PROBING THE DEEP EARTH SEISMOLOGY USES TRAVEL TIMES AND AMPLITUDES OF SEISMIC WAVES TO STUDY VARIATIONS IN SEISMIC

WAVE VELOCITY & DENSITY + GRAVITY STUDIES MEASURE VARIATIONS IN DENSITY + MAGNETIC STUDIES GIVE INSIGHT INTO CORE'S MAGNETIC FIELD + LABORATORY STUDIES OF ROCK PROPERTIES -----------> MODELS OF EARTH'S COMPOSITION, TEMPERATURE, & INTERNAL PROCESSES

SEISMIC WAVES DISTURBANCES AS FUNCTION OF SPACE & TIME THAT TRAVEL THROUGH SOLID EARTH LIKE SOUND WAVES, LIGHT (ELECTROMAGNETIC) WAVES, OR WATER WAVES USE SEISMIC WAVES TO SEE INSIDE EARTH LIKE LIGHT (VISION, XRAYS) OR SOUND (ULTRASOUND, SONAR, DOLPHINS, BATS)
Davidson 8.11

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RECORDING SEISMIC WAVES 2ND CENTURY CHINESE SEISMOGRAPH SEISMOMETERSBALLS COME FROM DRAGONS MOUTH USE SPRING-MASS SYSTEM TO WHEN WAVES ARRIVE RECORD GROUND MOTION WITH TIME

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Davidson 8.14

- 3 components (north-south; east-west, up-down) - Precise timing (GPS satellites) - Amplitude calibrated - Digital recording and data available on www

WAVES: FUNCTIONS OF SPACE AND TIME

LIKE SWIMMER'S VIEW FROM FIXED LOCATION: WAVE AT BEACH AS FUNCTION OF TIME

LIKE LIFEGUARD'S VIEW AT FIXED TIME: WAVES ALL OVER BEACH AS FUNCTION OF POSITION
LIKE SEISMOGRAM --->

SEISMIC WAVES OCCUR BECAUSE AN APPLIED FORCE MAKES ROCK DEFORM ELASTICALLY & THEN RETURNS TO ORIGINAL SHAPE
COMPRESSION - VOLUME CHANGES

SHEAR- DISTORTION: SHAPE CHANGES

Davidson 5.3

TWO TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES P OR COMPRESSIONAL WAVES - VOLUME CHANGES MATERIAL COMPRESSED OR EXPANDED IN DIRECTION WAVE PROPAGATES S OR SHEAR WAVES DISTORTION WITHOUT VOLUME CHANGES MATERIAL SHEARED IN DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO WAVE PROPAGATES

P WAVES TRAVEL FASTER (ABOUT 1.7x) THAN S WAVES

Davidson 5.5

SEISMIC WAVE SPEED (VELOCITY)

DEPENDS ON ELASTIC CONSTANTS (MODULI) & DENSITY OF MATERIAL K - BULK MODULUS - LARGER K IS HARDER TO COMPRESS - SHEAR MODULUS - LARGER IS HARDER TO SHEAR - DENSITY

COMPRESSIONAL (P) WAVE SPEED VP DEPENDS ON BOTH MODULI BUT SHEAR (S) WAVE SPEED VS DEPENDS ON ONLY SHEAR MODULUS S WAVES CANNOT TRAVEL THROUGH LIQUID ( = 0) LIKE OUTER CORE IN CRUST, VP ABOUT 6.5 km/s - 14,650 miles/hr

AS SEISMIC WAVES TRAVEL FROM MATERIAL OF ONE SPEED AND DENSITY TO ANOTHER INCIDENT (INCOMING) WAVES ARE REFLECTED AND TRANSMITTED (REFRACTED)
FAST

SLOW

BOTH THE ANGLES AND SIZE (AMPLITUDE) OF WAVES CHANGE, DEPENDING ON VELOCITY AND DENSITY CHANGE THIS EFFECT LETS US STUDY EARTH STRUCTURE

