Seismic body waves in anisotropic media: reflection and refraction at a plane interface

Summary. A formulation is'derived for calculating the energy division among waves generated by plane waves incident on a boundary between generally anisotropic media. A comprehensive account is presented for P, SV and SH waves incident from an isotropic half-space on an orthorhombic olivine half-space, where the interface is parallel to a plane of elastic symmetry. For comparison, a less anisotropic medium having transverse isotropy with a horizontal axis of symmetry is also considered. The particle motion polariza-tions of waves in anisotropic medium differ greatly from the polarizations in isotropic media, and are an important diagnostic of the presence of anisotropy. Incident P and SV waves generate quasiSH waves, and incident SH waves generate quasiP and quasiSV waves, often of considerable relative magnitude. The direction of energy transport diverges from the propagation direction.