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Attenuation of high-frequency seismic waves

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6147315

This thesis examines the attenuation of seismic waves at frequencies between 1 and 100 Hz. At these high frequencies, studies of attenuation are hampered by an incomplete understanding of the seismic source as well as by the complex nature of the earth's crust. It is no known what physical mechanisms are responsible for attenuation; it is clear that there is some level of both scattering and intrinsic absorption, but the nature of the scattering and its relative importance are uncertain. Even if the physical mechanisms were understood, solving the forward problem-the appearance of seismograms given a known earth structure - is extremely difficult, necessitating the computation of synthetic seismograms. To try to solve the inverse problem - determining attenuation given the appearance of seismograms - equations derived from overly simplified physics are used.

Research Organization:
California Univ., San Diego (USA)
OSTI ID:
6147315
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English