| surface wave associated with the free boundary of a solid or liquid such that a surface particle describes an ellipse whose major axis is normal to the surface, and whose centre is situated on the initially undisturbed surface
NOTE 1 – At maximum particle displacement away from this initially undisturbed surface the motion of the particle is opposite to that of the wave.
NOTE 2 – The propagation velocity of a Rayleigh wave is slightly less than that of a shear wave in the solid. The wave amplitude of the Rayleigh wave diminishes exponentially with depth.
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