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Seismic wave propagation and scattering in the heterogeneous earth. (English) Zbl 0894.73001
New York, NY: Springer. xiv, 308 p. (1997).
This book explains continuous wave trains that follow the direct $$S$$-wave arrivals in high frequency $$(>1$$ Hz) seismograms of local earthquakes, the so called “coda waves”. These waves are usually considered as incoherent scattered waves, produced by randomly distributed heterogeneities having random sizes and physical properties. In order to explain and model these coda waves, it is suggested that a description of the earth interior should include a random medium with a broad spectrum of spatial velocity fluctuations, raising the importance of seismic wave scattering. The book focuses on the developments over the last two decades of wave propagation and scattering in random heterogeneous media, with emphasis on the lithosphere. The authors combine theoretical and observational information in order to show the practical importance of this approach.
This is the first book in seismology that addresses directly the issue of inhomogeneities. It presents abundant background material in seismology, such as seismic coda theory and seismogram analysis, as well as the basics of random media. It is particularly good for relating the basic theory with observations and data.
A big innovation in this book is an extensive use of radiative transport theory in the analysis of seismograms. This is a relatively new theoretical tool in seismology, and although the part of the theory used is rather primitive, it provides a big step forward in understanding the role of inhomogeneities.
In summary, this is a well written book that introduces an exciting new methodology into seismology.

##### MSC:
 74-02 Research exposition (monographs, survey articles) pertaining to mechanics of deformable solids 74J10 Bulk waves in solid mechanics 74J20 Wave scattering in solid mechanics 86A15 Seismology (including tsunami modeling), earthquakes