Seismic Wave Propagation in Stratified Media presents a systematic treatment of the interaction of seismic waves with Earth structure. The theoretical development is physically based and is closely tied to the nature of the seismograms observed across a wide range of distance scales - from a few kilometres as in shallow reflection work for geophysical prospecting, to many thousands of kilometres for major earthquakes. A unified framework is presented for all classes of seismic phenomena, for both body waves and surface waves. Since its first publication in 1983 this book has been an important resource for understanding the way in which seismic waves can be understood in terms of reflection and transmission properties of Earth models, and how complete theoretical seismograms can be calculated. The methods allow the development of specific approximations that allow concentration on different seismic arrivals and hence provide a direct tie to seismic observations.

The fourth edition of Physics of the Earth maintains the original philosophy of this classic graduate textbook on fundamental solid earth geophysics, while being completely revised, updated, and restructured into a more modular format to make individual topics even more accessible. Building on the success of previous editions, which have served generations of students and researchers for nearly forty years, this new edition will be an invaluable resource for graduate students looking for the necessary physical and mathematical foundations to embark on their own research careers in geophysics. Several completely new chapters have been added and a series of appendices, presenting fundamental data and advanced mathematical concepts, and an extensive reference list, are provided as tools to aid readers wishing to pursue topics beyond the level of the book. Over 140 student exercises of varying levels of difficulty are also included, and full solutions are available online at www.cambridge.org/9780521873628.