Seismic Waves

Lupei Zhu

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 Topics
Wave phenomenon
What is a wave, types of waves
Measure a wave
Wave speed, period, wavelength, amplitude
Wave propagations
Ray path, reflection, refraction, diffraction
Types of seismic waves
P and S waves; body waves and surface waves
Reading seismograms
Identify different waves by their arrival times,
amplitudes and periods.
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 What is a Wave ?
A wave is a disturbance or variation that transfers
energy progressively from point to point in a
medium.
Examples:
Sound wave: variation of pressure in the air
Radio wave: variation of EM intensity
Water wave: variation of water surface
Seismic wave: variation of elastic deformation in rocks
Note that the medium doesnt travel along with the
wave.
Waves like the EM wave do not even need a
medium to propagate.
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 Wave Speed
It is the speed that the wave travels.
The wave speed is a material property. No matter
how big the wave is, it travels at the same speed.
Sound wave speed in dry air
v = 331 + 0.6 T (m/s)
where T is temperature in Celsius
Elastic wave speeds in rocks are 1 ~ 10 km/s,
depends mainly upon temperature, pressure, and
composition.

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 Period, Wavelength
Period, T, is the time for a point to go through
one cycle of disturbance.
Period

Time

Frequency, f, is one over the period. It has units

of one over time (s-1), also called Hz.
Wavelength is the distance that the wave travels
in one period. So
= v T = v/f
It has units of length (m).
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 Waves of Different Frequencies
A package of wave may be composites of waves with
many different frequencies. For example, the EM waves:

Visible Radio
X-ray light
waves
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 Amplitude and Energy
Amplitude, A, is a measure of the height of
the wave (peak to peak).
For a seismic wave of amplitude A and
period T, the kinetic energy of 1 m3 rock is:
E = 2 (A/T)2
If the wave is traveling at a speed of v, the
energy transportation rate will be:
P=Ev

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 Wave Propagation and Rays
In a uniform medium,
waves generated at the
source travel outward in
spherical shape.
The wave energy travels
along a straight line from
the source to a receiver.
We can use an imaginary
ray to trace the wave
propagation.
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 Wave Reflection
Reflection: waves can be bounced back by a
boundary.
The incidence angle and the angle of the reflected
ray are the same

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 Wave Refraction
Refraction: at an interface between two
media of different wave speeds, the wave
changes its propagation direction (bending
of ray path).

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 Refraction and Snells Law
The change of direction follows the Snells law:
i1
sin(i1) sin(i2)
=
velocity1 velocity1 velocity2

velocity2
i2

(velocity2 > velocity1)

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 Wave Refraction Example
Waves of different frequencies travel with slightly
different speeds. They are called dispersive waves.
Refraction separates them into different directions

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 Wave Diffraction
Diffraction: wave travels around barriers
and corners.

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 Seismic Wave Types
Two types of elastic waves can exist in
solids
P wave: compressional
and expansional motion,
cause changes in
volume. It travels faster
than the S-wave (P
stands for Primary).
S wave: shear motion,
cause no volume change.
It doesnt exist in liquid.
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 Seismic Wave Types
Seismic waves can also be labeled by the
paths they take in the Earth.

Body waves (P or S)
travel through the
interior of the Earth.
Surface Waves travel
along the Earth surface.
Their speeds are slower
and their amplitudes
decrease slowly with
distance compared to
the body waves.
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 Two Kinds of Surface Waves

Love waves are pure

S-type surface waves.
They vibrate the
ground from side-to-
side with no vertical
movement.
Rayleigh waves are
the P and S mixture.
They vibrate the
ground in an elliptical
pattern.
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 Seismic Wave Types
Surface Waves Body Waves

Large amplitude Small amplitude

Long wavelength
Short wavelength
Wide range of
frequencies (large Narrow frequency
bandwidth) band
Travel slowly Travel more quickly
Not produced by deep Produced by all
earthquakes earthquakes

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 Oaxaca,
Mexico
earthquake
recorded by
seismometer
in Alaska.

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 A Jet and
an Earthquake

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Sometimes we can use
the observed frequencies
to identify different
sources of vibrations.

Which has higher

frequency content, the
sonic boom or the
earthquake?

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 Summary
Seismic waves are traveling vibrations that transport
energy from the earthquake source region throughout
the Earth.

We distinguish between 4 types of waves, the body waves

P and S, and the surface waves, Love and Rayleigh.

Each wave travels with a characteristic speed, and vibrates

the ground in a specific manner.

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