ESC Final Exam Flashcards
A tsunami
may be just a broad, gentle swelling out at sea but grows as it approaches shore.
Aftershocks are usually
much weaker than the mainshock.
Andrija Mohorovicic discovered the crust-mantle boundary, which is now named after him, because he realized that
P-waves were refracted at the boundar
Earthquake prediction is not highly reliable, but geologists do know
more earthquakes happen along plate boundaries than happen at intraplate locations.
Earthquakes in California are
due to stick-slip behavior along the San Andrea fault.
Examining sedimentary bedding in a particular geologic area reveals disrupted layers that formed 260, 820, 1,200, 2,100, and 2,300 years ago. Assuming that all the earthquakes that have occurred in this area are represented by these disrupted layers, what is the recurrence interval of earthquakes in this area?
510 years
Interpret the travel-time curve shown. Approximately how many minutes elapsed between the arrival of the first P-wave and the arrival of the first S-wave at Station 3?

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Liquefaction
can affect sand layers below the ground surface and cause them to erupt as sand volcanoes or sand boils.
Long-term earthquake predictions
are based on the study of historic recurrence intervals.
One difference between P- and S-waves is that
only P-waves can travel through a liquid.
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was so destructive because
of poor construction standards that caused many buildings to collapse.
The Modified Mercalli Intensity scale measures
earthquake damage.
The P-wave shadow zone marks the
core-mantle boundary.
The Richter scale
measures the size of earthquake by the amount of ground motion.
The S-wave shadow zone indicates
the outer core is liquid.
The areas shown in gray occur because

P-waves are refracted at the core-mantle boundary.
The earthquake foci pattern east of Australia and just north of New Zealand indicates which tectonic setting?

Convergent plate boundary
The locations of major earthquakes
are usually along plate boundaries.
To find the location of an earthquake’s epicenter, you need to calculate the distance from the epicenter to ____ different seismometer stations.
3
When a fault slips and the rock units on either side return to their original shape by generating vibrations, it is called
elastic rebound.
Which of the following is a good technique for building safer structures in an earthquake zone?
Use wood-frame construction.
Which peripheral hazard of earthquakes caused the damage shown in the photo?

Landslide
Which type of wave is a compressional body wave?
P-wave
A radioactive isotope of the element potassium decays to produce argon. If the ratio of the number of argon to potassium atoms is found to be 7:1, how many half-lives have occurred since the sample of radioactive potassium started to decay?
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