(AND IS USED IN LENSES, EYEGLASSES, ETC. FOR LIGHT)

SNELLS LAW
DESCRIBES BENDING AS SEISMIC WAVES TRAVEL FROM MATERIAL OF ONE SPEED TO ANOTHER
ANGLES OF THE INCIDENT, REFLECTED, AND REFRACTED (TRANSMITTED) RAYS

FAST

SLOW

RELATED BY SNELLS LAW

(SIN i)/VELOCITY = CONSTANT

FROM FASTER TO SLOWER MATERIAL- REFRACTED WAVES BENDS TOWARDS VERTICAL FROM SLOWER TO FASTER MATERIAL- REFRACTED WAVES BENDS TOWARDS HORIZONAL

SNELLS LAW DESCRIBES OTHER FAMILIAR EFFECTS

DIFFERENT COLORS (WAVELENGTHS) OF LIGHT TRAVEL AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS IN WATER OR GLASS, SO REFRACTED AT DIFFERENT ANGLES

RAINDROPS CAUSE THE RAINBOW. THIS IS WHY YOU ONLY SEE A RAINBOW WHEN THE SUN IS BEHIND YOU

CRITICAL ANGLE

WAVES GOING INTO A HIGHER VELOCITY MATERIAL (V2>V1) CAN HAVE TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION WHERE REFRACTED (TRANSMITTED) WAVE IS ALONG INTERFACE IN EARTH, REFRACTED WAVES ALONG CRUST/MANTLE BOUNDARY (MOHOROVICIC DISCONTINUITY)

OTHER APPLICATIONS- FIBER OPTICS- LIGHT TRAPPED IN A LOW VELOCITY FIBER

REFLECTION (R) AND TRANSMISSION (T) COEFFICIENTS

RATIO OF AMPLITUDES (SIZE) AS WAVES TRAVEL FROM MATERIAL OF ONE SPEED (V) AND DENSITY () TO ANOTHER

VL, L

VR, R

TRANSMISSION COEFFICIENT:

Transmitted/Incident
REFLECTION COEFFICIENT: Reflected/Incident
http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/seth/demos/STRING/string.html

TSUNAMI wave speed = (water depth x acceleration of gravity)1/2

NY Times

TRAVEL TIME PLOTS SHOW WHEN SEISMIC WAVES ARRIVE AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES FROM AN EARTHQUAKE OR SEISMIC SOURCE

SHOW SEISMIC WAVE SPEED (DISTANCE/TIME)

TRAVEL TIME CURVE USED TO FIND VELOCITY AT DEPTH, WHICH CONTROLS PATH OF WAVE LEARN ABOUT STRUCTURE AT DEPTH

Davidson 5.8

PATHS TRAVELED BY DIFFERENT SEISMIC WAVES DIRECTION CHANGES AS WAVE TRAVELS THROUGH DIFFERENT VELOCITY REGIONS

STRAIGHT

BENT

SLOW FAST
Davidson 5.7

3 IMPORTANT PATHWAYS FOR SEISMIC WAVES IN CRUST WAVES MAY TRAVEL FROM SOURCE TO RECEIVER BY DIFFERENT PATHS AND DIFFERENT VELOCITIES USE TRAVEL TIME CURVE TO FIND SPEED OF WAVES IN MATERIAL AT DEPTH

SLOPE OF TRAVEL TIME CURVE = TIME/DISTANCE= 1/SPEED

SLOW FAST
Davidson 5.12

SEISMIC WAVES TAKE DIFFERENT PATHS THROUGH SPHERICAL EARTH RAY PATHS HAVE DIFFERENT NAMES, & THEIR TRAVEL TIME CURVES USED TO FIND VELOCITY AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS

PcP TRAVELS AS A P WAVE THROUGH THE MANTLE (P), REFLECTS OFF THE MANTLE/OUTER CORE BOUNDARY (c) AND THEN RETURNS TO THE SURFACE AS A P WAVE (P)
Davidson 5.9

