Surface waves
Surface wave characteristics
Compared to body waves, surface waves are characterized by
• Larger amplitudes
Energy spreads over expanding circle (2𝜋r)
instead of surface of sphere (4𝜋r2)
• Lower frequencies
Surface wave periods ~20 – 100 s (wavelengths ~ 60 – 300 km)
• Dispersion
Wavetrain instead of simple arrival: different frequency components
travel with different velocities
Types of surface waves
Two types of surface waves
• Rayleigh waves: particle motion in vertical plane
through source and receiver (coupled P and SV waves)
• Love waves: horizontal particle motion perpendicular
to propagation direction (as SH waves)
Nomenclature
Local/regional distances (< 1000 km)
• Rg: not often observed
• Lg: ”Love” wave upper part crust
Global distances:
• R1, R2, R3, ... : Rayleigh waves
• G1, G2, G3, ... : Love waves (G: Gutenberg)
Surface wave seismograms
March 11, 1989 Tonga earthquake
recorded at station NNA in Peru.
Global surface wave propagation
Surface waves of Sumatra earthquake 26-12-2004
Sumatra earthquake 26-12-2004 recorded in Utrecht
Sumatra earthquake 26-12-2004 recorded in Utrecht
Retrograde elliptical motion
Horizontal and vertical Rayleigh wave displacement at surface
Fotie et al., 2014
Chen et al., 2018
Fundamental and higher mode surface waves
Usually, when speaking of surface waves, fundamental mode
surface waves are meant.
Higher modes also exist for layered structures
Phase and group velocity
Sum of two harmonic waves with slightly
different frequencies
!"#
Use: cos 𝛼 + cos 𝛽 = 2 cos $
cos(!%#
$
)
Phase and group velocity
Carrier Amplitude modulation
𝜔, k 𝛿𝜔, 𝛿k
!
Phase velocity 𝑐 = "
#!
Group velocity 𝑈 =
#"
Wavefronts with constant phase (e.g., peak,
trough, node) propagate with phase velocity
𝜔
𝑐(𝜔) =
𝑘
Group velocity is velocity of envelope (energy)
of wave package with dominant frequency 𝜔
𝑑𝜔
𝑈(𝜔) =
𝑑𝑘
Relation phase and group velocity
Group velocity U is dependent on phase velocity c and the derivative of
phase velocity with wavenumber or wavelength
Phase velocity usually increases with increasing wavelength:
23
à positive à U < c (generally)
24
Surface waves are dispersive: different frequency components travel
with different velocities
* 2𝜋 2𝜋 𝑑𝜆 2𝜋
𝑘= 𝜆= =− !
𝜆 𝑘 𝑑𝑘 𝑘
𝑑𝑐 𝑑𝑐 𝑑𝜆 2𝜋 𝑑𝑐 2𝜋 𝑑𝑐 𝑑𝑐
𝑈 =𝑐+𝑘 =𝑐+𝑘 =𝑐+𝑘 − ! =𝑐 − =𝑐 − 𝜆
𝑑𝑘 𝑑𝜆 𝑑𝑘 𝑘 𝑑𝜆 𝑘 𝑑𝜆 𝑑𝜆
Love wave phase and group velocity dispersion curves
Dispersion of Love wave seismogram
Measuring group velocity
Group velocity is measured for different bands with band-pass filters.
Apply band-pass filter for narrow frequency band around frequency 𝜔
Measure the time of maximum energy (envelope of signal): tg(𝜔)
$
𝑈 𝜔 = x is distance
tg(!)
Repeat this for different frequency bands
Alternatively, a very rough estimate of group velocity dispersion can be
obtained with the peak-and-trough method:
For arrival with trough at t2, period T2 is ~ t3 - t1
For arrival with peak at t3, period T3 is ~ t4 - t2 ,
etc.
𝑥
𝑈 Ti =
ti
Measuring phase velocity
Phase velocity can be measured using the two-station method.
Two stations lie (approximately) along the same line with the earthquake.
A B
Δ𝑥 = 𝑥𝐵 − 𝑥𝐴
The difference in phase from the spectra of the seismograms at A and B
is used to determine the difference in travel time (Δ𝑡 = tB – tA)
per frequency (period).
Δ𝑥
𝑐 T =
Δ𝑡(T)
Measuring phase velocity
Alternatively, phase velocity dispersion can be roughly estimated with the
peak-and-trough method and the differences in arrival time of the peaks
and troughs at A and B.
Δ𝑥
𝑐 T =
Δ𝑡(T)
Velocity structure from phase/group velocity dispersion
Model of layer on top of half space
What is shear velocity of layer? What is shear velocity of half space?
Velocity structure from phase/group velocity dispersion
How would the dispersion curves change if the layer thickness
would decrease?
Velocity structure and group velocity dispersion
Velocity structure and phase velocity dispersion
Dispersion curves for oceanic paths of various age show
changes in thickness of oceanic lithosphere with age.
Love wave phase velocity maps
T = 25 s T = 250 s Ekström, 2011
Variations in seismic structure are evident from variations in phase velocity
Boschi et al., 2009
Luo et al., 2018
