32 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

1.1 Stress, strain, and displacement ! wave equation displacement

ion

ge
ot

om
m

etr
of

ic
From the relationship between stress, strain, and displacement, we

n
tio

law
ua
can derive a 3D elastic wave equation. Figure 1.1 shows relationships

eq
constitutive law
between each pair of parameters. In this section, I will show each stress strain

term in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1: Relationship of each parame-

ter.

1.1.1 Displacement

Displacement, characterizes vibrations, is distance of a particle from

its position of equilibrium:

0 1
u1 (x, t)
B C
u(x, t) = @ u2 (x, t) A . (1.1)
u3 (x, t) x3

x2
x1
s33
s32
1.1.2 Stress s31
s22 s13
s21
s23 s12
Stress characterizes forces applied to a material: s11 s23 s11
s12 s21
s13 s
22
0 1 s31
s32
s11 s12 s13 ( x1 , x2 , x3 ) ( x1 + dx1 , x2 , x3 )
B C s33
sij = s = @ s21 s22 s23 A , (1.2)
Figure 1.2: Stresses.
s31 s32 s33

which is a tensor, and the first subscript indicates the surface applied
and the second the direction (Figure 1.2).
u(x + dx)

x + dx
1.1.3 Strain u(x)
x
Strain characterizes deformations under stress. If stresses are applied =
to a material that is not perfectly rigid, points within it move with
respect to each other, and deformation results. parallel translation

Let us consider an elastic material which moves u(x) (Figure 1.3).

When the original location of the material is x, the displacement of a
nearby point originally at x + dx can be written as
+
rotation
∂ui (x)
ui (x + dx) ⇡ ui (x) + dx j = u i (x) + dui ,
∂x j | {z } |{z}
parallel translation rotation+de f ormation
+
(1.3) deformation

Figure 1.3: Displacement includes

parallel translation, rotation, and
deformation (strain).
 basic physics for seismology 33

Therefore, in the first-order assumption,

∂ui (x)
dui = dx j
∂x j
! !
1 ∂ui ∂u j 1 ∂ui ∂u j
= + dx j + dx j
2 ∂x j ∂xi 2 ∂x j ∂xi
1 1
= (u + u j,i )dx j + (r ⇥ u ⇥ dx)i
2 i,j 2
= (eij + wij )dx j , (1.4)

where wij is a rotational translation term (diagonal term is zero,

wij = w ji ). Then eij = e is the strain tensor, which contains the
spatial derivatives of the displacement field. With the definition of eij ,
the tensor is symmetric and has 6 independent components.

0 1
u1,1 1/2(u1,2 + u2,1 ) 1/2(u1,3 + u3,1 )
B C
eij = @ 1/2(u2,1 + u1,2 ) u2,2 1/2(u2,3 + u3,2 ) A (1.5)
1/2(u3,1 + u1,3 ) 1/2(u3,2 + u2,3 ) u3,3

If the diagonal terms of eij are zero, we do not have volume

changes. The volume increase, dilatation, is given by the sum of
the extensions in the xi directions:
∂u1 ∂u ∂u
eii = + 2 + 3 = tr (e) = r · u = q (1.6)
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3
This dilatation gives the change in volume per unit volume associ-
ated with the deformation. ∂ui /∂xi mentions displacement of the xi
direction changes along the direction of xi .
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
∂u ∂u2 ∂u3 ∂u ∂u2 ∂u
1 + 1 dx1 1 + dx2 1 + dx3 ⇡ 1 + 1 + + 3 dx1 dx2 dx3 = (1 + q )V = V + DV,
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3 ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3
(1.7)

where q = DV/V.

1.1.4 Geometric law

Relationship between displacement and strain, which represents
geometric properties (deformation).
As we have already found in equation 1.4,
1⇣ ⌘
e= ru + (ru) T (1.8)
2

1.1.5 Equation of motion

Relationship between displacement and stress, which represents
dynamic properties (motion).
34 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

We write Newton’s second law in terms of body forces and

stresses. When I consider the stresses in the x2 direction (the red
arrows in Figure 1.2),

{s12 (x + dx1 n̂1 ) s12 (x)} dx2 dx3

+ {s22 (x + dx2 n̂2 ) s22 (x)} dx1 dx3
+ {s32 (x + dx3 n̂3 ) s32 (x)} dx1 dx2
∂2 u2
+ f 2 dV = r dV (1.9)
∂t2
where dV = dx1 dx2 dx3 . With a Taylor expansion,
✓ ◆
∂s12 ∂s22 ∂s32 ∂2 u2
+ + dV + f 2 dV = r 2 dV (1.10)
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3 ∂t
We also have similar equations for x1 and x2 directions, and by using
the summation convention,
∂2 ui (x, t)
sij,j (x, t) + f i (x, t) = r
| {z } | {z } ∂t2
sur f ace f orces body f orces

r · s + f = rü. (1.11)

