dilatation | Energy Glossary

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dilatation

1. n. [Geophysics]

The process of changing volume as stress is applied to a body.

2. n. [Geophysics]

The volumetric strain produced by applying stress to a body.

3. n. [Geophysics]

A rarefaction, or decrease in pressure and density of a medium as molecules are displaced by a P-wave. As P-waves pass through the Earth, the Earth undergoes compression and expansion. These changes in volume contribute to the positive and negative amplitudes of a seismic trace.

Alternate Form: rarefaction

See: amplitudeP-waveseismic trace