Krauklis Wave - Half a Century After

Half a century after the original publication by Pavel Krauklis in 1962, the slow fluid wave in a fracture filled by fluid has got the name of its discoverer. This is the seventh personal name given to an elastic wave and which is now standing in a row with other remarkable scientists: Rayleigh, Love, Lamb, Stoneley, Scholte, Biot. The Krauklis wave is a slow dispersive wave mode that propagates in a fluid layer bounded by elastic media. There are indications that Krauklis wave plays a significant role in a variety of wave propagation phenomena in seismology, acoustics, engineering and hearing physiology. It is distinct by its large amplitudes, high dispersion and confinement to the fractures filled with fluid. In the prospecting seismology Krauklis wave might be an important component of the hydro-fracturing process, seismic wave propagation in fractured reservoirs, and fracture detection.