Abstract
In order to model the response of the Earth to a seismic source that is small both in spatial and temporal extent, it is convenient to use the moment tensor (MT). The MT is defined as the space and time integral of the stress-glut rate tensor, where the stress-glut tensor is defined as the difference between the stress predicted by the constitutive relation and the true stress that exists in the Earth (Backus and Mulcahy 1976a,b). Only in the source region is the stress glut non-zero (by definition). Using the MT has the advantage that the response is a linear function of the MT, facilitating the inverse problem, and the description of any source mechanism is condensed into the six elements of the symmetric MT. In this paper we review the standard methods for decomposing and interpreting the MT, and point out some of the assumptions and limitations involved.
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