This is the equation of motion, which is satisfied everywhere in a

continuous medium. When the right-hand side in equation 1.11 is
zero, we have the equation of equilibrium,

sij,j (x, t) = f i (x, t), (1.12)

and if no body forces are applied, we have the homogeneous equa-

tion of motion
∂2 ui (x, t)
sij,j (x, t) = r . (1.13)
∂t2

1.1.6 Constitutive equations

Relationship between stress and strain, which represents material
properties (strength, stiffness). Here, we consider the material has a
linear relationship between stress and strain (linear elastic). Linear
elasticity is valid for the short time scale involved in the propagation
of seismic waves.
Based on Hooke’s law, the relationship between stress and strain is

sij = cijkl ekl

s = c e, (1.14)

where constant cijkl is the elastic moduli, which describes the proper-
ties of the material.
 basic physics for seismology 35

Not all components of cijkl are independent. Because stress and

strain tensors are symmetric and thermodynamic consideration;

cijkl = c jikl = cijlk = cklij . (1.15)

Therefore, we have 21 independent components in cijkl . With Voigt Strain energy is defined by
recipe, we change the subscripts with 1
Z
W= sij eij dV
2
Z
11 ! 1, 22 ! 2, 33 ! 3, 23 ! 4, 13 ! 5, 12 ! 6, 1
= cijkl eij ekl dV,
2
and we can write the elastic moduli as cij (i, j = 1, 2, · · · , 6). With Therefore, cijkl = cklij .
these 21 components, we can describe general anisotropic media.

1.1.7 Wave equation (general anisotropic media)

1
geometric law e = ru + (ru) T (eq
Wave equation describes vibrations (u) at each space (x) and time (t) 1.8)
2

under material properties (c, r);

• small perturbation

f (u, x, t, r, c) = F. (1.16) equation of motion r · s = rü (eq 1.11)

• small perturbation
In homogeneous case (F = 0),
• continuous material
f (u, x, t, r, c) = 0. (1.17) constitutive law s = c e (eq 1.14)

We eliminate s and e by plugging in equations 1.8, 1.11, and 1.14. • small perturbation
⇢ ✓ h • continuous material
1 i◆
T
r· c ru + (ru) = rü (1.18) • elastic material
2
This is a general wave equation for anisotropic elastic media.

1.1.8 Elastic moduli in isotropic media

On a large scale (compared with wave length), the earth has approxi-
mately the same physical properties regardless of orientation, which
is called isotropic. In the isotropic case, cijkl has only two indepen-
dent components. One pair of the components are called the Lamé
constants l and µ, which are defined as

cijkl = ldij dkl + µ(dik djl + dil djk ). (1.19)

µ is called the shear modulus, but l does not have clear physical
explanation. By using the Voigt recipe, equation 1.18 can be written
with a matrix form;
0 1
l + 2µ l l 0 0 0
B C
B l l + 2µ l 0 0 0 C
B C
B l l l + 2µ 0 0 0 C
B
cij = B C (1.20)
B 0 0 0 µ 0 0 C C
B C
@ 0 0 0 0 µ 0 A
0 0 0 0 0 µ
36 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

In the isotropic media, equation 1.14 becomes

sij = lekk dij + 2µeij = lqdij + 2µeij

s = ltr (e)I + 2µe (1.21)

where q is the dilatation.

There are other elastic moduli, which are related to the Lamé
constants, such as bulk modulus (K), Poisson’s ratio (n), and Young’s
modulus (E) (Table 1.1.8).

Table 1.1: Elastic moduli

(l, µ) (l, n) (K, l) ( E, µ) (K, µ) ( E, n) (µ, n) (K, n) (K, E)

l (1+ n ) Eµ 2µ(1+n)
K l + 23 µ 3n 3(3µ E)
E
3(1 2n) 3(1 2n)
l l E 3K 2µ 3K E
n 2( l + µ ) 3K l 2µ 2(3K +µ) 6K
µ(3l+2µ) l(1+n)(1 2n) 9K (K l) 9Kµ
E l+µ n 3K l 3K +2µ 2µ(1 + n) 3K (1 2n)
l
µ

1.1.9 Wave equation in isotropic media

1
geometric law e = ru + (ru) T (eq
Using equation 1.21 instead of equation 1.14, we can derive the wave 1.8)
2

equation in an isotropic medium. equation of motion r · s = rü (eq 1.11)

From equations 1.8, 1.11, and 1.21, the isotropic wave equation is constitutive law s = ltr (e)I + 2µe (eq
1.21)
rü = (l + 2µ)r(r · u) µr ⇥ r ⇥ u, (1.22)

with an assumption of slowly-varying material (rl ⇡ 0 and rµ ⇡

0).

r · u volumetric deformation

r ⇥ u shearing deformation
24 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

