Question:medium

If a seismic wave is travelling along the radial direction, then which of the following statements is/are CORRECT for Rayleigh (R) and Love (L) waves?

Show Hint

Love waves are purely SH (transverse-only) surface waves; Rayleigh waves are P-SV coupled with dominant vertical and secondary radial motion but zero transverse motion.
Updated On: Jul 21, 2026
  • Radial component shows the largest amplitude for both R and L waves
  • Transverse component shows the largest and smallest amplitudes for L and R waves, respectively
  • Vertical component shows the largest and smallest amplitudes for L and R waves, respectively
  • Vertical component shows largest amplitude for R wave only
Show Solution

The Correct Option is B, D

Solution and Explanation

An alternative way to organise this is a simple presence/absence table of which component each surface wave type populates, since Love and Rayleigh waves are built from mutually exclusive polarisations of body-wave energy (SH for Love; P + SV for Rayleigh):

ComponentLove (L) waveRayleigh (R) wave
Radial (horizontal, along propagation)0 (absent)present, moderate
Transverse (horizontal, perpendicular)largest / only motion0 (absent)
Vertical0 (absent)largest, dominant

Reading the table option by option:

(A) claims radial is largest for BOTH -- fails immediately since Love's radial entry is zero.

(B) claims transverse is largest for L and smallest for R -- matches the table exactly (largest/only for L, zero i.e. smallest for R). CORRECT.

(C) claims vertical is largest for L and smallest for R -- the table shows the opposite (vertical is zero for L, largest for R), so this is wrong.

(D) claims vertical is largest for R wave only -- the table confirms vertical is Rayleigh's dominant component and is exactly zero for Love, so "R wave only" is accurate. CORRECT.

The mutually-exclusive-polarisation table format makes it immediate that (B) and (D) are the two internally consistent statements, while (A) and (C) each swap a role between the two wave types.

\(\boxed{\text{Answer: (B), (D)}}\)

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