Understanding the structure of the earth • P waves act to and from while S waves vibrate

1. Layers of the Earth sideways

a. Inner Core: (Solid) • P waves pass through liquids while S waves
- Hottest part of the earth, it is as hot as the surface of the cannot pass through liquids. Reason is that there
sun. liquids don’t have rigidity.
- It is a dense metallic core made up mostly of iron (85%) • Refraction is the bending of waves.
and nickel (15%). Gives earth’s magnetic field. • Earthquake waves refract or change the speed
- Gives highest pressure which pulls the weight of the and direction when they pass another medium
earth. • Shadow regions- places where both S-waves and
- where radioactive chemicals breakdown. P-waves arrive.
b. Outer core: • Study and analysis of earthquake waves have
- liquid core, 2400km thick given geologist an idea of interior of the earth.
- Produces the earth’s magnetic field • Beno Gutenbuberg – seismologist back in 1914
- made up of iron and nickel who explained the occurrence of the liquid core
c. Mantle: beginning the depth of around 2900 km.
- Thickest part of the earth
- made of iron and solid rock(silicate rocks)
- rocks move like liquid(silly putty)
-where conduction and convection take place
Composed of 2 layers:
+Lower mantle- completely solid
+Upper mantle(asthenosphere) – liquid part and where
convection take place
d. Crust:
- Contained in the lithosphere
- Earth’s outer surface, a cold, thin, brittle outer shell
made of rocks. Activities and Phenomena inside the Earth
- thinnest layer of the earth The Core:
- divided into two parts: • Based on studies of dense meteorites (parts of
+ Oceanic Crust – ocean floor other planets), we can reasonably assume that
- composed of magma that erupts on the seafloor and the Earth’s solid core is composed mainly
sedimentary rocks. of iron (around 80%), with small amounts of
+ Continental Crust nickel.
- Where we live • The liquid outer core is composed of iron mixed
- Thicker than oceanic with nickel and trace amounts of lighter
- less dense than oceanic, it rises higher on the mantle elements.
- is made up of many different types of igneous, • At present, we believe that convection in the
metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. liquid outer core combined with the rotation of
the Earth causes the Earth’s magnetic field.
Earth’s Interior The Mantle:
1. Methods and Techniques in Studying Earth’s • The mantle, divided into two parts of
Interior. differing viscosity, is composed of silicate rocks
• Seismographs- records the ground shaking. that are rich in iron and magnesium compared to
Seismograms are the printed images of the the crust.
vibrations. • High temperatures within the mantle cause the
• The greater the earthquake energy, the greater solid material to behave in a viscous manner,
the amplitude. rather like bitumen used in roading – it can be
Earthquake waves: shattered with a hammer but, over time, can flow
Seismogram show the several types of seismic waves are like a liquid.
generated when rocks vibrate at the focus. Two main types: • Convection of the mantle creates the movement
1. P- waves or Primary waves – they are first to reach the of the tectonic plates of the crust and uppermost
distant seismograph station for the simple reasons that mantle. It is these plate movements that cause
they travel faster. (5.2 km/hr) earthquakes.
2. S-waves or Secondary waves- travel slower, at about half
the speed of the P-waves. (3.6 km/hr)
• P waves and S waves radiate from the focus.
Plate Tectonics Theory
• Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer
shell is divided into several plates that glide over
the mantle
• The plates act like a hard and rigid shell
compared to Earth's mantle. This strong outer
layer is called the lithosphere, which is 100 km
(60 miles) thick
• The lithosphere includes the crust and outer part
of the mantle. Below the lithosphere is the
asthenosphere, which is malleable or partially
malleable, allowing the lithosphere to move
around.
• The driving force behind plate tectonics is
convection in the mantle. Hot material near the
Earth's core rises, and colder mantle rock sinks.
• There are nine major plates, according to World
Atlas. These plates are named after the
landforms found on them. The nine major plates
are North American, Pacific, Eurasian, African,
Indo-Australian, Australian, Indian, South
American and Antarctic.
