Seismic Waves
The seismic waves that travel through both solids and liquids
What are the three types of plate boundaries
Convergent, divergent, and transform
The abrupt shaking of the earth's surface caused by the sudden release of energy at a transform fault
What is the lithosphere?
The rigid outer shell of the earth, consisting of the crust and the upper portion of the mantle
What instrument detects seismic waves?
seismographs
The seismic waves that only travel through solids and cause serpentine motion
S waves
A boundary where two tectonic plates move toward each other
What causes earthquakes?
release of pressure built up at transform boundaries
What is the asthenosphere?
The semi-fluid layer beneath the lithosphere where convection occurs
As you go up one level on the MM scale, shaking increases by ____ and energy release increases by ____
Energy release increases by 32
The seismic waves that are responsible for the damage during an earthquake
Surface waves
What is a divergent boundary?
A boundary where two tectonic plates move away from each other
What are aftershocks?
smaller tremors that occur after the mainshock of an earthquake
What are the four layers of the earth? (hint: there were TWO different ways we name the layers)
1) Crust, Mantle, Outer Core, Inner Core
2) Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Outer Core, Inner Core
Which type of fault results in the hanging wall sliding upward in relation to the footwall?
Normal fault
An area on Earth's surface that receives no seismic waves from an earthquake due to refraction or blockage
Shadow zone
What is a transform boundary?
A boundary where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally
What is the difference between the focus and the epicenter?
The focus is the true source of the earthquake underneath the surface of the earth
The epicenter is the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus
temperature ____________ as you go deeper into the earth
pressure ___________ as you go deeper into the earth
increases
increases
Why is studying earthquakes important to geology or humanity?
-identified internal structure
-evidence for tectonic plates
-get data about past earthquakes to predict future ones
-design better buildings, roads, etc.
Explain how seismic wave behavior helps us know what lies underneath earth's surface
Coastal volcanic mountain range
What is the difference between the Moment Magnitude and Mercalli Intensity Scales?
MM: based on the amplitude of the waves and distance from the epicenter. It is quantitative
Mercalli: based on personal observations and level of damage. It is qualitative
What physical state (solid, liquid, gas) are all the layers of the earth?
Lithosphere=solid
Asthenosphere=semi-solid
Outer core=liquid
Inner core=solid
describe the process of triangulation
We collect date from at least three seismographs to see how far each of them is from the earthquake. We draw a circle around each seismograph, where the radius is equal to the distance from the epicenter. The point where all three circles intersect is the epicenter