DYNAMIC GEOLOGY

ENGINEERING GEOLOGY

The Lithosphere
o Litho = stone o Hence, lithosphere stands for the stony

part of the Earth!

o It refers to the uppermost shell of the

Earth, i.e. the crust, and a portion of the second layer, the mantle, up to which the

material exists in a definite solid state

Introduction to Seismology
o Seismology is the study of the elastic/seismic

waves generated within the earth, during earthquakes

o The study of seismic waves forms the single

most important source of information for the

interior of the Earth
o Every earthquake generates two types of

waves: body (P and S) and surface (L) waves

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Thompson and Turk

P Wave

S Wave

Propagation of Body and Surface waves

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Properties of Seismic Waves

o In a uniform, homogeneous medium, a wave

radiates outward in concentric spheres, at constant velocity

o The velocity of a seismic wave depends on the

nature of the material that it travels through

o Boundaries between the Earths layers refract

and reflect seismic waves

o P waves are compressional waves and travel

through all gases, liquids, and solids, whereas S

waves travel only through solids

The Path of a Seismic Wave

Internal Structure of the Earth

The Earth is divided into three well defined

shells or zones:
o The Crust o The Mantle o The Core

Internal Structure of the Earth

http://en.wikipedia.org

Internal Structure of the Earth

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1. The Crust
o The uppermost solid shell of the earth o It has a varying thickness:
o Under the oceans o Under the continents o Under the mountains

: : :

5-6 km 30-35 km 60-70 km

o The Continental Crust is divided into three

layers: A, B and C

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Continental and Oceanic Crust

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The A Layer
o Also known as the upper layer o Thickness is in between 2-10 km o Mostly made up of sedimentary rocks o This layer is of low density, 2.2 g/cc o The P wave velocities range from 1.8 to

5.0 km/sec

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The B Layer
o Relatively denser, 2.4 to 2.6 g/cc o Comprised chiefly of granites and gneisses,

hence called the Granite Layer

o At places, the layer cures thickness > 20

km
o Seismic waves attain velocities from 5 to

6.2 km/s
o Referred to, as the SIAL layer
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The C Layer
o The lowermost layer of the Continental crust o Thickness is in between 25-40 km o Mostly made up of basic minerals, hence

called SIMA layer

o This layer is of densities, 2.8 to 3.3 g/cc
o The P wave velocities range from 6 to 7.6

km/sec
o The Oceanic Crust is generally an extension

of the C layer

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SIAL and SIMA layers

P Singh
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2. The Mantle
o Refers to the second concentric shell of the

earth, that lies beneath the crust

o Starting from the lower boundary of the crust,

the mantle continues to a depth of 2900 km

o The mantle is divided into outer and inner

mantles, at about 900-1000 km below the earth

o A portion of the upper mantle, is plastic, rather

than solid, and is called the Asthenosphere.

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The Asthenosphere
o It is the highly viscous, mechanically weak,

ductilely deforming region of the upper mantle

o It is thought to extend from 100km to 500km

beneath the surface

o The temperature of the materials that make up

the Asthenosphere tend to be just below their melting point

o The upper part of the Asthenosphere is believed

to be the zone upon which the lithospheric plates

of the earths crust move about

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Internal Structure of the Earth

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3. The Core
o The core begins from a depth of 2900 km, and

extends to the center of the Earth

o It is divided into the outer and inner cores
o The outer core extends from a depth of 2900 km to

4580 km below the Earths surface and behaves like a liquid

o The inner core is believed to be soft metallic, made

up of nickel and iron alloys

o The density at the centre of the Earth is 13.0 g/cc
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Internal Structure of the Earth

P Singh

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Seismic Discontinuities
o The P and S waves reach the surface

seismographic stations, after being reflected

and refracted at various depths

o A major change in the velocity of these waves

at some specific depths indicate a change in nature of the material at that particular depth
o Such major changes are called Seismic

Discontinuities, they demarcate the internal

zones of the earth
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1. Mohorovicic Discontinuity
o Also known as the Crust-Mantle discontinuity,

or the Moho
o Occurs at a depth of 30-40 km below

continents and 5-6 km below oceans

o At these depths, both P and S waves undergo

a sharp increase in their velocity

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P wave velocity in the Crust and upper Mantle

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2. Guttenberg Discontinuity
o Known as the Mantle-Core discontinuity

o At a depth of 2900 km, the P waves

become sluggish, and S waves get stopped

o This discontinuity between the Mantle and

the Core, is the Guttenberg discontinuity

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Major Discontinuities

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3. Lehmann Discontinuity
o Refers to an abrupt

increase in P and S wave velocities at depths of 220-230 km

o It appears beneath

continents, but not

below oceans
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Paths of Seismic Waves

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Reference
Parbin Singh, Engineering and General Geology, S K

Kataria & Sons

Chenna Kesavulu, N, Textbook of Engineering

Geology, MacMillan India

Reddy, D V, Engineering Geology, Vikas Publishing

House
Garg, S K, Physical and Engineering Geology, Khanna

Publishers
Thompson, G R and J Turk, Introduction to Physical

Geology, Thomson Brooks/Cole

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