• The largest plate is the Pacific Plate at 39,768,522
square miles (103,000,000 square kilometers).
Most of it is located under the ocean. It is moving
northwest at a speed of around 2.75 inches (7
cm) per year.
Seafloor Spreading Theory
Continental Drift Theory
• Continental drift was a revolutionary scientific
theory developed in the years 1908-1912
by Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), a German
meteorologist, climatologist, and geophysicist,
that put forth the hypothesis that the continents
had all originally been a part of one enormous
landmass or supercontinent about 240 million
years ago before breaking apart and drifting to
their current locations.
• Wegener postulated that about 200 million years
ago, a supercontinent that he called Pangaea
(which means "all lands" in Greek) began to break
up.
• Over millions of years the pieces separated, first
into two smaller supercontinents, Laurasia and
Gondwanaland, during the Jurassic period and
then by the end of the Cretaceous period into the
continents we know today.
• Wegener first presented his ideas in 1912 and
then published them in 1915 in his controversial
book, "The Origins of Continents and Oceans,"
• Evidences:
o A map of the continents inspired
Wegener's quest to explain Earth's
geologic history. Trained as a
meteorologist, he was intrigued by the
interlocking fit of Africa's and South
America's shorelines. Wegener then
assembled an impressive amount of
evidence to show that Earth's
continents were once connected in a
single supercontinent.
o Wegener knew that fossil plants and
animals such as mesosaurs, a
freshwater reptile found only South
America and Africa during the Permian
period, could be found on many
continents. He also matched up rocks
on either side of the Atlantic Ocean like
puzzle pieces.
• The seafloor spreading hypothesis was proposed
by the American geophysicist Harry H. Hess in
1960.
• theory that oceanic crust forms along
submarine mountain zones, known collectively as
the mid-ocean ridge system, and spreads out
laterally away from them. This idea played a
pivotal role in the development of plate
tectonics, a theory that revolutionized geologic
thought during the last quarter of the 20th
century.
• On the basis of Tharp’s efforts and other new
discoveries about the deep-ocean floor, Hess
postulated that molten material from Earth’s
mantle continuously wells up along the crests of
the mid-ocean ridges that wind for nearly 80,000
km (50,000 miles) through all the world’s oceans.
 • As the magma cools, it is pushed away from the
flanks of the ridges. This spreading creates a Composite volcanoes are steep-
successively younger ocean floor, and the flow of sided volcanoes composed of many
material is thought to bring about the migration, layers of volcanic rocks, usually
or drifting apart, of the continents. made from high-viscosity lava, ash
• The continents bordering the Atlantic Ocean, for and rock debris.
example, are believed to be moving away from
the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at a rate of 1–2 cm (0.4–
0.8 inch) per year, thus increasing the breadth of Shield volcanoes are
the ocean basin by twice that amount. Wherever volcanoes shaped like a bowl
continents are bordered by deep-sea or shield in the middle with
trench systems, as in the Pacific Ocean, the ocean long gentle slopes made by
floor is plunged downward, underthrusting the basaltic lava flows. Basalt lava
continents and ultimately reentering and flows from these volcanoes
dissolving in Earth’s mantle, from which it had are called flood basalts. The
originated. volcanoes that formed the
basalt of the Columbia Plateau
Volcanoes were shield volcanoes.
• A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to
a pool of molten rock below the surface of the
earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur.
Gases and rock shoot up through the opening
and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments.
• Eruptions can cause lateral blasts, lava flows, hot
ash flows, mudslides, avalanches, falling ash and
floods. Volcano eruptions have been known to
knock down entire forests. An erupting volcano Lava domes are formed when erupting lava is too
can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, thick to flow and makes a steep-sided mound as
mudflows and rockfalls. the lava piles up near the volcanic vent.
