Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Measurements of Waves in a Wind-wave Tank Under Steady and Time-varying Wind Forcing
Published on: February 13, 2018
Effect of ocean eddies on seismic T waves
Shane Zhang1, Shirui Peng1, Haakon L L Ervik1
1Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Abstract:
Earthquakes excite sound waves along continental margins, T waves, that can propagate for thousands of kilometers in the ocean. The complex T waveforms are shaped by the extended region of seismic-to-acoustic conversion. Because the conversion has a width comparable to ocean eddies, T waveforms can be modified substantially by the subsequent propagation through eddies. Sound speed anomalies associated with eddies shift arrival times, so waves arriving from different azimuths can have experienced different phase shifts, making the recorded waveform an eddy-dependent interference pattern. Leveraging this multipath propagation can improve the spatial resolution of deep-ocean temperature change estimated with T waves.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Kinetic and Potential Energy of a Wave
In mechanical waves, the amount of energy is related to their amplitude and frequency. In the context of the above examples, large-amplitude earthquakes produce large...
Standing Waves
Tidal Forces
Travelling Waves
Water waves, sound waves, and seismic waves are some examples of mechanical waves. For water waves, the wave propagation medium is...
Shock Waves
When the source's speed approaches the speed of sound, constructive interference between successive wavefronts emitted by the source occurs immediately behind it. Initially, scientists believed that this constructive interference would result in such high...
Reflection of Waves

