Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. VUl. 63, No. 3, pp. 615-632.

April 1973

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

BY MICHEL BOUCHON

ABSTRACT

The effect of topography on surface motion is investigated in the cases of

incident SH, P and S V waves. Several types of topography ranging from a ridge
to a valley are used. Different incidence angles are considered for a wavelength
interval extending from 2h to 20h, where h is the vertical dimension of the
anomaly. The computation is made by using a single frequency method developed
by Aki and Lamer and by synthesizing the results in order to get a solution in the
time domain. A method of correction taking into account the residual stress is
added. The surface displacement appears to be very much influenced by surface
irregularities. In the case of a ridge, a zone of amplification takes place near the
top, whereas, for a depression, a zone of attenuation occurs near the bottom. An
application to the Pacoima Dam accelerograph site suggests that the high
accelerations recorded there during the San Fernando earthquake could have been
amplified between 30 and 50 per cent by the uneven topography.

INTRODUCTION

The problem of scattering of seismic waves by an irregular topography has been studied
mainly by using perturbation methods (Gilbert and Knopoff, 1960; Abubakar, 1962,
1963; McIvor, 1969; Alterman and Aboudi, 1971). In all of these cases, however, the
applicability of the results is restricted to the region away from the surface irregularity.
An attempt to determine the effect of the scattering in the vicinity of the anomaly was
made by Boore (1972), who, using a finite difference technique, calculated the S H motion
over the anomaly itself. Here, we also consider the region of the surface irregularity.
We assume the topography to be one-dimensional, like a washboard, and compute the
displacement owing to plane seismic waves incident on this topography and coming
from any direction. We use a method developed by Aki and Larner (Aki and Lamer,
1970; Lamer, 1970) for the general case of scattering of body waves in a layered medium
having an irregular interface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD

We first consider the case where the incident wave propagates in the plane of symmetry
of the medium. We note x and z, the horizontal and vertical axes lying in this plane, y
the axis perpendicular to them, and h the deviation of the surface from the plane z = 0
(Figure 1). Then, representing the scattered field as a superposition of waves of unknown
complex amplitudes, the components of the total displacement may be expressed as

Ui(x , z) = ui(x, z, ko)+ S~,ui(x, z, k) dk

(1)

where ko and k are, respectively, the x-components of the wave numbers of the incident
and of the scattered waves, and ul represents the displacement owing to the direct
incident wave. A similar relation yields for the stress tensor

Sij(x, z) = s(x, z, ko)+ S~oos,j(x, z, k) dk.

615

(2)

616

MICHEL BOUCHON

Free surface

iX

I
I

1,
FIG. 1. Problem configuration for incident waves propagating in the plane of symmetry of the medium.

Introducing the wave potentials ~b, ~b, and X, we can write

ux = Ox

Oz

8X
Uy=--

Ox

a 0
u= = ~ + F x

(3)

where, using explicit forms for the plane-wave expressions of the potentials and denoting
the vertical components of the wave number by v and v',
~b(x, z, k) = A x(k) exp[i(kx + vz)]

~b(x, z, k) = A2(k) exp[i(kx+ v'z)]

Z(x, z, k) = A 3(k) exp[i(kx+ v'z)]

(4)

with a exp ( - ioot) dependence. In these expressions, we assume that the scattered field
only includes waves propagating downward. (See Aki and Larner, 1970, for a discussion
of the validity of this assumption.)
The components of the stress tensor can also be expressed as a function of the wave
potentials through the formula

auk

(~uj

~ut\

where 2 and # are the Lam6 constants.

The boundary conditions require the vanishing of the stress vector at the surface; that
is,

T~(x, h(x)) = SiAx, h(x)) nj(x) = 0

(6)

where ~ is the normal to the surface. Using (2), (3), (4) and (5) into (6), we get a matrix
integral equation of the form

S ~_~Jij(x, k)Aj(k) exp (ikx) dk = Hi(x, ko) exp (ikox)

(7)

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

617

where J~j and H~ are, respectively, 3 3 and 3 1 matrices. In order to solve this matrix
integral equation, we assume a periodicity in the shape of the surface, that is,

h(x + nL) = h(x)

for all integers n. Then, multiplying equation (7) by exp ( - ikox), we get

~J~j(x, k)As(k ) exp [i(k-ko)x] dk = H~(x, ko).

