122 Seismology and the internal structure of the Earth

methods have been applied with notable success to the reso-

lution of detailed crustal structure under continents and
oceans. The development of powerful computer technology
enabled refinements in earthquake location and in the
determination of travel-times of seismic body waves. These h
advances led to the modern field of seismic tomography, a ε = ∆h
h
powerful and spectacular technique for revealing regions of
the Earth’s interior that have anomalous seismic velocities.
In the field of earthquake seismology, the need to protect ∆h
populations and man-made structures has resulted in the A
investment of considerable effort in the study of earthquake
prediction and the development of construction codes to σ= F F
A
reduce earthquake damage.
To appreciate how seismologists have unravelled the Fig. 3.1 A force F acting on a bar with cross-sectional area A extends
structure of the Earth’s interior it is necessary to under- the original length h by the amount
h. Hooke’s law of elastic
stand what types of seismic waves can be generated by an deformation states that
h/h is proportional to F/A.
earthquake or man-made source (such as a controlled
explosion). The propagation of a seismic disturbance pressure. The SI unit is the pascal, equivalent to a force of
through the Earth is governed by physical properties such 1 newton per square meter (1 Pa1 N m2); the c.g.s.
as density, and by the way in which the material of the unit is the bar, equal to 106 dyne cm2.
Earth’s interior reacts to the disturbance. Material within When h is infinitesimally small, the fractional change
the seismic source suffers permanent deformation, but in dimension (
h/h) is called the strain , which is a
outside the source the passage of a seismic disturbance dimensionless quantity. Equation (3.1) states that, for
takes place predominantly by elastic displacement of the elastic behavior, the strain in a body is proportional to the
medium; that is, the medium suffers no permanent defor- stress applied to it. This linear relationship is called
mation. Before analyzing the different kinds of seismic Hooke’s law. It forms the basis of elasticity theory.
waves, it is important to have a good grasp of elementary Beyond a certain value of the stress, called the propor-
elasticity theory. This requires understanding the con- tionality limit, Hooke’s law no longer holds (Fig. 3.2a).
cepts of stress and strain, and the various elastic con- Although the material is still elastic (it returns to its origi-
stants that relate them. nal shape when stress is removed), the stress–strain rela-
tionship is non-linear. If the solid is deformed beyond a
certain point, known as the elastic limit, it will not recover
3.2 ELASTICITY THEORY its original shape when stress is removed. In this range a
small increase in applied stress causes a disproportion-
3.2.1 Elastic, anelastic and plastic behavior of materials
ately large increase in strain. The deformation is said to be
When a force is applied to a material, it deforms. This plastic. If the applied stress is removed in the plastic
means that the particles of the material are displaced range, the strain does not return to zero; a permanent
from their original positions. Provided the force does not strain has been produced. Eventually the applied stress
exceed a critical value, the displacements are reversible; exceeds the strength of the material and failure occurs. In
the particles of the material return to their original posi- some rocks failure can occur abruptly within the elastic
tions when the force is removed, and no permanent defor- range; this is called brittle behavior.
mation results. This is called elastic behavior. The non-brittle, or ductile, behavior of materials under
The laws of elastic deformation are illustrated by the stress depends on the timescale of the deformation (Fig.
following example. Consider a right cylindrical block of 3.2b). An elastic material deforms immediately upon
height h and cross-sectional area A, subjected to a force application of a stress and maintains a constant strain
F which acts to extend the block by the amount
h until the stress is removed, upon which the strain returns
(Fig. 3.1). Experiments show that for elastic deforma- to its original state. A strain–time plot has a box-like
tion
h is directly proportional to the applied force and shape. However, in some materials the strain does not
to the unstretched dimension of the block, but is reach a stable value immediately after application of a
inversely proportional to the cross-section of the block. stress, but rises gradually to a stable value. This type of
That is,
h  Fh/A, or strain response is characteristic of anelastic materials.
After removal of the stress, the time-dependent strain
F
h

(3.1) returns reversibly to the original level. In plastic deforma-
A h
tion the strain keeps increasing as long as the stress is
When the area A becomes infinitesimally small, the applied. When the stress is removed, the strain does not
limiting value of the force per unit area (F/A) is called the return to the original level; a permanent strain is left in
stress, s. The units of stress are the same as the units of the material.
3.2 ELASTICITY THEORY 123

elastic range plastic (a) z (b) z

(a) deformation
Fz
linear elastic
range limit y y

Stress (σ)
(Hooke's failure
law) proportionality x x
limit
Fy
Fx Ax

(c) z
permanent
strain
σzx

Strain (ε) y
x

(b)
on stress
applied
off σyx
σxx
permanent Fig. 3.3 (a) Components Fx, Fy and Fz of the force F acting in a reference
plastic strain
frame defined by orthogonal Cartesian coordinate axes x, y and z. (b)
zero The orientation of a small surface element with area Ax is described by
level the direction normal to the surface. (c) The components of force parallel
Strain (ε)

to the x-axis result in the normal stress sxx; the components parallel to
anelastic the y- and z-axes cause shear stresses sxy and sxz.

zero
level
normal stress, denoted by sxx. The components of force
elastic along the y- and z-axes result in shear stresses syx and szx
zero (Fig. 3.3c), given by
level
Time
A  AF  A 
Fx y Fz
Fig. 3.2 (a) The stress–strain relation for a hypothetical solid is linear sxx  lim syx  lim szx  lim (3.2)
Ax →0 x Ax →0 x Ax →0 x
(Hooke’s law) until the proportionality limit, and the material deforms
elastically until it reaches the elastic limit; plastic deformation produces
further strain until failure occurs. (b) Variations of elastic, anelastic and Similarly, the components of the force F acting on an
plastic strains with time, during and after application of a stress. element of surface Ay normal to the y-axis define a normal
stress syy and shear stresses sxy and szy, while the compo-
nents of F acting on an element of surface Az normal to
Our knowledge of the structure and nature of the the z-axis define a normal stress szz and shear stresses sxz
Earth’s interior has been derived in large part from and syz. The nine stress components completely define the
studies of seismic waves released by earthquakes. An state of stress of a body. They are described conveniently
earthquake occurs in the crust or upper mantle when the by the stress matrix
tectonic stress exceeds the local strength of the rocks and
failure occurs. Away from the region of failure seismic


waves spread out from an earthquake by elastic deforma- sxx sxy sxz
tion of the rocks through which they travel. Their propa- syx syy syz (3.3)
gation depends on elastic properties that are described by szx szy szz
the relationships between stress and strain.
If the forces on a body are balanced to give no rotation,
this 33 matrix is symmetric (i.e., sxy syx, syz szy,
3.2.2 The stress matrix
szx sxz) and contains only six independent elements.
Consider a force F acting on a rectangular prism P in a ref-
erence frame defined by orthogonal Cartesian coordinate
3.2.3 The strain matrix
axes x, y and z (Fig. 3.3a). The component of F which acts
in the direction of the x-axis is designated Fx; the force F
3.2.3.1 Longitudinal strain
is fully defined by its components Fx, Fy and Fz. The size of
a small surface element is characterized by its area A, The strains produced in a body can also be expressed by a
while its orientation is described by the direction normal 33 matrix. Consider first the one-dimensional case
to the surface (Fig. 3.3b). The small surface with area shown in Fig. 3.4 of two points in a body located close
normal to the x-axis is designated Ax. The component of together at the positions x and (x
x). If the point x is
force Fx acting normal to the surface Ax produces a displaced by an infinitesimally small amount u in the