(a) (b)

(a) The pattern of a P-wave paths through Earth’s interior (solid blue lines). The dashed
blue lines show the progress of wave fronts through the interior at 2-minute intervals.
Distances are meaured in angular distance from the earthquake focus. The P-wave shadow
zone extends from 105º to 142º. P waves cannot reach the surface within this zone because
of the way they are bent when they enter and leave the core. (b) S-wave paths through
Earth´s interior (solid green lines). The larger S-wave shadow zone extends from 105º to
180º. Although S waves strike the core, they cannot travel through its fluid outer region and
therefore never emerge beyond 105° from the focus (from Grotzinger et al. 2007).
Geología, S. Rosas

P and S waves
radiate from an
earthquake focus in
many directions. This
diagram shows the
simple labeling scheme
seismologists use to
describe the various
paths the waves take.
PcP and ScS are
compressional and
shear waves that
bounce off the core. PP
and SS waves are
internally reflected from
Earth’s surface. A PKP
wave is transmitted
through the liquid outer
core, and a PKIKP wave
traverses the solid inner
core. Surface waves
propagate along Earth´s
outer surface, like
waves on the surface of
a pond (from Grotzinger
2007).
Geología, S. Rosas

1
 Earths´s layering revealed by
seismology. The lower diagram
shows the changes in the
compressional and shear speeds
and density with deph in the Earth.
The upper diagram is a cross
section through Earth on the same
depth scale, showing how these
changes are related to the major
layers (from Grotzinger et al. 2007).

Geología, S. Rosas

Seismic waves reveal the boundary between the crust and underlying mantle and
variations in the thickness of the crust. Relatively light continental crust projecting into the
denser mantle serves as a buoyant root providing “flotation” for the continent. The root is
deeper under mountains, where flotation is required to support the heavier load, in
accordance with the principle of isostasy (from Press & Siever 2000).

Geología, S. Rosas

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 The structure of the upper
mantle, the outermost 900 km of
the Earth, is illustrated by a plot of S-
wave velocity against depth.
Changes in velocity mark the strong
lithosphere, the weak asthenosphere,
and two zones in which changes
occur because increasing pressure
forces a rearrangement of the atoms
into denser or more compact
crystalline structures (from
Grotzinger et al. 2007).

Geología, S. Rosas

Some geologists believe that plate-tectonic movements can be explained by

convection in the upper mantle. Hot matter rises and spreads laterally under
the ocean ridges; it cools as it spreads and solidifies to form the cold, rigid lithosphere. The
descending matter in the subduction zone is the cooled lithosphere. Other geologists
believe that convection occurs in the entire mantle (from Press & Siever 2000).
Geología, S. Rosas

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 Geología, S. Rosas

Left: The magnetic field of a bar magnet is revealed by the alignment of iron filings on paper.
Right: Earth’s magnetic field is much like the field that would be produced if a
giant bar magnet were placed at the Earth’s center and slightly inclined (11º) from the axis of
rotation. Lines of magnetic force produced by such a bar magnet are shown. A compass
needle points to the north magnetic pole because it orients in the direction of the local line
of force (from Press & Siever 2000). Geología, S. Rosas

4
Earth’s magnetic field 30,000 years ago was the reverse of today’s, as evidenced
by the discovery of reversely magnetized rocks found in the fireplace of an ancient
campsite. The rocks, cooling after the last fire, because magnetized in the direction of the
ancient magnetic field, leaving a permanent record of it, just as a fossil leaves a record of
ancient life (from Grotzinger et al. 2007).
Geología, S. Rosas

Newly formed
sedimentary deposits
can become
magnetized in the same
direction as the
contemporaneous
magnetic field of the
Earth. Magnetic mineral
grains transported to
the ocean with other
erosion products
become aligned with
the Earth’s magnetic
field while settling
through the water. This
orientation is preserved
in the lithified rock,
which thus
“remembers” the field
that existed at the time
of deposition (from
Press & Siever 2000
and Grotzinger et al.
2007). Geología, S. Rosas

5
Lava beds become magnetized in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field existing at the
time the beds solidified and cooled. In this way, they preserve the record of reversals of
Earth’s magnetic field. The modern flow at the top shows the direction of the field today.
Underlying beds record the directions of ancient fields (from Press & Siever 2000).

Geología, S. Rosas

Magnetic polarities of lava flows are used

time scale of
to construct the
magnetic reversals over the past
5 million years. Within epochs of magnetic
polarity, there are short-term flip-flops of
the field called events. In no one place is
the entire sequence found; the sequence
is worked out by patching together the
ages and polarities from lava beds
throughout the world (from Press & Siever
2000).
Geología, S. Rosas