Because H~(x, ko) and J,j(x, k) are both periodic in x, the exponential must also be
periodic in x, so that the only values k can take must satisfy

k - k o = 2rcn/L
where n is any integer.
The integral equation (7) is, therefore, reduced to the infinite-sum equations

Ji~(x)Af' exp (2rcinx/L) = Hi(x, ko)

n ~

- - ot~

with
s j(x) = s, s (x, k.)
As" =

j(k.)Ak.

k,, = ko + 2rcn/L
Ak, = 2rolL.
These infinite-sum equations are themselves truncated to obtain a finite-sum approximation
N2

J~(x)Aj" exp (21tinx/L) = Hi(x, ko).

n=--Nl

Then, assuming for convenience NI + N2 to be an even number 2N, we take the Fourier
transform of both sides by multiplying by (1/L) exp ( - 2rcimx/L) and integrating over the
interval (0, L). Letting m take any integer value between - N and N, this yields 6N+ 3
simultaneous integral equations of the form
N2
n= --NI

with

J~'~" =

Ljo

J~(x) exp [2~i(n-m)x/Ll

if

fflim(k) = l-, o Hi(x, ko) exp (-2~imx/L) dx.

Once this system is solved, we replace the coefficients Aj by their values in the expressions
of the wave potentials and get the solution for the displacement.
When the incident wave does not propagate in the plane of symmetry of the medium,
the method is similar, but the calculation must be made in the propagation coordinates
and the introduction of a rotation tensor is necessary.
Most of the time, the residual stress is found to be negligible. However, when such is
not the case, we make a correction by ccmputing the displacement resulting from this
residual stress and subtracting it from the original surface motion. This method of correction is described in the appendix.
As the actual incident wave field is a superposition of waves with different frequencies,

618

MICHELBOUCHON

it is more realistic to consider the problem in the time domain. For that purpose, we
compute the theoretical seismograms along the surface by synthesizing the results
obtained for different frequencies.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The first shape of topography that we consider is nonsymmetric and involves a ridge
whose two sides are at different levels, as shown in Figure 2. S H waves are vertically
a
taJ
tM
i..d

1.5
>.-o

o~ C
_

~o

1 . 0 - -

~c)
o,.. n "

0.5

<co

0.0
-2~

-~,

25

_o
t.-

,,<

1.5;

rr-

,s

1.0

I.-

0.5

<

O.C

--

Xj"

- pJ

X = 15h
X = IOh

----- X=fh
....
k=3h

- 2~

- ~,

25

h
t
h = 0.4,~
I SH WAVE

FIG. 2. Normalized amplitude of surface displacement for different wavelengths (lower part), and
normalized amplitude of the surface displacement obtained after synthesis (upper part) for SH waves
vertically incident on a nonsymmetric ridge.

incident on this surface. The amplitude of the displacement is represented as a function of

the position at the surface for some particular wavelengths taken in the interval 2h to
20h. This displacement is normalized to the case of a fiat surface.
The calculation is made by using a number N of scattering orders equal to 25. Two
other values of N, N = 15 and N = 35, were also used, yielding similar results within
less than 5 per cent.
From Figure 2, it appears that the surface motion for a given wavelength inside the
interval (2h, 20h) is very strongly affected by the presence of the topography. Even for a
wavelength as long as 30h, the variation in amplitude over the anomaly still reaches
10 per cent.
Also at a given site, the surface motion is quite dependent on the frequency considered.
At certain points, the effect changes from amplification to attenuation when the frequency varies. However, some common characteristics are apparent. Among them is the

619

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

fact that a zone of amplification always occurs at the top of the ridge. For the interval
of wavelength considered, the value of this amplification ranges from 20 to 45 per cent.
The maximum is obtained for wavelengths close to 10h. For long wavelengths, the
scattering is not sufficient to produce a strong contribution, whereas for short
wavelengths, a possible explanation for the relative decrease in amplification is the
destructive interference between scattering sources.
The results are more clearly presented in the theoretical seismograms. The variation of
amplitude of the peak of the wave form as a function of the position at the surface,
represented in the top part of Figure 2, demonstrates that an amplification of about
30 per cent takes place at the top of the ridge. A small attenuation occurs along the ridge
flanks.

