seismic waves

Question 1

p wave?

Answer 1

primary wave
longditudinal
(body wave)

Question 2

s wave?

Answer 2

secondary wave
transverse
(body wave)

Question 3

L wave?

Answer 3

love (or raliegh) wave

transverse (surface wave)

Question 4

p wave shadow zone

Answer 4

103-142 degrees

Question 5

s wave shadow zone

Answer 5

103-103 degrees

Question 6

p wave travel

Answer 6

The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth.

Question 7

s wave travel

Answer 7

An S wave is slower than a P wave and can only move through solid rock, not through any liquid medium. It is this property of S waves that led seismologists to conclude that the Earth’s outer core is a liquid

Question 8

love wave

Answer 8

side to side transverse surface wave (Lwave)

Question 9

raliegh wave

Answer 9

up and down transverse surface wave (Lwave)

Question 10

inner core

Answer 10

Unlike the P-wave, the S-wave cannot travel through the molten outer core of the Earth, and this causes a shadow zone for S-waves opposite to where they originate. They can still appear in the solid inner core: when a P-wave strikes the boundary of molten and solid cores, called the Lehmann discontinuity, S-waves will then propagate in the solid medium. And when the S-waves hit the boundary again they will in turn create P-waves. This property allows seismologists to determine the nature of the inner core.