RAY PATHS WITHIN MANTLE

PATHS REFLECTING FROM CORE-MANTLE BOUNDARY (CMB)

DIRECT

SOLID

SURFACE REFLECTED

LIQUID: NO S WAVES

SURFACE CONVERTED S -> P

GIVE DEPTH TO CORE & PROPERTIES THERE

RAY PATHS THROUGH THE OUTER CORE

AND INNER CORE

LIQUID: NO S WAVES

GIVE DEPTH TO CORE & PROPERTIES THERE

CORE SHADOW ZONE WHERE P ARRIVALS ARE WEAK & NO ARRIVALS OF DIRECT S WAVES

LIQUID IRON OUTER CORE HAS LOWER P-WAVE SPEED THAN ROCKY MANTLE, SO P-WAVES ENTERING IT (called PKP) ARE BENT DOWNWARD
NO S-WAVES CAN PROPAGATE THROUGH OUTER CORE

DETERMINED FROM TRAVEL TIME CURVES

TRAVEL TIME CURVES COMPILED FROM MANY EARTHQUAKES & SEISMOMETERS USED TO FIND VELOCITY AT DEPTH

ANALYSES OF TRAVEL TIME CURVES GIVE VELOCITIES, COMPOSITIONS, AND CHANGES WITH DEPTH 4 MAJOR REGIONS: CRUST, MANTLE, OUTER CORE, INNER CORE

Near melting at base of plates

Rapid velocity increase

Smooth velocity increase

SOLID

LIQUID

SOLID

Velocity decrease

Davidson 5.8

TRAVEL TIME CURVES GIVE VELOCITY AT DEPTH TO DETERMINE COMPOSITION, NEED TO KNOW WHAT MATERIALS COULD EXIST AT THOSE DEPTHS (PRESSURES) AND TEMPERATURES THAT WOULD HAVE OBSERVED VELOCITIES PRESSURE = DENSITY x DEPTH x ACCELERATION OF GRAVITY SO PRESSURE INCREASES WITH DEPTH 3 km depth => 1000 ATMOSPHERES 400 km => 133,000 ATMOSPHERES, ~1500C CORE-MANTLE BOUNDARY (2900 km) => 1.3 million ATMOSPHERES, ~3700C CENTER OF EARTH (6371 km) => 3.5 million ATMOSPHERES, ~4200C MATERIALS BEHAVE VERY DIFFERENTLY AT THESE CONDITIONS AT SURFACE THAN

TEMPERATURES IN THE EARTH - GEOTHERM BELOW MELTING CURVE (SOLIDUS) IN MANTLE AND SOLID INNER CORE ABOVE MELTING CURVE IN LIQUID OUTER CORE

SOLID

LIQUID

SOLID

SOLID INNER CORE FREEZES FROM OUTER CORE

Fractional crystalization as earth cools Phase diagram

Liquid core containing iron (Fe) and Sulphur (S) cools

Solid iron core freezes out

Solid

Solid

Remaining liquid core enriched in S

Composition of inner & outer cores differ

Heat released by freezing and gravitational energy released as the denser solid sinks drive convection in the outer core and thus generate magnetic field

INCREASE OF PRESSURE WITH DEPTH HAS TWO EFFECTS - STEADY COMPRESSION (SQUISHING) OF MATERIAL MAKES IT STRONGER AND DENSER AND SO INCREASES VELOCITY GRADUALLY WITH DEPTH IN UPPER (100-410 km depth) AND LOWER (660-2900 km depth) MANTLE - AT APPROPRIATE PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS MINERALS TRANSFORM TO DENSER PHASES, CAUSING THE RAPID VELOCITY INCREASES (DISCONTINUITIES) AT 410 AND 660 km depth