2.3.11 Principal stresses

For any stress tensor, we can always find a direction of n̂ that defines
the plane of no shear stresses. This is important for earthquake
source mechanisms.
To find the direction n̂ is an eigenvalue problem:

s n̂ = ln̂
(s lI)n̂ = 0, (2.57)

where l is eigenvalues, not a Lamé constant. To find l, we need to

solve Relationship between the original
stress tensor s and principle stresses.
0 1 0 1
det[s lI] = 0, (2.58) s1 0 0 l1 0 0
@ 0 s2 0 A=@ 0 l2 0 A = RT sR
0 0 s3 0 0 l3
and obtain three eigenvalues l1 , l2 , and l3 (|l1 | | l2 | |l3 |),
which are the principal stresses (s1 , s2 , and s3 , respectively). Corre- where R is the rotational matrix based
on the eigenvectors:
sponding eigenvectors for each eigenvalue define the principal stress axes 0 (1) 1
(2) (3)
(n̂(1) , n̂(2) , and n̂(3) ). B
n1 n1 n1
C
R = @ n2(1) n2(2) n2(3) A
(1) (2) (3)
n3 n3 n3
2.3.12 Traction on a fault
The traction at an arbitrary plane of orientation (s) is obtained by
multiplying the stress tensor by s:

T(n̂) = s n̂. (2.59)

Using this relationship, we can compute a traction on a fault.

In the 2D case, the stress tensor is
!
s11 s12
s= . (2.60)
s21 s22

When the fault is oriented q (clockwise) from the x1 axis, the normal
vector is
!
sin q
n̂ = . (2.61)
cos q

Therefore, from equation 2.59, the traction on the fault is

! !
s11 s12 sin q
T(n̂) = , (2.62)
s21 s22 cos q

which indicates the direction and strength of the traction on the

fault. We can decompose the traction into normal (T N ) and shear TS
tractions on the fault:
f̂ = Rn̂
where
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
cos(p/2) sin(p/2) 0 1
R= =
sin(p/2) cos(p/2) 1 0
 basic physics for seismology 25

! ! !
s11 s12 sin q sin q
T N = T(n̂) · n̂ = ·
s21 s22 cos q cos q
! ! !
s11 s12 sin q cos q
TS = T(n̂) · f̂ = · , (2.63)
s21 s22 cos q sin q

where f̂ is the unit vector parallel to the fault direction.

2.3.13 Deviatoric stresses

Because in the deep Earth, compressive stresses are dominant, only
considering the deviatoric stresses is useful for many applications.
For example, the deviatoric stresses result from tectonic forces and
cause earthquake faulting.
When the mean normal stress is given by M = (s11 + s22 + s33 )/3,
the deviatoric stress is

sD = s MI (2.64)
24 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

2.4 Seismic waves

With components, the 3D isotropic wave equation can be written as

0 2 1 0 ⇣ ⌘ 1 0 ⇣ ⌘ ⇣ ⌘ 1
∂ u1 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u2 ∂u3 ∂ ∂u2 ∂u1 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3
+ +
B ∂∂t 2
C B ∂x1 ⇣ ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x3 ⌘ C B ∂x2 ⇣ ∂x1 ∂x2 ⌘ ∂x3 ⇣ ∂x3 ∂x1 ⌘ C
2u B ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3 C B ∂u1 C
rB 2 C
@ ∂t2 A = (l + 2µ) B
∂u2
∂x2 ⇣ ∂x1 + ∂x2 + ∂x3 ⌘ C µ B ∂x∂ ∂u 3 ∂u2 ∂ ∂u2
C
@ A @ 3 ⇣ ∂x2 ∂x3 ⌘ ∂x1 ⇣ ∂x1 ∂x2 ⌘ A
∂2 u3 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u2 ∂u3 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3 ∂ ∂u3 ∂u2
∂t2 ∂x 3∂x + ∂x + ∂x
1 2 ∂x 3 ∂x1 3 ∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x2 ∂x3
(2.67)

2.4.1 P- and S-wave velocities

We can separate equation 2.65 into solutions for P and S waves by
calculating the divergence and curl, respectively. Equation 2.65:
When we compute the divergence of equation 2.65, we obtain rü = (l + 2µ)r(r · u) µr ⇥ r ⇥ u,

∂2 (r · u)
r = (l + 2µ)r2 (r · u)
∂t2
1 ∂2 (r · u)
r2 (r · u) = 0, (2.68)
a2 ∂t2
where a is the P-wave velocity:
s
l + 2µ
a= . (2.69)
r

