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The Aki-Larner technique is used to perform, in both the time and frequency domains, an analysis of the effects of two-dimensional elevated topography on ground motion. Incident plane SH-, SV- and P-waves are considered and the respective influences of surface geometry, elastic parameters and the incident wave characteristics, as long as they remain within the limits of applicability of the A-L technique, are investigated in some detail.

Besides the well-known amplification/deamplfication effect related to the surface curvature, wave scattering phenomena on the convex parts of the surface are shown to contribute significantly to the disturbances in the displacement field around the topographic structure. These scattered waves are SH in the case of incident SH-waves, and mainly Rayleigh waves in the P case, while both Rayleigh and horizontal P-waves, sometimes of large amplitude, develop in the SV …