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Shadow Zone
A seismic shadow zone is an area of the Earth's surface where seismographs cannot detect direct P waves and/or S waves from an earthquake. This is due to liquid layers or structures within the Earth's surface. The most recognized shadow zone is due to the core-mantle boundary where P waves are refracted and S waves are stopped at the liquid outer core; however, any liquid boundary or body can create a shadow zone. For example, magma reservoirs with a high enough percent melt can create seismic shadow zones. Background The earth is made up of different structures: the crust, the mantle, the inner core and the outer core. The crust, mantle, and inner core are typically solid; however, the outer core is entirely liquid. A liquid outer core was first shown in 1906 by Geologist Richard Oldham. Oldham observed seismograms from various earthquakes and saw that some seismic stations did not record direct S waves, particularly ones that were 120° away from the hypocenter of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface is made up of the ocean, dwarfing Earth's polar ice, lakes, and rivers. The remaining 29% of Earth's surface is land, consisting of continents and islands. Earth's surface layer is formed of several slowly moving tectonic plates, which interact to produce mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Earth's liquid outer core generates the magnetic field that shapes the magnetosphere of the Earth, deflecting destructive solar winds. The atmosphere of the Earth consists mostly of nitrogen and oxygen. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere like carbon dioxide (CO2) trap a part of the energy from the Sun close to the surface. Water vapor is widely present in the atmosphere and forms clouds that cover most of the planet. More solar e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seismology
Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves through the Earth or through other planet-like bodies. It also includes studies of earthquake environmental effects such as tsunamis as well as diverse seismic sources such as volcanic, tectonic, glacial, fluvial, oceanic, atmospheric, and artificial processes such as explosions. A related field that uses geology to infer information regarding past earthquakes is paleoseismology. A recording of Earth motion as a function of time is called a seismogram. A seismologist is a scientist who does research in seismology. History Scholarly interest in earthquakes can be traced back to antiquity. Early speculations on the natural causes of earthquakes were included in the writings of Thales of Miletus (c. 585 BCE), Anaximenes of Miletus (c. 550 BCE), Aristotle (c. 340 BCE), and Zha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stiffness
Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. Calculations The stiffness, k, of a body is a measure of the resistance offered by an elastic body to deformation. For an elastic body with a single degree of freedom (DOF) (for example, stretching or compression of a rod), the stiffness is defined as k = \frac where, * F is the force on the body * \delta is the displacement produced by the force along the same degree of freedom (for instance, the change in length of a stretched spring) In the International System of Units, stiffness is typically measured in newtons per meter (N/m). In Imperial units, stiffness is typically measured in pounds (lbs) per inch. Generally speaking, deflections (or motions) of an infinitesimal element (which is viewed as a point) in an elastic body can occur along multiple DOF (maximum of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compressibility
In thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, the compressibility (also known as the coefficient of compressibility or, if the temperature is held constant, the isothermal compressibility) is a measure of the instantaneous relative volume change of a fluid or solid as a response to a pressure (or mean stress) change. In its simple form, the compressibility \kappa (denoted in some fields) may be expressed as :\beta =-\frac\frac, where is volume and is pressure. The choice to define compressibility as the negative of the fraction makes compressibility positive in the (usual) case that an increase in pressure induces a reduction in volume. The reciprocal of compressibility at fixed temperature is called the isothermal bulk modulus. Definition The specification above is incomplete, because for any object or system the magnitude of the compressibility depends strongly on whether the process is isentropic or isothermal. Accordingly, isothermal compressibility is defined: :\beta_T=-\frac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SKS Wave
An SKS wave is a type of seismic wave, with the three letters denoting the type of wave-motion through the mantle and outer core. The first S indicates that the wave travels as a shear or s-wave through the mantle, the K shows that the wave travels as a compressional or p-wave through the outer core, and the final S indicates an s-wave, returning through the mantle. As shear waves cannot be transmitted through the liquid Outer core, some of the s-wave energy is converted to p-wave energy as the wave hits the Core–mantle boundary. When the wave hits the core-mantle boundary as it leaves the core, some energy is converted back to shear energy before the wave travels through the mantle. SKS waves can be observed by seismometers roughly 60-141° from an earthquake according to the Preliminary reference Earth model The preliminary reference Earth model (PREM) plots the average of Earth's properties by depth. It includes a table of Earth properties, including elastic properties, atte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epicenter