By computing the curl of equation 2.65, we obtain

r ⇥ (rf) = 0
∂2 (r ⇥ u) r · (r ⇥ g) = 0
r = µr ⇥ r ⇥ r ⇥ u
∂t2 r ⇥ r ⇥ u = rr · u r2 u
∂2 (r ⇥ u)
r = µr2 (r ⇥ u)
∂t2
1 ∂2 (r ⇥ u)
r2 (r ⇥ u) = 0, (2.70)
b2 ∂t2

where b is the S-wave velocity:

r
µ
b= . (2.71)
r

Using a and b, we can rewrite equation 2.65 as

ü = a2 r(r · u) b2 r ⇥ (r ⇥ u) (2.72)
| {z } | {z }
P wave S wave

2.4.2 Potentials
A vector field can be represented as a sum of curl-free and divergence-
free forms 1 (so called Helmholtz decomposition), 1
Keiiti Aki and Paul G. Richards.
Quantitative Seismology. Univ. Science
Books, CA, USA, 2 edition, 2002
 basic physics for seismology 25

u = rf + r ⇥ Y
r · F = 0, (2.73)
where f is P-wave scalar potential and Y is S-wave vector potential.
Therefore, we have
r · u = r2 f (2.74)
2
r⇥u = r⇥r⇥Y = r Y (2.75)
Inserting equations 2.74 and 2.75 into equations 2.68 and 2.70, we
obtain two equations for these potentials:
1 ∂2 f
r2 f =0 (2.76)
a2 ∂t2
1 ∂2 Y
r2 Y = 0, (2.77)
b2 ∂t2
and P- and S-wave displacements are given by gradient of f and curl Equation 2.76 is exactly the same as the
of Y in equation 2.76. 3D scaler wave equation we expected
from the 1D one (equation 2.23).

2.4.3 Plane waves

Because of the shape of wave equations (equations 2.70, 2.76, and
2.77), elastic wave equations also have plane waves as solutions.
Plane-wave solution is a solution to the wave equation in which the
displacement varies only in the direction of wave propagation and
constant in the directions orthogonal to the wave propagation. The
solution can be written as
u(x, t) = f(t ŝ · x/c)
= f( t s · x)
i (wt k·x)
= Ae (2.78)
where s is the slowness vector and c is the velocity. The slowness
vector shows the direction of the wave propagation. k = ws is the
wavenumber vector.

2.4.4 Spherical waves

A spherical wave is also a solution for 3D scalar wave equation (equa-
tion 2.76). For convenience, we consider the spherical coordinates,
and equation 2.76 becomes
✓ ◆ ✓ ◆
1 ∂ ∂f
1 ∂ 2 ∂f 1 ∂2 f r2 f (r ) = r2
r = 0. (2.79) r2 ∂r ∂r2
r2 ∂r ∂r a2 ∂t2
For r 6= 0, a solution of equation 2.79 is
f (t ± r/a)
f(r, t) = , (2.80)
r
which indicates spherical waves.
26 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

2.4.5 Polarizations of P and S waves

Let us consider P plane waves propagating in x1 direction. A plane-
wave solution for equation 2.76 is

f( x1 , t) = Aei(wt kx1 )
, (2.81)

and the displacement is

u( x1 , t) = rf( x1 , t) = ( ik, 0, 0) Aei(wt kx1 )

. (2.82)

Because the compression caused by this displacement is nonzero

(r · u( x1 , t) 6= 0), the volume changes. From equation 2.82, the
direction of wave propagation and the direction of displacements are
the same (longitudinal wave).
For S waves, a plane-wave solution for equation 2.77 is a vector:

Y( x1 , t ) = ( A1 , A2 , A3 )ei(wt kx1 )
, (2.83)

and the corresponding displacement is

u( x1 , t) = r ⇥ Y( x1 , t) = (0, ikA3 , ikA2 )ei(wt kx1 )

. (2.84)

In contrast to P waves, S waves have no volumetric changes (r ·

u( x1 , t) = 0) and the direction of displacements differ from the
direction of wave propagation.
10 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

1.1 Plane wave reflection and transmission

1.1.1 Introduction
This means that we consider wave
When we consider the propagating waves are plane waves, we can propagation on a plane, which is
find a coordinate system which has ∂ui /∂x2 = 0. From equation , if perpendicular to the x2 axis.

we choose these axes, we obtain

0 1 0 ⇣ ⌘ 1 0 ⇣ ⌘ 1
∂2 u1 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3
+ B ∂x
⇣ 3 ⌘∂x3 ∂x⇣
1 ⌘ C
B ∂t2 C B ∂x1 ∂x1 ∂x3
C
∂2 u2 B C
rB
@
C = (l + 2µ) B
A @ ⇣ 0 C
⌘ A µB ∂ ∂u2 ∂ ∂u2
C
∂t2 @ ∂x3 ∂x ⇣3 ∂x1 ⌘∂x1 A
∂2 u3 ∂ ∂u1
+ ∂u3 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3
∂t2 ∂x3 ∂x1 ∂x3 ∂x1 ∂x3 ∂x1
0 ⇣ ⌘ 1 0 ⇣ ⌘ 1
∂ ∂u1 ∂u3 ∂ ∂u1 ∂u3
∂x1 ∂x1 + ∂x3 B ∂x3 ∂x3 ∂x1 C
B C ∂2 u2 ∂2 u2
= (l + 2µ) B 0 C+µB
B 2 + ∂x2
C
C.
@ ⇣ ⌘ A @ ∂x⇣3 1 ⌘ A
∂ ∂u1 ∂u3
∂x3 ∂x1 + ∂x3
∂ ∂u1 ∂u3
∂x1 ∂x3 ∂x1
(1.1)

The displacement on the x2 direction is independent from x1 and x3 ,

and only contain S waves, which are called SH waves. The waves
described by u1 and u3 are called P-SV waves.

