Normal Mode - Earth

Earth

Normal modes are generated in the earth from long wavelength seismic waves from large earthquakes interfering to form standing waves.

For an elastic, isotropic, homogeneous sphere, spheroidal, toroidal and radial (or breathing) modes arise. Spheroidal modes only involve P and SV waves (like Rayleigh waves) and depend on overtone number n and angular order l but have degeneracy of azimuthal order m. Increasing l concentrates fundamental branch closer to surface and at large l this tends to Rayleigh waves. Toroidal modes only involve SH waves (like Love waves) and do not exist in fluid outer core. Radial modes are just a subset of spheroidal modes with l=0. The degeneracy doesn’t exists on Earth as it is broken by rotation, ellipticity and 3D heterogeneous velocity and density structure.

We either assume that each mode can be isolated, the self-coupling approximation, or that many modes close in frequency resonant, the cross-coupling approximation. Self-coupling will change just the phase velocity and not the number of waves around a great circle resulting in a stretching or shrinking of standing wave pattern. Cross-coupling can be caused by rotation of Earth leading to mixing of fundamental spheroidal and toroidal modes, or by aspherical mantle structure or Earth’s ellipticity.

Read more about this topic:  Normal Mode

Famous quotes containing the word earth:

    Are we not madder than those first inhabitants of the plain of Sennar? We know that the distance separating the earth from the sky is infinite, and yet we do not stop building our tower.
    Denis Diderot (1713–1784)

    till seven years were gane and past,
    True Thomas on earth was never seen.
    Unknown. Thomas the Rhymer (l. 79–80)

    Our star was brighter perhaps when it had water in it.
    Now there is no question even of that, but only
    Of holding on to the hard earth so as not to get thrown off,
    With an occasional dream, a vision ...
    John Ashbery (b. 1927)