Propagation Path Effects for Rayleigh and Love Waves (Surface Wave Studies of the Bering Sea and Alaska Area)

Abstract

The area of the Bering Sea and Alaska has been studied in terms of shear-velocity, density and compressional-velocity structure by applying a generalized linear inversion method to fundamental-mode Rayleigh-wave group-velocity dispersion relationships in the period range from 10 to 100 sec.Group velocity dispersion relationships in the area have been obtained by applying the phase-matched filtering technique (He-rrin and Goforth, 1977) to digitally recorded surface-wave data.Corrections for instrument response and the sphericity of the Earth were applied to the dispersion observations. A new exact analytical method for the computation of Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity partial derivatives with respect to Earth parameters hias been formulated. With the phase-velocity partial derivatives determined, the group velocity partial derivatives were computed by use of the fast and accurate method of Rodi e-t-al. (1975), and were successfully incorporated into a generalized linear inversion method. ivThe study area has been found to ccnsist of three physiographic provinces and the structure of the three