1.1.2 SH wave

From equation 1.1 with replacing u2 to v, r/µ as 1/b2 , and x1 x2 x3 to

xyz, we obtain

1 ∂2 v ∂2 v ∂2 v
= + , (1.2)
b2 ∂t2 ∂x2 ∂z2

which is a 2D scaler wave equation. The waves represented by v are

called SH wave. We consider a plane-wave solution of equation 1.2 as

iw (t px hz)
v=e , (1.3)

where p is the ray parameter (and p is the horizontal slowness and h

the vertical slowness). With p and b, h is Slownesses and wavenumbers are also
related.
1 k x = pw, k z = hw
h2 = p2 . (1.4)
b2

Based on the incident angle of the wave f (angle from the z axis),
horizontal and vertical slownesses are

sin f cos f
p= , h= . (1.5)
b b
 basic physics for seismology 11
z

x
r, b
1.1.3 Reflection and transmission of SH wave f f

Let us consider the reflection at the free surface (Figure 1.1). The
general solution of SH waves reflected at the free surface is given by A B

iw (t px hz) iw (t px +hz)
v = |Ae } + |Be }, (1.6) Figure 1.1: Reflection at the free surface.
{z {z
incoming re f lection

where A and B are constants. As a boundary condition at the free

surface, stresses szx , syz , and szz are zero (because we are considering
only the y direction, we use only the condition of syz ); therefore at
z = 0,
∂v
syz = szy = µ , (1.7)
∂z
where the first equation naturally satisfies by our coordinate system.
From the second equation, we obtain the relationship that
iw (t px )
(A B)e =0
B
= 1, (1.8)
A z
which is the reflection coefficient for SH waves at the free surface.
A2
SH waves bounce at the free surface with the same amplitude. From
f2
equation 1.8, the displacement at the free surface is v(z = 0) = r2 , b 2
2Aexp( iw (t px )), which means twice as large as the incoming x
r1 , b 1
wave (and the reflected wave). f1 f1
Next, we consider the reflections at a boundary (Figure 1.2). This
derivation is similar to the string case (1D scaler wave equation). We A1 B1
simply extend it to the 2D case. Now, we set z = 0 as a boundary,
and medium 1 (r1 , b 1 ) is at z < 0 and medium 2 (r2 , b 2 ) z > 0. Figure 1.2: Reflection and transmission
at a boundary.
When the incoming wave propagation from medium 1, plane-wave
solutions are why is p in equation 1.9 common for
media 1 and 2?
iw (t px h1 z) iw (t px +h1 z)
v1 = A1 e + B1 e , ( z < 0)
iw (t px h2 z)
v2 = A2 e , ( z > 0) (1.9)

where the first term in v1 is the incoming wave, the second term in
v1 the reflected wave, and v2 the refracted wave. Define f1 and f2 are
the angle of the incident and refracted waves, respectively, slownesses
are
sin f1 sin f2 cos f1 cos f2
p= = , h1 = , h2 = (1.10)
b1 b2 b1 b2
At z = 0, the displacement satisfies a boundary condition, in which
displacements and stresses at the boundary are continuous:
∂v1 ∂v
v1 = v2 , µ1 = µ2 2 . (1.11)
∂z ∂z
12 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

From these conditions, we obtain

A1 + B1 = A2 , µ1 h1 ( A1 B1 ) = µ2 h2 A2 (1.12)

and reflection and transmission coefficients are µ/r = b2 , hi = cos fi /b i

B1 µ h µ 2 h2 r b cos f1 r2 b 2 cos f2
R12 = = 1 1 = 1 1
A1 µ 1 h1 + µ 2 h2 r1 b 1 cos f1 + r2 b 2 cos f2
A2 2µ1 h1 2r1 b 1 cos f1
T12 = = = . (1.13)
A1 µ 1 h1 + µ 2 h2 r1 b 1 cos f1 + r2 b 2 cos f2
The impedance for SH waves at media 1 and 2 are r1 b 1 and r2 b 2 ,
respectively.
Now, we show the energy is preserved during these reflection and
transmission. The energy at a unit volume (at steady state) can be
written by

E = rw 2 X 2 , (1.14)

where X is the amplitude of waves. When the plane wave propagat-

ing with velocity b, the energy flux at a unit area (perpendicular to
the propagation) is

F = bE = rbw 2 X 2 . (1.15)

We apply this relationship to the reflection and transmission of SH

waves. The energy of the incoming wave at are S is Sr1 b 1 w 2 cos f1
and the sum of the reflection and transmission waves are S| R12 |2 r1 b 1 w 2 cos f1 +
S| T12 |2 r2 b 2 cos f2 , and these energy should be equal: z

Sr1 b 1 w 2 cos f1 = S| R12 |2 r1 b 1 w 2 cos f1 + S| T12 |2 r2 b 2 cos f2

r2 b 2 cos f2 H
1 = | R12 |2 + | T |2 , (1.16) r2 , b 2
r1 b 1 cos f1 12 r1 , b 1
x

where equation 1.13 satisfies equation 1.16.

