How do P waves travel through the mantle?
How do P waves travel through the mantle?
4. Figure 19.2a: P-waves generally bend outward as they travel through the mantle due to the increased density of mantle rocks with depth. When P-waves strike the outer core, however, they bend downward when traveling through the outer core and bend again when they leave.
How do P waves travel through the layers of the earth?
In a P wave, the rock particles are alternately squished together and pulled apart (called compressions and dilatations), so P waves are also called compressional waves. These waves can travel through solids, liquids, and gases. P waves can travel through the liquid outer core. An S wave is a different beast.
Can P waves move through all layers of the earth?
The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth.
What happens to P waves when they reach the core mantle boundary?
The P–wave velocity increases smoothly beneath 700 km through the lower mantle to ∼ 13.6 km/s at the core–mantle boundary. Just above this boundary there appears to be a layer in which the velocity flattens out or may even decrease slightly.
Do P waves travel through the crust?
They also study how a quake’s energy spreads through Earth’s crust, as well as the deeper layers of our planet. The fastest seismic waves are known as P waves. P waves travel through rock the same way that sound waves do through air.
Why can P waves pass through the deepest part of the Earth?
P-waves travel through liquids and gases as well as through solids. Because the earth’s mantle becomes more rigid and compressible as the depth below the asthenosphere increases, P-waves travel faster as they go deeper in the mantle. The density of the mantle also increases with depth below the asthenosphere.
What material of the Earth can P waves pass through?
P waves can travel through solids, liquids and gases. That’s one big difference between them and the other types of seismic waves, which typically travel only through solids (such as rock).
What happens to the P waves when they are approaching the molten part of the Earth’s interior?
Molten areas within the Earth slow down P waves and stop S waves because their shearing motion cannot be transmitted through a liquid. Partially molten areas may slow down the P waves and attenuate or weaken S waves.
Where do P waves travel slowest?
P-waves travel through solids, liquids, and gases. S-waves are slower than P-waves.
What is the path of a P wave through the mantle?
Rays change direction at the boundary between two materials. Therefore, if the mantle is homogeneous then a P wave will take a straight line path with a constant velocity through it. If the mantle is not homogeneous then the P wave’s velocity will not be constant all the way through and its path will not be a straight line.
How do P and S waves travel through the Earth?
P and S waves’ paths through Earth The speed of P waves and S waves increases as they travel deeper into the Earth’s mantle. They travel through the Earth in curved paths, but they change direction suddenly when they pass through the boundary between substances in different states.
What is a P wave in seismology?
P waves. P waves, or Primary waves, are the first waves to arrive at a seismograph. P waves are the fastest seismic waves and can move through solid, liquid or gas.
What is the difference between P waves and S waves?
In a P wave, the rock particles are alternately squished together and pulled apart (called compressions and dilatations), so P waves are also called compressional waves. These waves can travel through solids, liquids, and gases. P waves can travel through the liquid outer core. An S wave is a different beast.
