Seismic anisotropy

Seismic anisotropy is a term used in seismology to describe the directional dependence of the velocity of seismic waves in a medium (rock) within the Earth. Seismic anisotropy is a term used in seismology to describe the directional dependence of the velocity of seismic waves in a medium (rock) within the Earth. A material is said to be anisotropic if the value of one or more of its properties varies with direction. Anisotropy differs from the property called heterogeneity in that anisotropy is the variation in values with direction at a point while heterogeneity is the variation in values between two or more points. Seismic Anisotropy can be defined as the dependence of seismic velocity on direction or upon angle. General anisotropy is described by a 4th order elasticity tensor with 21 independent elements. However, in practice observational studies are unable to distinguish all 21 elements, and anisotropy is usually simplified. In the simplest form, there are two main types of anisotropy, both of them are called transverse isotropy (it is called transverse isotropy because there is isotropy in either the horizontal or vertical plane) or polar anisotropy. The difference between them is in their axis of symmetry, which is an axis of rotational invariance such that if we rotate the formation about the axis, the material is still indistinguishable from what it was before. The symmetry axis is usually associated with regional stress or gravity.