Seismology
Definition
Seismology is the study of:
- the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth and other planetary bodies, modelled by the equations of linear elasticity with variable density and elastic moduli;
- the sources of these waves, chiefly earthquakes, described as dislocations or equivalent forces inside the body;
- the inverse problems of recovering the sources and the internal structure from records of ground motion at the surface.
Remarks
The two basic body waves are the P-wave and the S-wave; the other waves of seismology arise from them at boundaries. Example: finding the epicentre of an earthquake from the arrival times of P-waves at several stations is a seismological problem. It combines a wave model (clause 1) with a source (clause 2) and an inversion (clause 3). Non-example: mapping the Earth's gravity field from satellite orbits is part of geodesy, not seismology, because no elastic waves are involved. The word comes from the Greek seismos, an earthquake.
Reading path
To understand this page from the ground up, read these 5 pages in order. The foundations come first.
Show the path as a graph
- no evidence level
- Inverse problem concept
- Linear elasticity concept
- P-wave concept
- S-wave concept
- Seismology definition
Further reading
About this page
| Tag | 46MJ1NKEAQ |
|---|---|
| URI | m2://46MJ1NKEAQ |
| Kind | definition |
| Writing | W0 stub |
| MSC | 86A15, 74J05 |
| Defines | Seismology |
| Uses | Linear elasticity, P-wave, S-wave, Inverse problem |
| Changed | 3 November 2026 |
Markdown · JSON · Edit on GitHub
What this page needs for W1
- a source with a locator (0 of 1)
The writing levels say how complete the text of a page is. They do not measure its truth.
What links here
No page links to this page yet.