When medium 2 has a finite thickness (H) and the free surface
exists on top of it, waves reverberate. The solution in medium 1 is
the same as equation equation 1.9. Because we have another reflected
Figure 1.3: Reflection and transmission
waves from the boundary at z = H, the solution in medium 2 is at a medium which has the free surface
and a finite layer.
iw (t px h2 (z H )) iw (t px +h2 (z H ))
v2 = A2 e + B2 e . (1.17)

Because the stress syz is 0 at the free surface z = H, we obtain

A2 = B2 . Therefore, equation 1.17 becomes
iw (t px h2 (z H ))
v2 = 2A2 e . (1.18)

The boundary condition at z = 0 is the same as equation 1.11 and we

obtain

A1 + B1 = 2A2 cos wh2 H

iµ1 h1 ( A1 B1 ) = 2µ2 h2 A2 sin wh2 H. (1.19)
 basic physics for seismology 13

From equation 1.19, we can compute reflection and transmission

coefficients: Different from equations 1.8 or 1.13,
equation 1.20 is a function of the
A2 µ 1 h1 frequency. This is because the reflection
T= = ,
A1 µ1 h1 cos wh2 H iµ2 h2 sin wh2 H and transmission depend on the
thickness H.
B µ h cos wh2 H + iµ2 h2 sin wh2 H
R= 1 = 1 1 . (1.20) Proof | R| = 1.
A1 µ1 h1 cos wh2 H iµ2 h2 sin wh2 H

Waves are amplified because of the surface layer. The amplitude ra-
tio between the incident wave and the wave represented by equation
1.17 is

v2 ( z = H ) 2A2
= = 2| T |. (1.21)
A1 A1

Compared with the ratio without the surface layer (2 due to equation
1.8), | T | relates to the amplification of the waves.
If hi is real, the denominator of T is following an ellipse on the
real-imaginary domain with principal axes on the real and imaginary
axes when w changes. Therefore, the maximum and minimum T
should be on the real or imaginary axes. On the real axis (sin wh2 H =
0 and cos wh2 H = ±1), 2.5
0
30
| T | = 1, (1.22) 45
60

Amplification factor
2

and on the imaginary axis (sin wh2 H = ±1 and cos wh2 H = 0),

µ 1 h1 r b cos f1
|T| = = 1 1 . (1.23) 1.5
µ 2 h2 r2 b 2 cos f2

When we consider the vertical incident wave (f1 = f2 = 0), the 1

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
maximum | T | is on the real axis (equation 1.22) when the surface Normalized frequency

layer is harder than below (r1 b 1 < r2 b 2 ). On the other hand, when Figure 1.4: Site amplification caused
by a soft surface layer for SH waves
the surface layer is softer (r1 b 1 > r2 b 2 ), the maximum | T | is on the for different incident angles (line
imaginary axis (equation 1.23) and | T | > 1, which is the reason of colors). The normalized frequency is
f H/b 2 and the vertical axis | T |. In
amplification at the soft structure (e.g., figure 1.4). The frequency
this example, I use r1 /r2 = 1.2 and
at the maximum amplification satisfies cos wh2 H = 0 ! wh2 H = b 1 /b 2 = 2.
(2n + 1)p/2.
The T and R (equation 1.20) include all reverberations (p101-102,
Saito).
36 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

Postcritical reflection When b 2 > b 1 , f2 can be 90 and f1 in this

condition is called critical angle:

1 b1
fc = sin . (2.101)
b2

When the incident angle is larger than fc , we have postcritical

reflection,
q in which waves are perfectly reflected. In this case,
z
h2 = b22 p2 is imaginary. To avoid divergence of refracted waves
of v2 (equation 2.93) at z ! +•, the sign of h2 should be
H
q r2 , b 2
x
h2 = i ĥ2 = i p2 b 2 2 (w > 0) (2.102) r1 , b 1

When medium 2 has a finite thickness (H) and the free surface
exists on top of it, waves reverberate. The solution in medium 1 is the
same as equation equation 2.93. Because we have another reflected
waves from the boundary at z = H, the solution in medium 2 is Figure 2.9: Reflection and transmission
at a medium which has the free surface
iw (t px h2 (z H )) iw (t px +h2 (z H )) and a finite layer.
v2 = A2 e + B2 e . (2.103)

Because the stress syz is 0 at the free surface z = H, we obtain

A2 = B2 . Therefore, equation 2.103 becomes
iw (t px )
v2 = 2A2 cos wh2 (z H )e . (2.104)

