Elastic wave-vector decomposition using wave vector rotation in anisotropic media

Junxiao Li, Kristopher A. Innanen, Guo Tao, Laurence R. Lines

Elastic wave propagating in anisotropic media can be treated as a polarization deviation of wave vector in terms of isotropic media. The deviation angle between the wave normal and qP-wave’s polarization direction can be estimated based on the phase angle and elastic constants (or Thomsen parameters). The anisotropic polarization vectors’ components are thus determined according to the rotation matrix calculated by the deviation angle. The anisotropic wavefield-separation operators are constructed at each point using the calculated polarization vectors. Finally, the vector wavefield decomposition based on the Helmholtz theory are then used to decompose coupled qP- and SV- modes.