0.5
SiTE
O. 0

0.5

SiTE 2

O.C

0,5

SiTE 5

0.0

O.S

SITE 4

,.oL

o.~1 ,

SIT6E

O. 0

f"~ --~

I
-I0

h : 0.4-l~

-5
0
5
TIME (IN UNITS OF h / , ~ )

I0

40_ ~ ' ~ S H WAVE

FIG. 3. Theoretical seismograms obtained at different sites along the surface of a nonsymmetric ridge for
S H waves obliquely incident.

620

MICHEL BOUCHON

When the waves are obliquely incident (Figure 3), the zone of amplification is slightly
shifted toward the side of the ridge opposite to the upcoming waves, where the incident
energy per unit area is maximum. On the other hand, the other side where the incident
energy is minimum lies in a zone of attenuation, where the amplitude, in contrast to
the previous case, is reduced by a factor of 2.
For the two cases considered a b o v e - - S H waves propagating in the plane of symmetry
of the medium--once the shape of the topography is given, the solution is uniquely
determined by the value of the ratio 2/h. In the case of P and S V waves, we also have to
specify the Poisson ratio.
The second topography considered is a symmetric ridge having a cosine shape (Figure
4). The slope is steeper than in the previous case. The amplitude of the synthesized
w

1.5

1.0
w
s

~0.5

0=0

ri-

zo.o

-2~,

-.~

4t

/~
I |

I
t
i

LIJ
a
2D

Li.5

_1
'13..

I
I
~

I
2~

VERTICAL DISPLACEMENT
(PINCIDENT)
HORIZONTAL
DISPLACEMENT
( SV INCIDENT)

....
',,.

<C31 . O
W
S

.J

<0.5

O =35

n-.
o

Zo.o

- 2~

- ~

o" = 0 . 2 2

I_
2.~

~p,
SV

FIG. 4. Normalized amplitude of the synthesized displacement for P and SV vertically incident (upper

part) and obliquely incident (lower part) on a cosine-shaped ridge.

displacement is represented in the case of incident P and SV waves. This case is more
complicated and involves more calculations than the SH case, resulting in, among other
things, a larger value of the residual stress. This value increases with the frequency and
with the incidence angle. However, for incident P waves, it can still be neglected. For
instance, in the case 2 = 4h, the amplitude of the surface displacement caused by the
residual stress is everywhere less than 4 per cent of the value of the total displacement.
It reaches its maximum at the top of the ridge and drops very rapidly along the ridge

621

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

flanks. For incident SV waves, the residual stress is larger and the results shown in
Figure 4 were obtained after correction. The correction was to reduce slightly the value
of the amplification [reduction of about 5 per cent at the top of the hill for a vertical
incidence and of 7 per cent for an oblique incidence (35)]. The pattern of amplificationattenuation is very similar for P and SV waves and for the normal and the oblique
incidence. The main feature is the existence of an amplification at the top, the value of
which ranges from about 50 per cent for normal P, normal SV and oblique P (vertical
component) to i00 per cent for oblique SV (horizontal component). Another interesting
feature is that a zone of attenuation takes place along the flanks of the ridge. For incident
P or SV, Rayleigh waves are generated by the scattering. The displacement associated
with them is about 10 to 25 per cent of the total surface motion in the vicinity of the
anomaly.
In Figure 5, the ridge is replaced by a depression. The two sides of that depression are
i'-Z
5:
"'

1.5

--

_l
rl
O

I.O

_1

~_0.5
irl.iJ

>0.0

'---[--

-3~,

-- --I
-2.~

I
-$

\~I/I

---

2~.

3~

Z
OJ
ILl

~1.5
.J
O.
O3

~1.O

........

