Elastic Wave Propagation and Generation in Seismology

A graduate-level textbook which takes a pedagogical and mathematical approach to seismology.

Jose Pujol (Author)

9780521817301, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 May 2003

462 pages, 92 b/w illus.
25.5 x 18 x 2.8 cm, 1.085 kg

'I enjoyed reading this book and was impressed with the breadth and depth of the material, and how thoroughly the author presented it … The intermediate-level tutorial nature of the book will appeal to geophysicists and students who want to improve their understanding of elastic wave propagation theory. I recommend it highly. The Leading Edge

Seismology has complementary observational and theoretical components, and a thorough understanding of the observations requires a sound theoretical background. This book bridges the gap between introductory textbooks and advanced monographs by providing the necessary mathematical tools and demonstrating how to apply them. Each seismological problem is carefully formulated and its solution is derived in a step-by-step approach. The text includes student exercises (with hints), for which solutions are available on a dedicated website. This website also contains numerous downloadable programs for the computation of reflection and transmission coefficients, for the generation of P and S wave radiation patterns and synthetic seismograms, in infinite media. This book will therefore find a receptive audience among advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in developing a solid mathematical background to tackle more advanced topics in seismology. It will also form a useful reference volume for researchers wishing to brush up on the fundamentals.

Preface
1. Introduction to tensors and dyadics
2. Deformation: strain and rotation tensors
3. The stress tensor
4. Linear elasticity: the elastic wave equation
5. Scalar and elastic waves in unbounded media
6. Plane waves in simple models with plane boundaries
7. Surface waves in simple models: dispersive waves
8. Ray theory
9. Seismic point sources in unbounded homogeneous media
10. The earthquake source in unbounded media
11. Anelastic attenuation
Appendix A. Introduction to the theory of distributions
Appendix B. The Hilbert transform
Appendix C. Green's function for the 3-D scalar wave equation
Appendix D. Proof of equation (9.5.12)
Appendix E. Proof of equation (9.13.1)
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Volcanology & seismology [RBC], Geophysics [PHVG]