Earth Structure

• Earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old ± 50

million years.
• Earth is the fifth- largest in the solar system.
• The radius of the earth is about 6,370 km.
• Earth is the third closest plant to the sun.
• Earth is the only plant where life known to exist.
• Earth is the only plant known to have large amount of liquid water.
• The average distance from the sun is about 147 million km. (only Mercury and Venus are closer to the sun)

Compositional Layers (chemical) Mechanical Layers (physical)

layers layers
Crust Mantel Core lithosphere Asthenosphere Mesosphere Barysphere
The outermost solid layer of a rocky The earth's middle and The innermost and deepest layers of The outermost and most The asthenosphere Layer beneath the Layer beneath the
planet thickest layer. the Earth rigid mechanical layer of is underneath the Asthenosphere mesosphere.
the Earth. lithosphere (upper
mantle). It is about
100km thick
0-100km (depth) 100-2900km (depth) 2900-6370km (depth) 0-100 km(depth) 100-350 km (depth) 350-2900km 5100-6370 (depth)
(depth)
It is composed mainly of Silica (Si) and It is composed mainly of It is composed mainly of iron (Fe) and includes the crust and the Soft plastic stiff plastic Include (inner core and
Aluminum (Al) it is often termed as Silicon and Magnesium nickel (Ni) and hence it is also called top of the mantle outer core)
SIAL and hence it is also termed as NIFE.
as SIMA.
constitutes nearly 1% of the earth’s constitutes nearly 84% of constitutes nearly 15% of earth’s It can be very thin, under -It is in between 80- It encompasses
volume and 0.5% of earth’s mass the earth’s volume and volume and 32.5% of earth’s mass. oceanic crust or mid- 200km. the lower mantle,
67% of the earth’s mass ocean ridges, or very thick, where material
Mean density = 3g/cm3. Mean density = 3.3 – The core is the densest layer of the 150+ km under -It is highly viscous, still flows but at a
5.4g/cm3. earth. continental crust mechanically weak, much slower rate
Mean density = 9.5-14.5g/cm3. (mountain belts) and ductile than the
Oceanic crust Continental crust Upper Lower Inner core Outer core asthenosphere.
mantle mantle
5-10 km 15-70 km responsible Thicker than Solid state Liquid state
(thickness) (thickness) for upper
tectonic mantle
plates
More dense less dense rock More Less Magnetic field is It is too hot to
rock (mafic) such as granite viscous viscous generated by this hold magnetic
basalt extruded (felsic) (~2.7 with solid core & its field and its
at mid-ocean g/cm3) and liquid thickness is 2260 radius is
ridges (~3.0 properties km 1216km
g/cm3)
Seismic waves
• “The sudden release of energy in the form waves due to geological processes e.g., plate tectonic movements, fault
breaking is known as seismic waves”.
• Our knowledge about the internal structure of Earth comes mainly from earthquakes (studying seismic waves).

Body waves Surface waves

Definition Seismic waves that move along the earth’s interior Seismic waves that move along the earth’s surface
They travel at the greater depth due to high amplitude and low wavelength - They make the ground roll up and down or shake from side to side.
- Surface waves cause the largest ground movements and the most
Properties
damage.
- Surface waves travel more slowly than the other seismic waves.
Types They have two types: P-wave and S-wave They have two types: love waves and Rayleigh waves
Primary waves Secondary waves Love waves Raleigh waves
Name P-waves or Pressure waves S- waves or Shear waves Ground roll wave
P-waves pass through a material, the particles of the S-waves pass through the material, the particles - Love waves move the ground - Rayleigh waves roll along the ground.
material are slightly pushed together and pulled are shaken up and down > side to side in horizontal plane - Rayleigh waves cause the ground to
apart. but at the right angles to the shake in an elliptical motion.
Travel
direction of propagation. - Rayleigh waves include both
mechanism
- Love waves are essentially that longitudinal and transverse motion that
of S-waves that have no vertical decreases exponentially in amplitude as
displacement. the surface increases.
It can travel through the solids only.
-The S-waves cannot pass though the earth’s
Medium It can travel through solids, liquids, and gases.
outer core because outer core is not solid.

- The fastest kind of seismic waves.