/ . . f. . " .x.

/ , , / - 2- _-_\~

.........

-3

~0.5
N
O

-rO.O

---....
h = 0 . 6 2 .E,
0-=0.25

INCIDENT P
INCIDENT SV
INCIDENT SH

,~
/ P ' SV, SH

FiG. 5. Spatial distribution of the amplitude of the synthesized horizontal and vertical displacements for
P, SV, and SH waves incident on a valley.

approximated by straight lines. The synthesized horizontal and vertical displacements

resulting from P, SV, and SH waves normally incident are shown (after correction in
the case of SV waves). As before, the pattern of amplification-attenuation is very similar
for the three types of waves. A zone of attenuationtakes place at the bottom of the valley
and extends on the lower part of the slope. The minimum of motion is obtained when SH

622

MICHEL BOUCHON

waves are incident (reduction by about 30 per cent). For incident SV waves, the horizontal displacement is also clearly attenuated (20 per cent). This attenuation is smaller
in the case of incident P waves (about 10 per cent for the vertical displacement). On all
components and for each type of wave, a quite strong amplification occurs near the edge
of the zone of depression (20 per cent on the vertical component in the case of incident P,
25 per cent on the horizontal component when SV waves are incident, and 15 per cent
for incident SH).
EFFECT OF THE STEEPNESS OF THE SLOPE ON THE DISPLACEMENT

Until now we have considered how the surface motion was influenced by the topography in the case of a ridge or of a depression. In both cases, we have come out with some
conclusions. Are these conclusions still valid for any kind of ridge or for any kind
of depression, or are they just valid for the particular cases that we have studied ? In an
attempt to answer this question, we investigate now the influence of the steepness of
the slope on the surface motion. For that purpose, we consider three different shapes of
topography (Figures 6, 7 and 8), and compute the displacement for different slopes.

1.5

\IP"

- -

8_-0_~

=o.o

I
-31

----

U.I
I--

I
-2~

I
o

-x

I
.~

h =0.8,$
h = 0.67~

_.

I _
z~

1
31

- - - - - h =0.45
.... h =0,25~

1.5

<
c~ 1.0
N
.-I

< 0.5
-

zo.o

/"

0 = 3 5 -

-3g

-~2g

-~,

X = 5h

--

~SH

....

I
2~

__

I
3g

WAVE

Y
FIG. 6. Amplitude of the surface motion due to SH waves incident on a ridge, for different values of the

slope.

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHYON SURFACE MOTION

623

We do that for S H waves normally or obliquely incident, assuming that the effect would
be similar for P and S V waves. The problem is the same if we give to the anomaly a
fixed height and make the horizontal dimension variable for a given wavelength, or if we
keep the horizontal dimension fixed and make the height variable, maintaining a constant
ratio 2/h. Choosing this second method, we take 2 -- 5h, considering that this wavelength
is characteristic of the behavior of the wavelengths in the range 2h to 20h.
In the case of a simple ridge (Figure 6), we obtain for all the values of h considered,
the same pattern of amplification-attenuation as we obtained before; that is, amplification at or near the top and attenuation along the ridge flanks. The values of both of
them increase regularly with the steepness of the ridge. In the case of an oblique incidence,
the focusing effect of the ridge is clearly visible: the maximum is shifted toward the top
when the steepness increases.
For the inverse shape which yields a depression, two cases must be considered:
1. For small values o f h (h/l < 4), the pattern of amplification-attenuation is not very
well defined, particularly at the bottom of the depression where we can have a zone of
small amplification or of small attenuation. However, just at the edge of the depression,
a clear zone of amplification occurs.
0
la_

~'=

1.5

<~

0.5[--t

o. a

h=0.8~

..I
-3~

n-

o~-= 1.5
~u_

<J

o~

I
-S

h=O.4g

2,~

I ....
3~

t
-

[
I

z ~ o.o

I
-24~

0.5~

n" "~

---

h=0.334
h = 0.27~

---

h=0.2.~

_ I

-s~

-z.~

- ,e

.e

2.e

s~

k=Sh

ISH

WAVE

FIG. 7. Amplitude of the surface motion due to S H waves incident on a depression, for different values of
the slope.

