THREE-TERM TAYLOR SERIES FOR t2 - x2-CURVES OF P- AND S-WAVES OVER LAYERED TRANSVERSELY ISOTROPIC GROUND*

The arrival-time curve of a reflection from a horizontal interface, beneath a homogeneous isotropic layer, is a hyperbola in the x - t-domain. If the subsurface is one-dimensionally inhomogeneous (horizontally layered), or if some or all of the layers are transversely isotropic with vertical axis of symmetry, the statement is no longer strictly true, though the arrival-time curves are still hyperbola-like. In the case of transverse isotropy, however, classical interpretation of these curves fails. Interval velocities calculated from t² - x²-curves do not always approximate vertical velocities and therefore cannot be used to calculate depths of reflectors. To study the relationship between velocities calculated from t² - x²-curves and the true velocities of a transversely isotropic layer, we approximate t² - x²-curves over a vertically inhomogeneous transversely isotropic medium by a three-term Taylor series and calculate expressions for these terms as a function of the elastic parameters. It is shown that both inhomogeneity and transverse isotropy affect slope and curvature of t² - x²-curves. For P-waves the effect of transverse isotropy is that the t² - x²-curves are convex upwards; for SV-waves the curves are convex downwards. For SH-waves transverse isotropy has no effect on curvature.