A comparison of the reflectivity method and full wave theory as applied to SH diffraction around the core

Summary To derive the structure of the Lower Mantle, observations of P and S waves at epicentral distances beyond 90 degrees have been used. The arrival times and amplitude decay with distance proved to be a source of information to derive the structure near the core-mantle interface. These observations were compared with results of theoretical calculations based on full wave theory [1, 2, 5, 6]. Another important theoretical method is the reflectivity method [4]. Differences between the two methods have a direct bearing on the interpretation of the observations and therefore need to be investigated.In the two methods the wave propagation involved in diffraction is simulated in different ways. In this paper the importance of approximations involved in each of the methods will be discussed. For this purpose the calculation of the frequency-dependent decay with distance of diffracted SH waves has been chosen. The approximations are considered to be important both in P and SH diffraction. The advantage of studying SH waves is the simpler and more straightforward formulation.