2.5D SH Wave Propagation in Heterogeneous Crustal Wave Guides Using the Phase Screen Method

Abstract

Abstract One-way approximations for regional phases slice the half-space crustal wave guide into a number of slabs perpendicular to the propagation direction; the Moho discontinuity can be easily treated as a perturbation from the crustal background. The advantage of one-way propagation methods is their great saving of computing time and memory compared to full-waveform numerical methods, especially for 3D simulations. In this article, we present general 2.5D SH formulas for the thin-slab method and a generalized screen propagator (GSP) for simulating SH wave propagation in the heterogeneous half-space crustal wave guide. Comparisons of numerical results with a finite-difference (FD) algorithm for a standard flat crustal model show excellent agreement, demonstrating the validity and accuracy of the 2.5DGSP for the half-space problem. We then compare the curves of energy attenuation calculated by the 2D and 2.5D formulas. The comparison shows that the energy attenuation of the 2.5D case is about 1.5–3 times greater than that of the 2D case when the trapped mode is formed. The SH screen propagator is also used to simulate two laterally unvarying (in the y direction) crustal models, showing the path effects on regional wave propagation.