624

MICHEL BOUCHON

. 1.5~ . ~
~o

'~I_A

-3

-2.~

-g

25

3~

"~ 1.5
t~
0
re

2B

i.o

Wd
~__j 0.5
..Jj

<m 0.0

h = 0.33~
---- h = 0.27,~
I
1
__I
-3~

-2~

~--- h=0.22
-~

25

35

0.755
k=5h
I SH

WAVE

Fro. 8. Amplitude of the S H surface motion for different values of the slope in the case of a noncosine
shaped ridge.

2. For large values ofh(h/l > ), the pattern is well defined and is similar to the one
see~ before in Figure 5. The values of the amplification and of the attenuation increase
regularly with h.
The same conclusions are obtained for the third shape of topography considered
(Figure 8). The pattern is not well defined for small values of h, but becomes clearer for
large h, and then presents the characteristics of a ridge-shaped topography.
A generalization of these results to the case where the incident wave does not propagate
in the plane of symmetry of the medium is given in the next section.
REFERENCE TO THE PACOIMA ACCELEROGRAPH SITE

During the San Fernando earthquake of February 9, 1971, strong ground motions
were recorded at the Pacoima Dam accelerograph. Ground accelerations as large as
1,25 g--the largest ever recorded for earthquakes--were recorded on the two horizontal
components. Questions have been raised (Trifunac and Hudson, 1971; Boore, 1972)
about the actual significance of these high accelerations. Are they a good estimate to the

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

625

acceleration field in the epicentral region (in which case we could expect comparable
accelerations to take place whenever an earthquake of similar magnitude and focal
mechanism occurs), or are they related to a local phenomenon of amplificationg. The
roughness of the topography around the accelerograph site strongly suggests that scattering could have had an important effect on the recorded ground motions. A qualitative
discussion of this possible influence is given by Boore (1972), whose conclusion is that
the recorded accelerations at any period could differ by 25 to 50 per cent from those
expected in the case of a fiat topography, without specifying if the effect would be attenuation or amplification. Here, we consider a more quantitative approach to the problem.
The accelerograph is situated 8 km south of the epicenter and above the fault dislocation surface. The strike of the fault is N70W and its dip angle is about 50 (Canitez
and ToksSz, 1972). The topography of the site is very complex, as can be seen in Figure 9

/ ridge
r,d
"

~ .~ " ~ - - - -

=
_

"o ,oooooo
~

FIG. 9. Schematic topographic map of the Pacoima D a m area.

(Boore, personal communication). The accelerograph sits on the crest of a ridge (local
topography), but the ridge itself is located near the bottom of a canyon (regional topography). A one-dimensional topography cannot obviously account for all these features.
However, the dimensions of the canyon are much larger than the dimensions of the ridge,
so that some waves will be more influenced by the ridge and others by the canyon,
depending on their wavelength.
The high acceleration peaks of the records, in which we are most interested, are very
high-frequency ( _ 10 Hz). If we assume a shear velocity of 2 km/sec and a Poisson's
ration of 0.25, they correspond to wavelengths of about 340 m for P waves and 200 m for
S waves. For these short wavelengths, the ridge structure should have a predominant
effect. We computed that effect for plane waves with the wave front parallel to the fault
plane (Figure 10a). The results are shown in Figure 11 and Table IA (which should be
compared with Table 2). They yield a large amplification of the surface displacement at
the accelerograph site. That amplification varies with the component considered but can
be roughly estimated to be between 30 and 50 per cent relative to the fiat surface case.
Some other computations were made for waves coming from other directions than the

626

MICHEL BOUCHON

ACCELEROGRAPH
SITE

550

a = 3470 m/sec

/"~

a=3470m/sec
2000 m/sec

A' ACCELEROGRAPH
SITE (A)

m/sec

40

lOO/<~/'~

Fro. 10. Problem configuration for waves arriving at the Pacoirna Dam accelerograph site from the fault
plane: (a) ridge (local topography), (b) canyora (regional topography).