SIMULATING EARTHS INTERIOR

Lab experiments Pressure = Force/Area

Piston Cylinder - reach upper mantle conditions

410 km: olivine to spinel phase change

8% denser

Diamond cell - reach core conditions

DENSITY INCREASES WITH DEPTH

COMBINED EFFECT OF: Compression (squishing) slow increase Phase changes - sharp increase Changes in composition

Dense mostly iron liquid

Denser solid iron

Davidson 5.2

TOMOGRAPHY (SLICE PICTURE) BEAMS TRAVEL THROUGH OBJECT AT MANY DIFFERENT ANGLES

COMBINE BEAMS FOR DETAILED PICTURE OF VARIATIONS INSIDE OBJECT

(CAT= COMPUTED AXIAL TOMOGRAPHY) MEDICAL TOMOGRAPHY USES XRAYS (ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION) TO SEE VARIATIONS IN ABSORPTION DUE TO BONES, TISSUE ETC

SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY

Davidson 5.14

SEISMIC WAVES TRAVEL THROUGH THE EARTH ON MANY DIFFERENT PATHS COMBINE PATHS FOR A DETAILED PICTURE OF VELOCITY VARIATIONS INSIDE

East African Rift: Africa splits into Nubia (West Africa) and Somalia (East
Africa)
1-2 mm/yr
Davidson 5.16

Hot rock indicated by slow wave speed rises to fill gap as plates separate

SEISMIC TOMOGRAPHY OF MIDOCEAN RIDGE HOT UPWELLING MAGMA HAS LOW VELOCITY

Forsyth et al, 1998

TOMOGRAPHY SHOWS THERMAL STRUCTURE OF SUBDUCTING PLATE (SLAB) COLD (HIGH SEISMIC VELOCITY) OCEANIC PLATE SUBDUCTS INTO WARMER (LOWER SEISMIC VELOCITY) MANTLE WARM REGION OF BACK ARC MELTING CAUSES VOLCANOES SLAB HEATS UP SLOWLY (MILLIONS OF YEARS)

DATA

TEMPERATURE MODEL

SEISMIC REFLECTION PROFILING ARTIFICAL SOURCES GENERATE SEISMIC WAVES THAT BOUNCE OFF BOUNDARIES BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROCK. REFLECTIONS RECORDED PLOTTED AS LINES ON SEISMIC SECTION THAT SHOWS FEATURES LIKE FAULTS, FOLDS AND ROCK TYPE BOUNDARIES. TIMES OF REFLECTIONS GIVE DEPTH OF REFLECTING STRUCTURES

SEISMIC REFLECTION USED TO EXPLORE FOR OIL- AND NATURAL GASTRAPPING STRUCTURES IN SEDIMENTARY BASINS ALSO USED FOR DETAILED STUDIES OF THE DEEP CRUST

SEISMIC REFLECTION ON LAND USES "VIBROSEIS" TRUCKS THAT SHAKE THE GROUND, OR EXPLOSIONS

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Vibroseis used to map rocks in constructing Chicago Deep Tunnel Project that stores storm water overflow in the combined sewer system

SEISMIC SURVEY RESULTS SEISMOGRAMS ARE COLLECTED AND PROCESSED BY COMPUTERS TO FORM SEISMIC SECTIONS THESE SHOW STRUCTURE AT DEPTH AS AN IMAGE OF THE REFLECTED SEISMIC WAVES CAN SEE FAULTS, FOLDS, DOMES, ETC STRUCTURES SHOW THE GEOLOGY OF AN AREA AND MAY BE "TRAPS" FOR OIL OR NATURAL GAS (WHICH CANNOT BE SEEN DIRECTLY)

OIL?

TIME ON SEISMOGRAM
DEPTH = 2 x SPEED x TIME TO REFLECTOR

VANCOUVER ISLAND
IMAGE OF JUAN DE FUCA PLATE SUBDUCTING FENEATH NORTH AMERICA FROM SEISMIC REFLECTION DATA