ACTIVITY 5

EARTH’S INTERIOR
Part A: Amazing Waves!
I. Objectives:
- Define seismic waves scientifically.
- Differentiate the different types of seismic waves.
- Recognize the importance of seismic waves in the study of the Earth’s interior

II. Procedure:
1. Read the given passage about Earth’s Interior
2. Using the given organizer, write the necessary information to complete the concept about
seismic waves.

Studying the Earth’s Interior Scientists tried to explore and study the interior of the Earth. Yet, until
today, there are no mechanical probes or actual explorations done to totally discover the deepest region
of the Earth. The Earth is made up of three layers: the crust, the mantle, and the core. The study of these
layers is mostly done in the Earth’s crust since mechanical probes are impossible due to the tremendous
heat and very high pressure underneath the Earth’s surface.
What are seismic waves? You learned that an earthquake is a vibration of the Earth produced by the
rapid release of energy most often because of the slippage along a fault in the Earth’s crust. This energy
radiates in all directions from the focus in the form of waves called seismic waves, which are recorded
in seismographs. The two main types of seismic waves are body waves and surface waves.

Surface waves can only travel through the surface of the Earth. They arrive after the main P and S waves
and are confined to the outer layers of the Earth. There are two types of surface waves: the Love waves
and the Rayleigh waves. Love wave is named after A.E.H. Love, a British mathematician who worked
out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in 1911. It is faster than Rayleigh wave and it moves
the ground in a side-to-side horizontal motion, like that of a snake’s causing the ground to twist. This is
why Love waves cause the most damage to structures during an earthquake. The other kind of surface
wave is the Rayleigh wave. It was named after John William Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, who mathematically
predicted the existence of this kind of wave in 1885. A Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground just like a
wave rolls across a lake or an ocean. Since it rolls, it moves the ground either up and down or side-to-
side similar to the direction of the wave’s movement. Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due
to the Rayleigh wave. Unlike surface waves, body waves can travel through the Earth’s inner layers.
With this characteristic of the body waves, they are used by scientists to study the Earth’s interior. These
waves are of a higher frequency than the surface waves. The two types of body waves are the P-waves
(primary waves) and the S-waves (secondary waves).
What are P and S-waves? The P-wave (primary wave) is a pulse energy that travels quickly through the
Earth and through liquids. The P-wave travels faster than the S-wave. After an earthquake, it reaches a
detector first (the reason why it is called primary). The P-waves also called compressional waves, travel
by particles vibrating parallel to the direction the wave travel. They force the ground to move backward
and forward as they are compressed and expanded. Most importantly, they travel through solids, liquids
and gases. The S-wave (secondary wave or shear wave) is a pulse energy that travels slower than a P-
wave through Earth and solids. The S-waves move as shear or transverse waves, and force the ground to
sway from side to side, in rolling motion that shakes the ground back and forth perpendicular to the
direction of the waves. The idea that the S-waves cannot travel through any liquid medium led
seismologists to conclude that the outer core is liquid. Figure 1 shows the vibration directions of P and
S-waves.

Scientists gained information about the Earth’s internal structure by studying how seismic waves travel
through the Earth. It involves measuring the time it takes for both types of waves to reach seismic wave
detecting stations from the epicenter of an earthquake. An epicenter is a point in the Earth’s surface
directly above the focus. Since P-waves travel faster than S-waves, they’re always detected first. The
farther away from the epicenter means the longer time interval between the arrival of P and S waves.
In 1909, Yugoslavian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić (moh-haw-rohvuh-chich) found out that the
velocity of seismic waves changes and increases at a distance of about 50 kilometers below the Earth’s
surface. This led to the idea that there is a difference in density between the Earth’s outermost layer
(crust) and the layer that lies below it (mantle). The boundary between these two layers is called
Mohorovičić discontinuity in honor of Mohorovičić, and is short termed Moho. Figure 3. Seismic waves
as they travel through the Earth
P-waves can travel through liquids while S-waves cannot. During an earthquake, the seismic waves
radiate from the focus. Based on figure on the right, the waves bend due to change in density of the
medium. As the depth increases, the density also increases
P-waves are detected on the other side of the Earth opposite the focus. A shadow zone from 103° to 142°
exists from P-waves as shown in Figure 3. Since P-waves are detected until 103°, disappear from 103°
to 142°, then reappear again, something inside the Earth must be bending the P-waves. The existence of
a shadow zone, according to German seismologist Beno Gutenberg (ɡuː t ə n bɛʁk), could only be
explained if the Earth contained a core composed of a material different from that of the mantle causing
the bending of the P-waves. To honor him, mantle–core boundary is called Gutenberg discontinuity.
From the epicenter, S-waves are detected until 103o , from that point, S- waves are no longer detected.
This observation tells us that the S-waves do not travel all throughout the Earth’s body. There is a
portion inside the Earth that does not conduct the propagation of S-wave. Hence, knowing the properties
and characteristics of S-waves (that it cannot travel through liquids), and with the idea that P-waves are
bent to some degree, this portion must be made of liquid, thus the outer core
The size of the inner core was accurately calculated through nuclear underground tests conducted in
Nevada. Echoes from seismic waves provided accurate data in determining its size.

Table 1 shows the relative thickness of the different layers of the Earth.
Layer
Thickness in kilometers

Crust 40
Mantle
2900
Outer core
2200

Inner core 1278

Part 2 : Our Dynamic Earth

II. Procedure:
1. Label the drawing corresponding to the Earth’s layers.
2. Describe the different layers of the Earth using symbols
3. Choose from the response grid on the right the symbol that you need to finish the figure on the left.
4. Draw the symbol/s in the corresponding layer of the Earth.
 III. Questions :
1. What element is the most abundant in the Earth’s crust?
2. What elements make up most of the mantle?
3. What is the special feature of the upper mantle?
4. How did scientists come to know that the outer core is liquid?
5. What materials make up the inner core?
6. Is the inner core solid, liquid, or gas? What keeps it in this phase?
7. Compare the inner core and the outer core.

Application

Conclusion