Spectral-element simulations of local seismic wave propagation

Abstract

This report serves to investigate the relationship between seismic wave propagation among nearby receiver stations via simulations based on the Spectral Element Method. The Spectral Element Method is chosen in favour of the Finite Element Method in these simulations due to a special property of the mass matrix being diagonal. In the Spectral Element Method, the model is decomposed into spectral elements and these spectral elements are used to approximate the integration over the Surface and Volume Elements. The Mesh Design includes the formulation of local mesh and global mesh using Gauss-Lobatto-Legendre points that are computed numerically. Parameters related to the simulation are also modified to observe the arrival times of primary and secondary waves. Specific observations such as the behaviour and arrival times of waves, the similarity between nearby station receivers and wave dispersion at higher wave frequencies with a comparison between different parameters in each simulation is noted in this report.