The boundary condition at z = 0 is the same as equation 2.95 and we

obtain

A1 + B1 = 2A2 cos wh2 H

iµ1 h1 ( A1 B1 ) = 2µ2 h2 A2 sin wh2 H. (2.105)

From equation 2.105, we can compute reflection and transmission

coefficients: Different from equations 2.92 or
2.97, equation 2.106 is a function of
A2 µ 1 h1 the frequency. This is because the
T= = ,
A1 µ1 h1 cos wh2 H iµ2 h2 sin wh2 H reflection and transmission depend on
the thickness H.
B µ h cos wh2 H + iµ2 h2 sin wh2 H
R= 1 = 1 1 . (2.106) Proof | R| = 1.
A1 µ1 h1 cos wh2 H iµ2 h2 sin wh2 H

Waves are amplified because of the surface layer. The amplitude ra-
tio between the incident wave and the wave represented by equation
2.103 is

v2 ( z = H ) 2A2
= = 2| T |. (2.107)
A1 A1

Compared with the ratio without the surface layer (2 due to equation
2.92), | T | relates to the amplification of the waves.
If hi is real, the denominator of T is following an ellipse on the
real-imaginary domain with principal axes on the real and imaginary
 basic physics for seismology 37

axes when w changes. Therefore, the maximum and minimum T

should be on the real or imaginary axes. On the real axis (sin wh2 H =
0 and cos wh2 H = ±1), 2.5
0
30
| T | = 1, (2.108) 45
60

Amplification factor
2

and on the imaginary axis (sin wh2 H = ±1 and cos wh2 H = 0),

µ 1 h1 r b cos f1
|T| = = 1 1 . (2.109) 1.5
µ 2 h2 r2 b 2 cos f2

When we consider the vertical incident wave (f1 = f2 = 0), the 1

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
maximum | T | is on the real axis (equation 2.108) when the surface Normalized frequency

layer is harder than below (r1 b 1 < r2 b 2 ). On the other hand, when Figure 2.10: Site amplification caused
by a soft surface layer for SH waves
the surface layer is softer (r1 b 1 > r2 b 2 ), the maximum | T | is on the for different incident angles (line
imaginary axis (equation 2.109) and | T | > 1, which is the reason of colors). The normalized frequency is
f H/b 2 and the vertical axis | T |. In
amplification at the soft structure (e.g., figure 2.10). The frequency
this example, I use r1 /r2 = 1.2 and
at the maximum amplification satisfies cos wh2 H = 0 ! wh2 H = b 1 /b 2 = 2.
(2n + 1)p/2.
The T and R (equation 2.106) include all reverberations (p101-102,
Saito).

2.6.4 P-SV waves

38 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

2.7 Surface waves

Surface and body waves are not very easy to distinguish because they
are related. We consider that surface waves are propagating around
the surface of media and the energy of them concentrate near the
surface. Generally, the main features of surface waves compared with
body waves are traveling slower, less amplitude decay, and velocities
are frequency dependent.

2.7.1 Dispersion
One important feature is that surface waves are dispersive (in con-
12
trast to body waves), which means that the depth sensitivity of Phase vel
Group vel
10
surface waves depends on frequencies of waves, and hence we can
8
obtain vertical heterogeneity of subsurface from surface waves.

Distance (km)
The simplest example of dispersion may be the sum of two har- 6

monic waves with slightly different frequency and wavenumber 4

(Figure 2.11): 2

−2
0 5 10 15 20
u( x, t) = cos(w1 t k1 x ) + cos(w2 t k 2 x ), (2.110) Time (s)

Figure 2.11: Superimposed cosine

waves. Here, w = 1 ⇥ 2 ⇥ p (1/s),
where w1 = w dw, w2 = w + dw, k1 = k dk, and k2 = k + dk.
k = 0.3 ⇥ 2 ⇥ p (1/km), dw = 0.1 (1/s),
Therefore, and dk = 0.05 (1/km).

u( x, t) = cos{(wt kx ) (dwt dkx )} + cos{(wt kx ) + (dwt dkx )}

cos( a + b) + cos( a b) = 2 cos a cos b
= 2 cos(wt kx ) cos(dwt dkx ). (2.111)

The waveform of u( x, t) consists of a cosine curve with frequency

w (carrier) with a superimposed cosine curve with frequency dw
(envelope). From equation 2.111, the velocities for short (carrier) and
long (envelope) period waves are

w dw
c= , U= , (2.112)
k dk
respectively. In equation 2.112, we assume dw and dk approach to
zero. We call c as phase velocity and U as group velocity. The group
velocity U can be written as
✓ ◆ dw = w w1 = ck c1 k1 = ck (c dc)(k dk)
1
dw dc dc ⇡ cdk + kdc
U= = c+k = c 1 k . (2.113)
dk dk dw w w1 w w dw
dk = k = k1 =
c c1 c c dc
Usually, because the phase velocity c of Love and Rayleigh waves w w dw wdc dcdw dw wdc
⇡ ⇡
increase with period (i.e., velocity increasing with depth), dc/dw c c c2 c c2
✓ ◆
is negative. Therefore, the group velocity is slower than the phase 1 dk dw/c wdc/c2 1 dc
= = = 1 k
U dw dw c dw
velocity U < c.
 basic physics for seismology 39

