EVSC 2800 Study Guide - Final Guide: Asthenosphere, Coriolis Force, Peridotite

• School: University of Virginia
• Department: Environmental Sciences
• Course: EVSC 2800
• Professor: Herman Janet

Document Summary

The most dramatic refracting occurs at the boundary between the mantle and the outer core. P waves travel more slowly in the outer core than in the mantle, as would be expected for a liquid outer core. Travel times can be converted to depths if velocities in various materials are known. Experimental studies of material properties and simulations on travel-time data yield our current understanding of earth"s interior !!!: crust is not a uniform thickness or material, ocean crust is usually 5-10 km thick. This boundary is the mohorovicic discontinuity: the uppermost mantle is solid rock. With increasing depth, pressure and temperature conditions cause the rock to partially melt. This zone the asthenosphere slows and partially absorbs s waves. At greater depths, the velocity of s waves increases again as the rock becomes solid: convection in the asthenosphere moves hot, less dense fluid up in the mantle. When it cools and becomes denser, it sinks again.