REFLECTION AND TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENTS FOR SEISMIC-WAVES IN ELLIPSOIDALLY ANISOTROPIC MEDIA

The deficiency of an isotropic model of the earth in the explanation of observed traveltime phenomena has led to the mathematical investigation of elastic wave propagation in anisotropic media. In this paper the special use of ellipsoidal anisotropy is considered, thus forcing the quasi-shear SV wave-front to be spherical. However, it is instructive to investigate this simple anisotropic model, as it incorporates many features inherent to wave propagation in a more general anisotropic medium. A brief outline of the theory for wave propagation in an ellipsoidally anisotropic medium is given, and the analytic expressions for the reflection and transmission coefficients are listed. In addition, all 24 possible reflection and transmission coefficients and surface conversion coefficients are displayed for varying degrees of anisotropy.