The S wave shadow zone is the area of the Earth’s surface where S waves are not detected following an earthquake. This shadow zone has led geologists to a model of the Earth with a solid mantle and a liquid core.
Q. Which seismic waves cause surface damage?
Surface waves, in contrast to body waves can only move along the surface. They arrive after the main P and S waves and are confined to the outer layers of the Earth. They cause the most surface destruction. Earthquake surface waves are divided into two different categories: Love and Rayleigh.
Table of Contents
- Q. Which seismic waves cause surface damage?
- Q. Which waves pass through the surface only?
- Q. What are the 2 subtypes of surface waves?
- Q. How do surface waves work?
- Q. What seismic waves travel faster P waves or S waves?
- Q. What factors affect seismic wave velocity?
- Q. Which seismic waves have the highest average velocity?
- Q. What is the most accurate description of primary waves?
Q. Which waves pass through the surface only?
Seismic waves fall into two general categories: body waves (P-waves and S-waves), which travel through the interior of the earth, and surface waves, which travel only at the earth’s surface.
Q. What are the 2 subtypes of surface waves?
The two types of surface waves are named Love waves and Rayleigh waves, after the scientists who identified them. Love waves have a horizontal motion that moves the surface from side to side perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling. Of the two surface waves, Love waves move faster.
Q. How do surface waves work?
In physics, a surface wave is a mechanical wave that propagates along the interface between differing media. A common example is gravity waves along the surface of liquids, such as ocean waves. Elastic surface waves can travel along the surface of solids, such as Rayleigh or Love waves.
Q. What seismic waves travel faster P waves or S waves?
P-waves travel 60% faster than S-waves on average because the interior of the Earth does not react the same way to both of them. P-waves are compression waves that apply a force in the direction of propagation. The energy is thus less easily transmitted through the medium, and S-waves are slower.
Q. What factors affect seismic wave velocity?
Composition, temperature, and pressure are all factors that can affect seismic velocity in the mantle. Laboratory elasticity data show that a decrease of 1% in the Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratio in olivine reduces the velocity by an amount equivalent to that caused by a temperature increase of 70 K.
Q. Which seismic waves have the highest average velocity?
Primary waves P-waves are pressure waves that travel faster than other waves through the earth to arrive at seismograph stations first, hence the name “Primary”. These waves can travel through any type of material, including fluids, and can travel nearly 1.7 times faster than the S-waves.
Q. What is the most accurate description of primary waves?
Primary waves are alternatingly compressional and extensional, and cause the rocks they pass through to change in volume. These waves are the fastest traveling seismic waves and can travel through solids, liquids, and gases. Also called P wave See Note at earthquake.
