ESS105 - Week 12: Exam Prep Summary Questions and Answers 100% Pass

ESS105 - Week 12: Exam Prep Summary Questions and Answers 100% Pass Where does most of our information on Earth's structure come from? - Seismic Waves How are seismic waves generated? - Earthquakes How are earthquakes caused? - Movement along faults What are the four types of seismic wave? - - P waves - S waves - Love waves - Rayleigh waves What are the Body Waves? - P waves S Waves Characteristics of Primary (P) waves - - Longitudinal Waves - Fastest of the seismic waves (>6.0km/s) - Can travel through solid AND liquids 2100% Pass Guarantee Olivia West, All Rights Reserved © 2025 Characteristics of Secondary (S) waves - - Shear (also called transverse waves) - Travel slower than P-waves - Can ONLY travel through solids What are the Surface waves? - Rayleigh Waves Love Waves In what direction do seismic waves propagate? - Outward from the hypocenter of an earthquake What do we use to measure seismic waves? - We use seismometers What are seismic shadows? - Seismic shadow zones occur when seismometers can't detect earthquakes What is significant about S-wave shadow zones? - S-waves cannot pass through the core because it is liquid! What is significant about P-wave shadow zones? - They change speed upon entering the liquid outer core, causing them to refract! What is refraction? - The bending of waves due to a change in speed What do the curved paths of the waves tell us? - That the seismic wave speed is changing with depth, meaning it is passing through different material 3100% Pass Guarantee Olivia West, All Rights Reserved © 2025 What causes changes in wave speeds with depth? - - Changes in chemistry or mineral structure - Other changes in the physical properties What is Plate Tectonics - A theory explaining that Earth has a relatively rigid outermost layer (the lithosphere) that overlies a less rigid layer (the asthenosphere). The lithosphere is divided into discrete units called tectonic plates, that move relative to each other What are the 3 types of plate margins? - Constructive, Destructive, Transform What are constructive plates? - They move apart What are destructive plates? - They collide, or move towards each other What are transform plates? - They slide in opposite directions beside each other What are formed at Constructive Margins? - Ocean basins