Rayleigh waves are a type of surface acoustic wave that causes particles on the surface of solids to travel along an elliptical path in the vertical plane that contains the direction of wave propagation.
These waves include longitudinal (P wave) and transverse (S wave) movements whose amplitude decreases exponentially as the distance from the surface increases.
This means Rayleigh waves are generated by the interference between the P and S waves on the surface of the Earth.
