Description

Earthquakes can be hugely destructive phenomena, with the potential to cause massive loss of life, and destruction of both human made buildings and the natural environment. Usually caused a sudden movement along a fault plane (such as exists at the boundary between technonic plates in the Earth's crust), earthquakes propagate across the planet in the form of seismic waves. There are a number of different types of seismic waves (including P-waves, S-waves, Rayleigh waves, and Love waves), with some moving accross the surface of the planet, while others reach deeper.

This project will examine the propagation of these different types of wave through the earth. There may be options for advanced analytic calculations, but it is expected that most students attempting this project will focus on computational numerical calculations. There will be significant opportunities for students to pick the exact directions that the project will take, potentially extending to looking at how studying seismic waves can help inform us about the inner structure of our planet.

Prerequisites

Analysis in Many Variables II (MATH2031)

Mathematical Modelling II (MATH2637) required if you wish your project to look at numerical models

While not required and directly covering the material in this project, students may find some content from the following modules to be beneficial:

Dynamical Systems III (MATH3091)

Partial Differential Equations III (MATH3291)

Resources

• Seismological Facility for the Advancement of Geoscience: Seismic Waves in Motion - a good animation of the different types of seismic waves
• Chapman, C., Fundamentals of Seismic Wave Propagation, Cambridge University Press - the first chapters provide a good technical introduction to the topic, e-book available via the Durham University Library Website

Contact

Feel free to contact me before selecting this project - in particular if you are not taking the suggested pre- and co-requisites. My email is m.t.matuszewski@durham.ac.uk.