A Rayleigh wave of period travels at phase velocity

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Earth, Climate & Energy Physics · Seismology, tectonics and geodynamics · Seismology, tectonics and geodynamics

The Solid Earth, Ch Surface waves, free oscillations and seismic tomography

Problem

A Rayleigh wave of period

T = 75\,\mathrm{s}

travels at phase velocity

c = 4.2\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}}

. Using the Jeans relation

ka \approx l + \tfrac12

, with

a = 6371\,\mathrm{km}

the mean radius of the Earth and

k = 2\pi/\lambda

, find the angular order

l

of the free oscillation that corresponds to this travelling wave.

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