Stress field in the earth's crust with curved boundaries

Summary A two-dimensional theory of gravitational stresses in the Earth's crust with curved boundaries is presented. The crust is modelled by an elastic plate lying on an elastic half-space. The solution obtained in the case of periodically varying boundaries is shown to be very sensitive to the ratio of both elastic parameters. Moreover, the geometrical configuration of both boundaries and their phase shift are of great importance for the resulting stress pattern.