A Theory of Rayleigh Waves Based on a Viscoelastic-Plastic Model of Earth's Crust and Mantle

摘要

The work reported here on Rayleigh Waves in a Maxwell Body is a segment of comprehensive investigation on relaxation phenomena and inelastic processes in the earth. The results of the theory presented on Rayleigh Waves in a Maxwell Body are embodied in equations which show that effects pertaining to period selectivity, attenuation and dispersion are obtained for a Maxwell Body which cannot, in principle, be accounted for by an elastic theory of Rayleigh Waves. Also it was found in the case of Love waves, that the effects of inelastic constitution in conjunction with layering should lead to significant, observable manifestations in seismic data, which in principle cannot be accounted for by an elastic theory.