GEOLCE 302

Rock Mechanics

Types of Wave Theories and Factors Influencing Wave Velocity

Types of Wave Theory

What is Wave?

Waves from on the ocean and on lakes because energy from the wind is transferred to
the water. The stronger the wind, the longer it blows, and the larger the area of water over
which it blows (the fetch), the larger the waves are likely to be. The important parameters of a
wave are its wavelength (the horizontal distance between two crests or two troughs), its
amplitude (the vertical distance between a trough and a crest), and its velocity (the speed at
which wave crests move across the water).

When a earthquake occurs, some of the energy it releases is turned into heat within the
earth. Some of the energy is expended in breaking and permanently deforming the rocks and
minerals along the fault. The rest of the energy, which is most of the energy, is radiated from the
focus of the earthquake in the form of seismic waves.

Seismic waves fall into two general categories: Body waves (P-waves and S-waves). which
travel through the interior of the earth, and Surface waves, which travel only at the earth’s
surface.

Types of Seismic Waves

Body Waves

Traveling through the interior of the earth, body waves arrive before the surface waves
emitted by an earthquake. These waves are of a higher frequency than surface waves.

Primary Waves (P waves)

P wave or primary wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave, and, consequently, the
first to ‘arrive’ at a seismic station.

P waves are also known as compressional waves, because of the pushing and pulling they
do. Subjected to a P wave, particles move in the same direction that the wave is moving in,
which is the direction that the energy is traveling in, and is sometimes called the direction of
wave propagation.
 P-waves. The P in P-waves stands for primary, because these are the fastest seismic waves
and are the first to be detected once an earthquake has occurred. P-waves travel through the
earth’s interior many times faster than the speed of a jet airplane, taking only a few minutes to
travel across the earth.

P-waves are predominantly compressional waves. As a P-wave passes, material

compresses in the same direction the wave is moving and then extend back to its original
thickness once the wave has passed. The speed at which P-waves travel through material is
determined by:

1. Rigidity – how strongly the material resists being bent sideways and is able to straighten
itself out once the shearing force has passed – the more rigid the material, the faster the
P-waves.
2. Compressibility – how much the material can be compressed into a smaller volume and
then recover its previous volume once compressing force has passed; the more
compressible the material, the faster the P-waves.
3. Density – how much mass the material contains in a unit of volume; the greater the
density of the material, the slower the P-waves.

P-waves travel through materials with rigidity and/or compressibility, and density
Greater rigidity Faster P-waves
Greater compressibility Faster P-waves
Greater density Slower P-waves

S Wave

The second type of body wave is the S wave or secondary wave, which is the second wave
you feel in an earthquake. An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid
rock, not through any liquid medium. It is this property of S waves that led seismologists to
conclude that the Earth’s outher core is a liquid. S waves move rock particles up and down, or
side-to-side – perpendicular to the direction that the wave is traveling in (the direction of wave
propagation).

The S in S-waves stands for secondary. These are the second-fastest seismic waves and
the second type to be detected once an earthquake has occurred. Although S-waves are slower
than P-waves, they still travel, over half the speed of P-waves, moving at thousands of kilometers
per hour through the earth’s crust and mantle.
 S-waves are shear waves (though that is not what the S Stands for). They move material
flexing or deforming sideways (shearing) from the direction of wave travel, and then returning to
the original shape once the wave passes. The speed at which S-waves travel through material is
determined only by;

1. Rigidity – how strongly the material resists being bent sideways and is able to
straighten itself out once the shearing force has passed – the more rigid the material,
the faster the S-waves.
2. Density – how much mass the material contains in a unit of volume – the greater the
density of the material, the slower the S-waves.

Because the earth’s mantle becomes more rigid as its depth below the asthenosphere increases.
S-waves travel faster as they go deeper in the mantle. The density of the mantle also increases at
greater depth, which has the effect of reducing the speed of seismic wave, but the increase in
rigidity is much greater than the increase in density, so S-waves speed up as they get deeper in
the mantle, in spite of the increased density.

S-waves travel through materials with rigidity and density

Greater rigidity Faster s-waves
Greater density Slower s-waves

Surface Waves

There are two types of surface waves, Rayleigh waves and Love waves Rayleigh waves are named
after Lord Rayleigh (John Strutt), an English aristocrat who, in his work as a scientist and
mathematician, developed a detailed mathematical accounting of the type of surface wave
named after him.

Rayleigh Waves

Rayleigh waves are set off by the combined effect of P and S-waves on the earth’s surface.
Reyleigh waves are sometimes called rolling waves. In Rayleigh wavves the surface of the earth
rises up and sinks down in crests and troughs, similar to waves on the surface of water. People
who are outdoors during a major earthquaje commonly see Rayleigh waves moving across the
surface of the earth, and can feel the ground rising and falling as the waves pass beneath them.

