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Glossary:S wave
A shear wave. It is sometimes called a secondary (S) wave because it arrives later than the primary wave (see P wave). The term S wave needs to be used carefully because there are several types of shear waves. S waves include SH and SV modes and, in a complex anisotropic Earth, each of these modes (SH and SV) divides into a fast and slow component. Converted SV waves (called C waves) that result when P waves arrive at interfaces at nonnormal angles of incidence are another type of S wave. The term "S wave" spans a large family of distinct wave types.