Theoretical Seismology

Course goals

Content

Do you want understand the physics behind the earthquakes happening in Groningen? Or are you wondering what techniques seismologists use to make tomographic models, which show the interior of the Earth like a brain scan? In this course you will learn the theoretical background of seismology, giving you all the tools you need to study earthquakes or do a theoretical or observational project in seismology. Even if you are just interested in learning the physics of wave propagation from first principles, this wil be the course for you. We will start from basic principles of elasticity and from this derive the wave equation. We then introduce representation theorems and use these to find equation of the seismic source, starting with a point source and then extending to the double couple mechanism which you probably know as the 'beachballs' often used in tectonics. We then discuss the concept of ray theory, which forms the basis of body wave tomography and finish the course with extending the elastic wave propagation in isotropic media to anisotropic media and including anelasticity by attenuation. Even though there will be a lot of theory, practical examples of all the theory will also be given during the course. 

• basic theorems in dynamic elasticity
• representation of the seismic source and seismic interferometry
• elastic wave propagation:
  • wave potentials
  • wave excitation from a point source
  • ray theory
  • surface waves
  • seismic anisotropy
  • seismic attenuation.

Development of Transferable skills:

• Written communication skills: write clearly and legibly the answers to the problems and exercises;
• Problem-solving skills: make all the numerical exercises in the problem classes;
• Strong work ethics: keep to the deadlines of handing in the exercises, work systematically on the exercises;
• Analytical/quantitative skills: solve analytical and numerical problems, using physics and mathematics, including differentiation, integration, Fourier analysis, solving differential equations, vector calculus, linear algebra.