Rayleigh wave, named for John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, who mathematically
predicted the existence of this kind of wave in 1885. A Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground just
like a wave rolls across a lake or an ocrean. Because it rolls, it moves the ground up and down, an
side-to-side in the same direction that the wave is moving. Most of the shaking felt from an
earthquake is due to the Rayleigh wave, which can be much larger than the other waves. Click
here to see a Rayleigh wave in action.

Love Waves

Love waves, sometimes called L-waves are named after Augustus Love, an English
mathematician and physicist who first modeled them mathematically. Love waves involve the
surface shearing sideways and then returning to its original form as each wave passes. Love
waves have a transversal (perpendicular) movement and are the most destructive outside the
immediate area of the epicenter. Love waves can ve devastating. All surface waves travel slower
than body waves and Rayleigh waves are slower than Love waves.

Love wave, named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who worked out the
mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911. It’s the fastest surface wave and moves the
ground from side-to-side. Confined to the surface of the crust, Love waves produce entirely
horizontal motion. Click here to see a Love wave in action.

All surface waves travel slower than body waves and Rayleigh waves are slower than Love waves.

Surface waves (Rayleigh and Love) do by far the most damage. As opposed to body waves (S and
P waves), they propagate on the surface and carry the vast majority of the energy felt on the
surface – in other words, these are what you feel when you experience and earthquake.

Factors Influencing Wave Velocity

Wavelength(𝜆)
Distance between identical points on consecutive waves.

Frequency(f)
Number of waves that pass a point per unit of time.

Wave Velocity is the distance travelled by a periodic, or cyclic, motion per unit time (in any direction).
Wave velocity in, common usage, refers to speed, although, properly, velocity implies both speed and
direction. The velocity (V) of a wave is equal to the product of its wavelength () and frequency (f)
independent of its intensity:

V =γ f
According to the Wave Theory, the Wave Type may influence the velocity of waves. Body waves such as
Compressional Waves (P-waves) and Shear Waves (S-waves) are both moving fast through the more rigid
material and move slow through the more dense material but only the speed of p-waves are directly
proportional to the compressibility of the material.

Elasticity, Density and Temperature

Wave velocity is directly proportional to elaticity and temperature but inversely proportional to
density. An example proportional to density.

An example of a Compressional Wave is the sound wave and the Elasticity and Density of a
medium are the two basic physical properties that govern the velocity of sound waves through
the medium.

Elasticity in physics is the ratio of stress to strain meaning that the shape which has more
resistance to change is more elastic. The velocity ( V ) of sound in elastic ( E ) medium is expressed
by the formula:

V=
√ E
p

The Density ( p) of a medium or substance is the mass (m ) per unit volume of the medium or
substance ( v ):

m
p=
v

Raising the Temperature of the medium (which decreases its density) has the effect of increasing
the velocity of sound waves through the medium since wave velocity increases as the density
decreases and temperature increases; this happens particularly below the earth;s surface as at
the mantle.

Studies show that the types of rocks are also factors that may affect wave velocities.

According to Condie (2016), there’s an average compressional wave velocities (at 600 Mpa and
300⁰C) in a variety of crustal rocks.

Velocities under 6 km/s are limited to Serpentinnite, Metagraywacke, Andesite, and

Basalt.

Many rocks of diverse origins have velocities between 6 and 6.5 km/s, including Slates,
Granites, Altered basalts, and Felsic granulites.
 With exception of Marble and Anorthosite, which are minor components in the crist
based on exposed blocks of lower crust and xenoliths, most rocks with velocities of 6.5-7.0 km/s
are Mafic in composition and include Amphibolites and Mafic granulites without Garnet.

Rocks with average velocities of 7.0-7.5 km/s include Gabbro, Garnet amphibolite and
Mafic garnet granulite, and velocities aboce 7.5 km/s are limited to Nonserpentinized ultramafic
rocks and Ecologite (a hough pressure mafic rock).

It is important to note also that the order of increasing velocity is not a simple function of
the increasing metamorphic grade. For instance, low-, medium-, and high-grade metamorphic
rocks all fall in the range of 6.0-7.5 km/s.

Seismic wave velocities increase with depth in the continental crust from 6.0 to 6.2 km/s
at depths of less than 10 km to 6.6 km/s at 25 km depth. Lower crustal velocities range from 6.8
to 7.2 km/s, and in some cases show a bimodal distribution. In some continental crust, there is
evidence of a small discontinuity at mid-crustal depths, refereed