Internal friction in the Earth' crust and transverse seismic waves

Abstract

A transverse harmonic seismic wave, which propagates through the upper fractured layer of the Earth towards the Earth's surface, is considered. It is shown that the attenuation of a seismic wave in the Earth's upper crust is due to internal friction, i.e., friction between the sides of micro-fractures. Such a damping mechanism does not work in the deeper layers of the Earth where high lithostatic pressure prevents the movement along fractures. The governing equation for a brittle fractured medium is nonlinear. In the study of wave propagation, an approximate method of harmonic linearization is used. It is shown that internal friction in the upper crust leads to the transformation of a transverse harmonic wave into a shock wave.

Keywords

• fracture and flow
• creep and deformation
• friction
• non-linear differential equations
• seismic attenuation
• wave propagation