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Updated: Dec 1, 2025

Induction of Microstreaming by Nonspherical Bubble Oscillations in an Acoustic Levitation System
Published on: May 9, 2021
The origin of secondary microseism Love waves
Lucia Gualtieri1, Etienne Bachmann2, Frederik J Simons2
1Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2215; gualtieri@stanford.edu.
Abstract:
The interaction of ocean surface waves produces pressure fluctuations at the seafloor capable of generating seismic waves in the solid Earth. The accepted mechanism satisfactorily explains secondary microseisms of the Rayleigh type, but it does not justify the presence of transversely polarized Love waves, nevertheless widely observed. An explanation for two-thirds of the worldwide ambient wave field has been wanting for over a century. Using numerical simulations of global-scale seismic wave propagation at unprecedented high frequency, here we explain the origin of secondary microseism Love waves. A small fraction of those is generated by boundary force-splitting at bathymetric inclines, but the majority is generated by the interaction of the seismic wave field with three-dimensional heterogeneity within the Earth. We present evidence for an ergodic model that explains observed seismic wave partitioning, a requirement for full-wave field ambient-noise tomography to account for realistic source distributions.
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