Seismic Anisotropy in the Earth

Structural geologists are well aware of the fact that isotropic rocks are quite exceptional in nature. Whicheverorigin, sedimentary,metamorphicormagmatic, rocks are shaped with a plane of mineral flattening, the foliation in geologists' jargon, and with a line ofmineral elongation, the lineation. Just like a good quarryman, a trained structural geologistwill detectapreferredorientationin an apparently isotropic granite. Preferred mineral orientation and thus structural anisotropy are the rule in nature. Consideringthe largevariationsinelasticcoefficientsofrock-forming minerals,itcould be predicted that, in turn, seismic anisotropy should exist and be important, provided thatdomains withasimilarstructural signatureare largeenough to affectseismic waves. This is why, in 1982 at a conference held in Frankfurt, which was oneofthe fIrst meetings devoted to the subject of seismic anisotropy, I asked Don Anderson the question of why seismologists had not considered earlier in their models the obvious constraint of anisotropy. I still remember Don's answer: "Adolphe, we knew that our isotropic models were not very good but we had no other choice. It is simply that, so far, computerswere not largeenough tointegrate the anisotropy parameter". Changingisotropic glassesfor anisotropic ones permits us to obtain betterand more realistic seismic modelsofthe Earth's interior, but, maybe more importantly, it has, for a seismologist, the farreaching consequenceofsteppinginto the fIeld ofgeodynamics.

Résumé
'This is an excellent book for both students and researchers interested in the interpretation of seismic wave data in terms of an anisotropic description of the medium.' American Scientist 81:1 1993

Contenu
1 Introduction.- 2 Seismic-Wave Propagation in Anisotropic Media.- 2.1 A simple anisotropic medium: the stack of isotropic layers.- 2.2 Elastic tensors in general anisotropic media.- 2.3 Plane waves in homogeneous anisotropic media.- 2.4 Body waves in heterogeneous anisotropic media.- 2.5 Surface waves in anisotropic media.- 3 Elastic Anisotropy of Rock-Forming Minerals and Polycrystalline RockS.- 3.1 Methods of investigation.- 3.2 Velocity anisotropy in rock-forming minerals.- 3.3 Elastic anisotropy of polycrystalline aggregates.- 3.4 Crustal rocks.- 3.5 Uppermost mantle rocks.- 4 Interpretation of Seismic Data in Terms of Anisotropy.- 4.1 Trade-off between seismic anisotropy and heterogeneity.- 4.2 Seismic anisotropy and inverse methods.- 4.3 Interpretation of body-wave data.- 4.4 Long-range refraction profiles.- 4.5 Interpretation of surface-wave data.- 5 Anisotropic Structures in the Lithosphere.- 5.1 Oceanic crust.- 5.2 Subcrustal lithosphere under oceans.- 5.3 Subduction zones.- 5.4 Continental crust.- 5.5 Subcrustal lithosphere of continents.- 6 Anisotropy in Deeper Parts of the Earth.- 6.1 Asthenosphere.- 6.2 Seismic anisotropy at greater depths.- 7 Conclusions and Outlook.- 7.1 Possible causes of the observed seismic anisotropy.- 7.2 Outlook.- References.