/1

.
T

tt
/I

fLAT SORFAC~
~

--.
--Y

Lo

',, :

: / ~

f! !l

o.oL

I.o

COMPONENT
co.Po.ENT

I I

',

~REOOE.CY =,0 N.

.........

'

i.o

A
C
INCIDENT P WAVE

o.o[k
B

-,

t_

I_

A
C
INCIDENT SV WAVE

o.o

"7:~_~_

,,a
C
}NClDENT SH WAVE

F1o. 11. Amplitude of the components of the surface displacement over the ridge for a frequency equal
to 10 Hz, compared to the fiat surface solution. A indicates the position of the accelerograph (top of the
ridge).

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

TABLE 1
VALUES OF THE AMPLIFICATION AND ATTENUATION OF THE
COMPONENTS OF THE SURFACE DISPLACEMENT ALONG THE
THREE RECORDING DIRECTIONS OF THE ACCELEROGRAPH*
Part A. Ridge
$74W

SI6E

Up-down

+8070

+50%

0%

SV

Several
times
larger

Several
times
larger

+2570

SH

+40%

+4070

Frequency = 10Hz
Part B. Ridge
$74~W

S16E

Up-down

+4570

+22%

+20%

SV

Several
times
larger

Several
times
larger

+ 15 70

SH

+40%

+1570

F r e q u e n c y = 2.5 H z
Part C. Canyon

$74W

S16E

Up-down

-12%

-5%

0%

+87o

sv

SH

-20%

-2070

F r e q u e n c y = 2.5 H z
* Plus sign ( + ) indicates amplification; m i n u s ( - )
indicates attenuation.

TABLE 2
AMPLITUDE OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE DISPLACEMENT
ALONG THE T'FIREE RECORDING DIRECTIONS OF THE
ACCELEROGRAPH IN THE FLAT SURFACE CASE
$74W

SI 6E

Up-down

0.72

1.08

1.00

SV

0.11

0.17

0.89

SH

0.83

0.56

627

628

MICHEL

BOUCHON

normal to the fault plane, and in all the cases considered, the results were similar. This
means that if the two approximations we have made for this calculation--namely, the
representation of the wave field by plane waves and the assumption that, for high frequency waves, only the topography in the vicinity of the accelerograph had to be considered--are not too far from reality, the high acceleration peaks of 1.25 g recorded
actually correspond to an acceleration field, away from the topographic disturbance,
smaller than 1 g.
The rest of the record (the part excluding the high acceleration peaks) has most of the
energy of its spectrum concentrated around 2.5 Hz. For such frequencies, the influence of
the regional topography can no longer be neglected, and it becomes impossible to
represent the whole topography by a simple one-dimensional surface. For that reason,
we shall consider separately the influence of the ridge (Figure 10a) and the influence of
the canyon (Figure 10b). Such a separation is purely artificial and is only expected to
give a rough idea of the phenomenon. As can be seen in Figure 12 and Table 1B, the
---.....

X COMPONENT
Y COMPONENT
Z COMPONENT

FREQUENCY

= 2 . 5 Hz

F L A T SURFACE

FLAT SURFACE

FLAT SURFACE

/t
I.O

,/

I.C

0.5 '-~

O.O
B

0.5

O.5

A
C
INCIDENT P WAVE

0.0 II-B

A
C
INCIDENT SV WAVE

o.ot"--'".....""-i'"..........i
B

A
C
I N C I D E N T SH WAVE

FIG. 12. Amplitude of the components of the surface displacement over the ridge for a frequency equal to
2.5 Hz.
effect of the ridge still results in an amplification but not as large as in the high frequency
case. However, the effect of the canyon is to produce a small attenuation (Figure 13 and
Table 1C), so that the overall effect is not as clear as for the high acceleration peaks and
can result in a small amplification or in a small attenuation.
Throughout this application to the Pacoima Dam accelerograph site, no correction
has been made for the residual stress. The reason is that the stress vector has now a
component along the axis of symmetry of the surface which makes the problem of
computing the residual displacement much more complicated. However, we obtained,
in each case, an estimate of that residual displacement by computing the displacement
caused by the two other stress components. Doing so, we found that the horizontal
components for S V incident on the canyon and the component along the symmetry
axis of the surface for S H incident on the same topography were not reliable. This can
be explained by the fact that the amplitude of the total displacement along these components is very small, so that they are much more influenced by the residual displacement.
In all other cases, the estimated residual displacement was found to be too small to
have a real influence on the results presented in Figures 11 to 13 and in Table 1.