The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental period of earthquake observation, the epicenter was thought to be the location where the greatest damage occurred, but the subsurface fault rupture may be long and spread surface damage across the entire rupture zone. As an example, in the magnitude 7.9 Denali earthquake of 2002 in Alaska, the epicenter was at the western end of the rupture, but the greatest damage was about away at the eastern end. Focal depths of earthquakes occurring in continental crust mostly range from . Continental earthquakes below are rare whereas in subduction zone earthquakes can originate at depths deeper than . Epicentral distance During an earthquake, seismic waves propagate in all directions from the hypocenter. Seismic shadowing occurs on the opposite s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
S-Wave
__NOTOC__ In seismology and other areas involving elastic waves, S waves, secondary waves, or shear waves (sometimes called elastic S waves) are a type of elastic wave and are one of the two main types of elastic body waves, so named because they move through the body of an object, unlike surface wave In physics, a surface wave is a mechanical wave that propagates along the Interface (chemistry), interface between differing media. A common example is gravity waves along the surface of liquids, such as ocean waves. Gravity waves can also occu ...s. S waves are transverse waves, meaning that the direction of particle motion of a S wave is perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation, and the main restoring force comes from shear stress. Therefore, S waves cannot propagate in liquids with zero (or very low) viscosity; however, they may propagate in liquids with high viscosity. The name ''secondary wave'' comes from the fact that they are the second type of wave to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velocity
Velocity is the directional speed of an object in motion as an indication of its rate of change in position as observed from a particular frame of reference and as measured by a particular standard of time (e.g. northbound). Velocity is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of bodies. Velocity is a physical vector quantity; both magnitude and direction are needed to define it. The scalar absolute value (magnitude) of velocity is called , being a coherent derived unit whose quantity is measured in the SI (metric system) as metres per second (m/s or m⋅s−1). For example, "5 metres per second" is a scalar, whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector. If there is a change in speed, direction or both, then the object is said to be undergoing an ''acceleration''. Constant velocity vs acceleration To have a ''constant velocity'', an object must have a constant speed in a constant direction. Constant direction cons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume: : \rho = \frac where ''ρ'' is the density, ''m'' is the mass, and ''V'' is the volume. In some cases (for instance, in the United States oil and gas industry), density is loosely defined as its weight per unit volume, although this is scientifically inaccurate – this quantity is more specifically called specific weight. For a pure substance the density has the same numerical value as its mass concentration. Different materials usually have different densities, and density may be relevant to buoyancy, purity and packaging. Osmium and iridium are the densest known elements at standard conditions for temperature and pressure. To simplify comparisons of density across different s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reflection (physics)
Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two different media so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves. The ''law of reflection'' says that for specular reflection (for example at a mirror) the angle at which the wave is incident on the surface equals the angle at which it is reflected. In acoustics, reflection causes echoes and is used in sonar. In geology, it is important in the study of seismic waves. Reflection is observed with surface waves in bodies of water. Reflection is observed with many types of electromagnetic wave, besides visible light. Reflection of Very high frequency, VHF and higher frequencies is important for radio transmission and for radar. Even hard X-rays and gamma rays can be reflected at shallow angles with special "grazing" mirrors. Reflection of light Reflection of light is either ''Specular reflection, specular'' (mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Refract
In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomenon, but other waves such as sound waves and water waves also experience refraction. How much a wave is refracted is determined by the change in wave speed and the initial direction of wave propagation relative to the direction of change in speed. For light, refraction follows Snell's law, which states that, for a given pair of media, the ratio of the sines of the angle of incidence ''θ1'' and angle of refraction ''θ2'' is equal to the ratio of phase velocities (''v''1 / ''v''2) in the two media, or equivalently, to the refractive indices (''n''2 / ''n''1) of the two media. :\frac =\frac=\frac Optical prisms and lenses use refraction to redirect light, as does the human eye. The refractive index of materials varies with the wavelengt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snell's Law
Snell's law (also known as Snell–Descartes law and ibn-Sahl law and the law of refraction) is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through a boundary between two different isotropic media, such as water, glass, or air. This law was named after the Dutch astronomer and mathematician Willebrord Snellius (also called Snell). In optics, the law is used in ray tracing to compute the angles of incidence or refraction, and in experimental optics to find the refractive index of a material. The law is also satisfied in meta-materials, which allow light to be bent "backward" at a negative angle of refraction with a negative refractive index. Snell's law states that, for a given pair of media, the ratio of the sines of angle of incidence (\theta_1 ) and angle of refraction (\theta_2 ) is equal to the refractive index of the second medium w.r.t the first (n21) which is equal to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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