z
2.7.2 Love waves
We consider the medium shown in Figure 2.12, which contains a H
finite thickness layer on top of a halfspace medium. Note that we r1 , b 1
x
need a layer to obtain Love waves. The Love-wave problem can be r2 , b 2

considered as that whether waves, which horizontally propagate with Figure 2.12: Two-layer model. I should
follow the subscripts with Figure 2.9.
velocity c and amplitude zero at z ! •, exist or not.
Love waves within a homogeneous
When we consider the condition b 1 < c < b 2 (which is the layer can result from constructive
condition that Love waves exist I will proof later.), a solution in the interference between postcritical
reflected SH waves.
medium 1 is
q
iw (t px ) h1 = b1 2 p2 , c = 1/p
v1 (z) = cos wh1 (z H )e , (2.114)

which is equal to equation 2.104 with A = 1/2. Based on equation

2.93, a solution in the medium 2 is
iw (t px h2 z) iw (t px +h2 z)
v2 = A2 e + B2 e , (2.115)

where h22 < 0 when c < b 2 . When we choose =(h2 ) > 0 (w > 0), the
first and second terms on the right-hand side of equation 2.115 are eiwh2 z = eiw (<(h2 )+i=(h2 ))z = eiw <(h2 )z e w =(h2 )z
| {z } | {z }
diverse and converse to zero at z ! •, respectively. By considering oscillation divergence(z=•)

the condition of amplitudes, we can write a solution in the medium 2

Because h2 is complex number, the
as reflected waves from the medium 1
perfectly reflect at the boundary z = 0.
iw (t px +h2 z) iw (t px ) w ĥ2 z Also from equation 2.121,
v2 = B2 e = B2 e e , (2.116)
h i
q v1 = e iw (t px) eiwh1 (z H ) + e iwh1 (z H ) ,
where ĥ2 = p2 b 2 2 > 0.
which is the summation of upgoing
Because the boundary condition at the free surface is already and downgoing plane waves (with
satisfied in equation 2.114, the boundary condition at z = 0 should be propagating to the + x direction. There-
fore, we can consider Love waves are
satisfied (displacements and stresses should be continuous): reverberation of SH waves.

∂v1 ∂v
v1 = v2 , µ1 = µ2 2
∂z ∂z
cos wh1 H = B2 , µ1 (wh1 sin wh1 H ) = µ2 (w ĥ2 B2 ) (2.117)

where µi = ri b2i . Therefore, to exist Love waves, waves satisfy

Dl ( p, w ) = µ2 ĥ2 cos wh1 H µ1 h1 sin wh1 H = 0, (2.118)

or
µ2 ĥ2
tan wh1 H = , (2.119)
µ 1 h1

which are called the characteristic equation for Love waves. With
equation 2.120, Love waves exist when h1 and ĥ2 are real positive
number for an angular frequency.
Mode The equation defines the dispersion curve for Love wave
propagation within the layer. On the plane of pw, for each p, we
40 geophysics 130: introduction to seismology

have multiple values of w satisfies equation 2.120 due to the tangent

function, and the smallest w defines the fundamental mode, and
the second smallest is the first higher mode, etc. Equation 2.120
cannot be solved analytically, but we can do numerically. When w
is small, we only have one solution, which is the fundamental mode
(Saito, p149). Also in the fundamental mode, c ! b 2 (w ! 0) and
c ! b 1 ( w ! • ).
The angular frequency of nth higher modes can be defined as

wn H np
= p , (2.120)
b1 1 ( b 1 /b 2 )2

and called cut-off angular frequency.

Depth variation of amplitude From equations 2.114, 2.116, and
2.117, the displacements of Love waves are
iw (t px )
v1 (z) = cos wh1 (z H ) e| {z }
| {z }
amplitude phase

v2 (z) = cos wh1 ( H )ew ĥ2 z e| iw (t px )

{z }. (2.121)
| {z }
amplitude phase

Group velocity We can estimate the group velocity of Love waves

by computing equation 2.113. The p(w ) derivative of D L ( p, w ) = 0 is When f ( x, y) = 0,
d
∂D L ( p, w ) ∂D L ( p, w ) ∂p(w ) dx
f ( x, y( x )) = 0
+ =0
∂w ∂p ∂w d f ( x, y) d f ( x, y) dy( x )
+ =0
∂p(w ) ∂D L /∂w dx dy dx
= (2.122)
∂w ∂D L /∂p
For the two-layer case (equation 2.118),
" # 1
c h12 (µ2 /µ1 )( b 1 2 b 2 2
= 1+ 2 1+
2.7.3 Rayleigh waves U p w ĥ2 H [h12 + (µ2 /µ1 )2 ĥ22 ]