Abstract
Heterogeneous materials such as rocks, concrete, and granular materials exhibit a strong elastic nonlinearity. The sensitivity of the elastic nonlinearity to the applied stress and pore pressure in principle allows the use of seismic waves for remote observations of stress or pore pressure changes. Yet the nonlinearity of rocks is difficult to quantify in situ as active deformation tests are not possible in the field. We investigate the elastic nonlinearity in a fully natural experiment using the ambient seismic noise of a single seismic station to sense changes of the seismic velocity in the subsurface reaching 0.026% in response to the minute deformation caused by various constituents of the tidal forces exerted by the Sun and Moon.
- Received 9 October 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.138501
© 2019 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Focus
Seismic Waves Feel the Moon’s Tug
Published 5 April 2019
Seismic measurements reveal the influences of lunar gravitational forces and solar heat on the properties of rocks.
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