Seismoelectric response of 2-D elastic/poroelastic coupled media: a phenomenological approach

SUMMARY In this paper, we address the study of the seismoelectric response of an elastic medium in contact with a poroelastic half-space. In particular, we advance in the understanding of the generation mechanism of the interface response (IR) and the evanescent electromagnetic (EM) fields occurring at the contact between both media, by proposing a seismoelectric phenomenological model (SPM). Essentially, the model consists of a sequence of electric dipoles that are activated successively, simulating the seismic-to-EM energy conversion taking place with the arrival of a seismic wave at the interface separating the media. We obtained SPM responses for different scenarios and acquisition configurations and compared them with responses computed using a code based on the finite-elements method, which solves the seismoelectric equations in the compressional P and vertical shear SV waves coupled with the transverse-magnetic (TM) fields (PSVTM) mode. The SPM successfully represents not only the evanescent wave but also the IR within the elastic medium. In particular, we show that the SPM is able to faithfully reproduce the relative amplitudes of both events and their radiation patterns with a minimum computational cost. In this way, it provides a novel insight in the study of the physical phenomenon behind the seismoelectric conversions.