their sources. The essential core of the earlier editions has been retained, particularly the tensor treatment of elasticity, seismic wave travel-time analysis and density in the Earth, although these parts of the text have been brought up to date and expanded. The new part of the book reflects on how the study of earthquakes, seismic waves and seismic risk has been broadened in the past two decades. Thus, this edition includes introductory theory of earthquake sources, seismic wave travel through complex geological zones and viscous and anisotropic media, vibrations of the whole Earth, strong-motion seismology and earthquake prediction and risk. There is an emphasis on statistical and numerical procedures and problems of resolution in inverse theory. Modern class exercises are to be found throughout. The book assumes some background in classical physics and mathematics, including simple differential equations, linear algebra and probability theory. It will be suitable for use in undergraduate courses in geophysics, applied mechanics and geotechnology and for graduate courses in seismology and earthquake engineering. In addition, it will serve as a reference text on seismological problems for professionals concerned with earthquakes, Earth structure and wave motion.