- The first to arrive at seismograph.
- General speed = 5-8 km/sec.
- The fastest speed of p-waves through the earth’s - The speed of the S-waves is about half of the
Speed
core = 13-14 km/sec. speed of the P-waves through the earth interior.
- It is much faster through the denser rocks like
basalt and granite = 6 km/sec.

Location on
First one on the seismogram Second on the seismogram The last one on the seismogram.
seismogram
The horizontal shaking of love
Effect on As the primary waves pass through the material, the As the s-wave pass through the material, the
waves is damaging to the
materials volume and density of the material change slightly material changes slightly in shape.
foundation to the of structures.
Q: why do P-waves travel faster than S-waves?
P waves are compression waves that apply force in the direction of propagation. as the interior of the earth is incompressible, p waves transmit their
energy quite easily through the medium and thus travel quickly. But S waves are shear waves that the motion of the medium is perpendicular to the
direction of propagation of the wave. Thus, energy is less transmitted through the medium and thus travels slowly.

Seismogram
A seismogram is a record written by a seismograph in response to ground motions produced by
an earthquake, explosion, or other ground-motion sources.

Mathematical formulas to calculate the velocity of P-wave and S-wave

Vp is represented as Velocity of P waves Vs is represented as Velocity of S waves E = elastic modulus

⍴ = mass density of elastic medium
𝒗 = Poisson ratio
G = Shear modulus

RELATION OF SEISMIC WAVES WITH EARTH’S STRUCTURE

• The abrupt change in the propagation velocity of the seismic waves generated by earthquakes,
extraterrestrial impacts, explosions, and tidal effects differentiate the mantle, the outer core, and the
inner core. The type of waves that are useful for understanding the Earth’s Interior is the body
waves.
• Mantle rock is generally denser and stronger than crustal rock and both P and S waves travel faster
through the mantle than do through the crust. Seismic waves velocities are related to how tightly
compressed rock is.
• The level of compression increases dramatically with depth and seismic waves are affected by the
state of the rock. If there is any degree of melting in the rock, the seismic wave velocities will be
slowed. If the material is completely liquid, the P waves are slowed, and S waves are stopped
completely.
• Accurate seismometers have been used for earthquake studies since the late 1900s and the
systematic use of seismic data to understand Earth’s Interior started in the 1900s.
• The rate of change of seismic waves with depth in Earth has been determined over the past several
decades by analyzing seismic signals from large earthquakes at seismic stations around the world.
Observations of slight variations in the arrival times of signals at various sites have led scientists to conclude that:
1. Velocities are greater in mantle rock than in the crust.
2. Velocities generally increase with pressure and therefore with depth.
3. Velocities slow in the area 100 km and 260 km depth (called the “low velocity zone”; equivalent to the
asthenosphere).
4. Velocities increase dramatically at 660 km depth (because of mineralogical transition).
5. Velocities slow in the region just above the core mantle boundary (the D layer or “Ultra velocity zone).
6. S waves do not pass through the outer part of the core.
7. P waves velocities increase dramatically at the boundary between the liquid outer core and solid inner
core.

Mohorovičić discontinuity is an amazing discovery with the help of seismic waves.

o The boundary between the crust and the mantle is known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity (or Moho).
o Seismic waves refraction between layers identified it. After an earthquake in 1909, Andrija Mohorovicic noticed that the earthquake waves were refracted at a specific depth
beneath the earth's surface.
o Mohorovicic reasoned from his findings that the earth's structure changed when the earthquake waves refracted. His reasoning suggests the earth's interior is divided into
the crust and the mantle.
o The Mohorovicic Discontinuity is named after Andrija Mohorovicic, who identified the change in the earth's structure.
o Its depth is between 60 km and 80 km beneath major mountain ranges, around 30 km to 50 km beneath most of the continental crust, and between 5 km and 10 km beneath
the oceanic crust.

Identification of waves on seismogram

• Earthquakes produce different types of seismic waves that can be identified into the seismogram.

• Each seismograph station produces three seismograms for each earthquake because earth’s movement
is three dimensional.
• Each seismograph station provides one component direction of earthquake: X= horizontal component
Y= horizontal component
Z= vertical component
• Different instruments on the seismograph measure three types of motion: Up Down Motion
North South Motion
East West Motion