629

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

X COMPONENT
Y COMPONENT
Z COMPONENT
FLAT

---.....

f'

' !i

,,":I ?\

,,

I.O

I,.,\

I,-',\

/!:i i'i,I/ :,"

FLAT SURFACE

FLAT SURFACE

SURFACE

,\

1,5

L
II
i

f'~

/',

!j,,;

........

I.O [
Xd

L/
0.5

0.5

0.5

0.O

0.0

B
A'A
C
INCIDENT P WAVE

A' A
C
INCIDENT SV WAVE

o.oi BI

II

A'A
C
SH WAVE

INCIDENT

FIG. 13. Amplitude of the components of the surface displacement over the canyon for a frequency
equal to 2.5 Hz, compared to the flat surface solution. A indicates the position of the accelerograp!~ and
A' the bottom of the canyon.
CONCLUSION

The effect of topography on surface motion appears to be very important when the
wavelength is of the order of dimension of the anomaly, and can localty be responsible
for strong amplification or strong attenuation. The distribution of these amplifications
and attenuations along the surface has been determined in some specific cases. An attempt
to generalize has been made for two types of topography, ridges and depressions, both
very common at the Earth's surface. From that, it follows that amplification is very likely
to occur at the top of a ridge and attenuation at the bottom of a depression.
APPENDIX

A method to compute the surface displacement caused by the residual stress is now
given. Its applicability is restricted to the case where the stress lies in the plane perpendicular to the axis of the anomaly.
As it is hopeless to try to determine the surface displacement caused by a stress distributed over an irregular surface, we approximate for this calculation the surface on
which the residual stress is distributed by a plane surface. We use Cartesian coordinates
with the z axis normal to the free surface and the x and y axes such that the medium is
uniform in the y direction.
The shape of the residual stress is very irregular in the region of the topographic anomaly.
However, if we decompose this region into elements of surface of width Ax along the x
axis and infinitely long in the y direction, we can consider that the stress is the same everywhere over suchh an element of surface provided that Ax be small enough. Then the
displacement U(t) caused by the residual stress can be described as a superposition of
displacements resulting from give~ stresses acting on elementary surfaces; that is,
--)

__>

u(t) = Z.,(t).
i

630

MICHELBOUCHON

As the stress vector Ts acting on the ith element of surface can be decomposed into its
normal component T~, and its tangential component T~,, the elementary displacement
"-->
"
"+1
"+2
us can itself be considered as the sum of a displacement
u~ caused by Ts, and u,
by Tsv
7",.,and T;t can themselves be expressed as
T,, = A i exp [j(-cot+~bs) ]
Tit = B i exp [j(-ogt + Os)]
and if we call ~*(t) and -~2(t) the displacements resulting, respectively, from the application of a simple-harmonic normal stress and a simple-harmonic tangential stress of
unit amplitudes on an elementary surface, we can write
us (t) = A i exp (jq~s)~l(t)
"+2
us
(t) = B t exp (jOi)-~2(t)

and finally

->2
U(t) = A , exp (j~bi)bl(t)+ ~ B s exp (jOs)v
(t)
S

"~ff

where ~* and ~2 are functions of the distance between the i th element of surface and the
point where the displacement is calculated. U is a function of the abscissa x of the point
considered.
We have now reduced the initial problem to the computation of the displacement in
two cases: (1) a simple-harmonic normal force applied on a rectangular element of
surface of finite width along the x axis and infinitely long in the y direction, and (2) a
simple-harmonic tangential force applied on the same surface.
The limit case where the surface is reduced to a line was studied by Lamb (1904).
Applying Lamb's method, Miller and Pursey (1954) solved a problem similar to the above
formulation: they considered the case of an infinitely long strip of finite width vibrating
normally as well as tangentially to the surface. Denoting the width of the strip by a,
the Lam6 constants by 2 and #, and the density by p, they get for the expressions of the
components of the displacement, the factor exp(-jc0t) being understood.
Case 1.
2 f({2- 1)~k= sin({a/2)cos{x d{
2 1 ~{2[({ 2 _ 1)({ a _ k=)] + k 2 _ 2{2 } sin({a/2) sin{x d{

