Seismology and Plate Tectonics

David Gubbins (Author)

9780521379953, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 June 1990

348 pages, 150 b/w illus. 8 tables
23.7 x 19.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.615 kg

"...this is an excellent book for graduate students in the geosciences....Among the existing textbooks on seismology, Gubbins's has a secure and interesting place, just filling that critical space between the elementary text, too trivial for the informed, and the specialized text, too informed for the beginner." Jose A. Rial, American Scientist

This textbook is unique in giving an introduction to seismological theory and the principles of plate tectonics, as well as developing a practical approach to the reading and interpretation of seismograms. The book forms the basis for an introductory course to physicists, mathematicians and geologists. The early chapters give a general background in geophysics and elasticity theory, and present the standard results for the propagation of seismic waves radiated from large earthquakes. The main part of the text describes how seismograms are read and interpreted, explaining how the readings are used to locate the source of the waves, determine the sense of motion across the fault and to work out details of plate movements. Examples are included in which the reader has the opportunity to interpret seismic records and use them to find locations of earthquakes and determine their source mechanisms. The final chapter discusses plate tectonic theory, and gives the mathematical foundation behind the description of plate movement in terms of vectors.

1. Introduction
2. Mechanisms of elastic media
3. Elastic waves in simple media
4. Earth structure and earthquake location
5. Free oscillations
6. The seismic source
7. Plate tectonic theory
Appendix
Bibliography
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Geophysics [PHVG]