Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-of-the-earth-as-a-planet-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/paper-1/2/b/solution

Define and . Then
At long wavelength, the mass deficit at the lower interface nearly cancels the surface excess, and the gravity field does not resolve their vertical separation. For ,
The first mechanical contribution is fourth order in , although the exponential also contributes terms at second and third order. If the ideal interface depth were zero, the leading term would instead be .
At short wavelength, bending resists the interface's deflection, and any remaining buried signal is attenuated. Consequently
This is the uncompensated surface-sheet value. For nonnegative the approach is from below. With ,
The scales and respectively mark gravitational depth filtering and flexural resistance; which appears first depends on . Admittance has dimensions of inverse time squared. The formal limit describes this model, not an assertion that thin-plate theory remains accurate at arbitrarily short wavelength.
Figure 1.
Compensated long wavelengths, flexural transition and the uncompensated gravity limit
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