Can Primary waves travel through the outer core?

Can Primary waves travel through the outer core?

P and S waves together are sometimes called body waves because they can travel through the body of the earth, and are not trapped near the surface. These waves can travel through solids, liquids, and gases. P waves can travel through the liquid outer core.

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.

What happens to seismic waves that pass through the outer core?

What happens to seismic waves that pass through the outer core? S-waves are bent around the outer core. When the earth’s interior composition becomes more dense, does a seismic waves traveling through increase or decrease in velocity? Increase.

What do P waves tell us about the outer core?

P-waves slow down at the mantle core boundary, so we know the outer core is less rigid than the mantle. S-waves disappear at the mantle core boundary, so the outer core is liquid.

Which waves Cannot pass through the outer core?

The bending of seismic waves is called refraction. 6. Figure 19.2b: S-waves do not travel through the outer core, creating an even bigger shadow zone for S-waves. The fact that S-waves do not travel through the outer core suggests that the latter is liquid.

Why is there a sudden drop in P wave velocity at the core mantle boundary?

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. The bending of seismic waves is called refraction.

What is the speed of S and P waves in the outer core?

Typical values for P wave velocity in earthquakes are in the range 5 to 8 km/s. The precise speed varies according to the region of the Earth’s interior, from less than 6 km/s in the Earth’s crust to 13.5 km/s in the lower mantle, and 11 km/s through the inner core.

Why does the line for S wave velocity disappear in the outer core?

Why does the line for S-wave velocity disappear in the outer core? S-waves do not travel through liquids, and the outer core is liquid. The wavelength of the tsunami decreases as the wave height builds.

Why can’t s wave pass through the outer core?

S waves cannot pass through the liquid outer core, but P waves can. The waves are refracted as they travel through the Earth due to a change in density of the medium. When the waves cross the boundary between two different layers, there is a sudden change in direction due to refraction. …

What happen when seismic waves travel deeper into the crust?

Seismic stations located at increasing distances from the earthquake epicenter will record seismic waves that have traveled through increasing depths in the Earth. Molten areas within the Earth slow down P waves and stop S waves because their shearing motion cannot be transmitted through a liquid.

How are seismic waves used to locate Earth’s core?

Scientists noticed that seismic stations on opposite sides of the earth would never receive S-waves (giving evidence that the outer core is in fact a liquid). Timing when each wave arrives at a seismic station can help locate an earthquake.

Which is set of waves are probably the primary waves?

Which set of waves are probably the primary waves? Earth formed in a swirling disk of matter surrounding the sun. As particles in the disk collided and stuck together, they grew larger and some eventually became planets. What force was responsible for the collisions between these particles? The least dense layer is the __?__

What kind of waves travel through the Earth?

The waves of energy that travel through the earth and cause earthquakes and related phenomena are seismic waves. There are two types of seismic waves : Body waves are the waves that can travel through the layers of the earth. They are the fastest waves and as a result, the first waves that seismographs can record.

Which is slower p wave or S wave?

S waves, or Secondary waves, are the second waves to arrive during an earthquake. They are much slower than P waves and can travel only through solids. It is after studying the trajectory of S waves through the layers of earth, scientists were able to conclude that the earth’s outer core is liquid.