How are volcanoes formed?
o Volcanoes are formed when magma from within What is the Ring of Fire?
the Earth's upper mantle works its way to the The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of frequent earthquakes
surface. At the surface, it erupts to form lava and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific
flows and ash deposits. Over time as the volcano Ocean. The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to
continues to erupt, it will get bigger and bigger. over 50% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes.
What are the stages of Volcanoes? Ninety percent of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the
• Scientists have categorized volcanoes into three world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.
main categories: active, dormant, and extinct.
• An active volcano is one which has recently
erupted and there is a possibility that it may
erupt soon.
• A dormant volcano is one which has not erupted
in a long time but there is a possibility it can
erupt in the future.
• An extinct volcano is one which has erupted
thousands of years ago and there’s no possibility
of eruption.
What are the different types of volcanoes?
Volcanoes are grouped into four types: cinder cones,
composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes and lava volcanoes.

Cinder cones are circular

or oval cones made up of
small fragments of lava
from a single vent that
have been blown into the
air, cooled and fallen
around the vent.
Earthquakes
Faults- are cracks or breaks in the surface of the earth.
Stress- is force exerted on the rocks. Stress may be
tension, compression or shear.
a. Tension – makes rocks part from each other
b. Compression – makes rocks push against each other
 c. Shear- makes rocks slide past each other.
The angle of the fault is called the dip angle. One side of
the fault is footwall and the other od hanging wall.
Types of Faults:
1. Normal Dip-Slip Faults- hanging wall slides down
the footwall
2. Reverse Dip-Slip Faults- the hanging wall climbs
over the footwall
3. Strike-Slip Faults- two blocks slide along each other
Divergent Faults, Convergent Faults, Transformational Faults
Tectonic Plate Boundaries:
1. Divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic
plates move away from each other.
2. Convergent boundary occurs when two plates
come together. Colliding edge can cause
mountain ranges or hills.
3. Transform plate boundaries occurs when two
plates past each other.
• Active Faults – exhibit much movement.
• Faults are inactive if they have not shifted for
million years.
• Plates- the earth’s crust is broken into huge
blocks.
• Continental Plates- are plates that carry land or
continents.
• Oceanic Plates- are plates that carry ocean.
• The Layers of the Earth are the crust, the mantle,
the outer core and the inner core. The crust is
broken into plates which are moving relative to
one another.
• The motions of the crustal plates are caused by
the convection in the mantle.
• Plate tectonics- is the study of the plates and
their movements.
• The Philippines rise on the Pacific Ring of Fire
• Elastic Rebound- is the sudden snapping of a rock
after it has withstood deformation by forces for a
very long time, in order to return to equilibrium.
• In an earthquake, energy that has built up for
extended periods of time as much as hundred
years is quickly released to the lithosphere.
• The sudden snapping of the blocks at the fault is
explained with concept of elastic rebound.
• The Philippines archipelago is outlined by
trenches. The geologic- tectonic phenomenon of
the Philippine archipelago is in fact known as the
Philippine Mobile Belt which moves as a whole
due to the tectonic activity of the plates.
• At the fault, the location where this elastic
rebound occurs is called focus or hypocenter of
the earthquake, which is deep within the earth.
• Epicenter – the spot on the surface directly above
the focus.
• Tsunami- is a Japanese word meaning “harbor
wave”. An earthquake which originate from
seabeds. The seabeds suddenly shift due to the
movement of underwater faults or due to plate
movements.
• Tsunamis are generated far out the sea. while in
the open sea waves become small and
unnoticeable, they become gigantic waves by the
time they reach the shores and harbors.
• Tsunamis will occur if the earthquake focus is at
the sea and if the seafloor moves vertically, up or
down. A large portion of seafloor rises or drops.
• The depth of the focus determines the strength
and the area of greatest destruction.
• Intensity (Modified Mercalli Scale) – is the
assessment of the effects and damages caused by
an earthquake.
• Magnitude (Richter Scale)- indicates the amount
of energy released at the focus.
• Seismographs- records the ground shaking.
Seismograms are the printed images of the
vibrations.
The greater the earthquake energy, the greater
the amplitude.