Case 2.
= - 2 I ~ { 2 [ ( { a " 1)(2-k2)1+kZ-22} sin(Ca/2) sinCx de
2 ~~({2-kZ)aZkZ
Vx = ~ Oo ~G--~
sin ({a/2) cos {x d
with

G() = (2: _,~2)a _4~[(2_ 1)(g2_/:)]~

k = [(2 + 2#)/p] ~*

EFFECT OF TOPOGRAPHY ON SURFACE MOTION

631

a n d where the lengths are m e a s u r e d in units of [ ( 2 + 2#)/p]~/oo. Finally, we have to deal

with three integrals
f , ~ ( ~ z _ !_)~ sin(~a/2) cos~x de
z = J o a()

= -foo(2_k2)~ sin(Ca/2) cosCx de

G()

jo

i n{2[(42_ 1)(S_kS)]~+ks_2s}

K=

.,o

sin(Ca/2) sinCx d~.

a()

W e can p u t I into the f o r m

I =

r- ~
0

IL

f() de +

,Jr+e

f() de

irc(r 2 - 1) ~ sin(ra/2) cos rx

4r 2 {4r 2 - 2 k 2 - 2 [ ( r 2 - 1)(r 2 - k 2 ) ] * - r [ ( r 2 - 1 ) / ( r 2 - k 2 ) ] ~ - r [ ( r 2 - k 2 ) / ( r 2 - 1)] }
+

sinLa sinLx

(a 2-+x) t.itLta
....
+ X) ] -- ~ ) C i [ L ( a

-- x)] + 0 ( 1 / L 2)

where r is the real r o o t of G(~), e is very small, L is m u c h larger t h a n r, a n d f ( ) represents

the integrand o f L T h e two integrals can be evaluated directly by numerical integration.
Similarly for J a n d K

J =

fr-e
(L
f ( { ) d~ +
f ( { ) d~
0
,Jr+e
i~(r 2 - k2) * sin(ra/2) cos rx
4r 2 {4r 2 - 2k 2 - 2[(r 2 _ 1)(r 2 _ k2)] } _ r[(r 2 _ 1)/(r 2 _ k2)] } _ r[(r 2 _ k 2)/(r 2 _ 1)]*}
+

sinLa sinLx

(a 2 x) C,[L(a + x ) ] - ~

K =

r- ~

C,[L(a- x ) ] + O(1/L 2)

IL

o f() d~ +
,

dr+e

f(~) d~

i~ {2[(r 2 _ 1)(r 2 _ k 2)1 ~ + k ~ - 2r 2 } sin(ra/2) sinrx

4r 2 {4r 2 - 2k 2 - 2[(r 2 _ 1)(r 2 _ k 2 ) ] , _ r[(r 2 _ 1)/(r 2 _ k 2 ) ] , _ ri(r 2 _ k2)/(r 2 _ 1)] }

sinLasinLx arc ( a 2 X ) s i [ L ( a + x ) ]
L
q 2
( a 2 X ) si[ L ( x - a)] + O(1/L 2).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was done under the direction of Professor Keiiti Aki, who suggested and supervised the
study. I am grateful to Dr. David Boore for information concerning the Pacoima Dam accelerograph
site.
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant GA24268.

632

MICHEL BOUCHON

REFERENCES
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incident plane S H waves, J. Geophys. Res. 75, 933-954.
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DEPARTMENTOF EARTH AND PLANETARYSCIENCES
MASSACHUSETTSINSTITUTEOF TECHNOLOGY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS02139
Manuscript received September 7, 1972