Seismoelectric reflection and transmission at a fluid/porous-medium interface

The dispersion relation for seismoelectric wave propagation in poroelastic media is formulated in terms of effective densities comprising all viscous and electrokinetic coupling effects. Using Helmholtz decomposition, two seismoelectric conversion coefficients are derived, for an incident P-wave upon an interface between a compressible fluid and a poroelastic medium. These coefficients relate the incident P-wave to a reflected electromagnetic wave in the fluid, and a transmitted electromagnetic wave in the porous medium. The dependency on angle of incidence and frequency is computed. Using orthodox and interference fluxes, it is shown that energy conservation is satisfied. A sensitivity analysis indicates that electrolyte concentration, viscosity, and permeability highly influence seismoelectric conversion. (C) 2010 Acoustical Society of America. [DOI: 10.1121/1.3263613]