Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz
| Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
22 October 1881 Heidenheim an der Brenz, Germany |
| Died | 20 July 1908 (aged 26) |
| Residence | Germany |
| Nationality | Germany |
| Fields | Geophysics |
| Institutions | University of Göttingen |
| Alma mater | University of Freiburg, University of Munich |
| Known for | Zoeppritz equations |
Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz (22 October 1881 – 20 July 1908) was a German geophysicist who made important contributions to seismology, in particular the formulation of the Zoeppritz equations.
These equations relate the amplitudes of P-waves and S-waves at each side of an interface, between two arbitrary elastic media, as a function of the angle of incidence and are largely used in reflection seismology for determining structure and properties of the subsurface.
Zoeppritz was born on 22 October 1881 in Mergelstetten, a small village several miles south of Heidenheim an der Brenz. He studied natural science and geology at the universities of Munich and Freiburg, finishing his education with a doctoral dissertation on the geology of part of the Swiss Alps in 1905, at the University of Freiburg. Following the completion of his doctorate, in the summer of 1906 in Karlsruhe, Zoeppritz passed the Oberlehrerexamen, a teaching certificate that allowed him to lecturer at a University.
Zoeppritz became interested in the application of physics in geology, but the field of geophysics was still in its infancy. The only place in Germany where Zoeppritz could specifically study geophysics was at the University of Göttingen, as an assistant in the influential Emil Wiechert's research group.
Using Wiechert's theoretical work and data from earthquakes including the 1905 Kangra earthquake, 1905 Calabria earthquake and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Zoeppritz's most important early contribution was the construction of travel-time curves - and their associated velocity-depth functions - for P-waves, S-waves and surface waves, recognising for the first time that body waves are reflected and converted at discontinuities. These curves were later used by other members of the research group, Ludwig Carl Geiger and Beno Gutenberg, as well as the British astronomer and seismologist Herbert Hall Turner at the International Seismological Summary. The related ill-posed inverse problem of inferring a discrete velocity distribution, representing the layers of the crust and mantle, was solved by fellow Göttingen mathematician Gustav Herglotz.
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