Molten rock beneath the Earth’s surface is called magma. It consists of melted minerals, suspended crystals and dissolved gases held under intense pressure. Magma forms in the mantle or lower crust due to high temperatures. Once it breaches the crust ...
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Discovered by Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann in 1936, this discontinuity is the boundary between the liquid outer core and the solid inner core. She proved the inner core’s existence by showing that P-waves were being reflected and refracted by a ...
The Vesuvius volcano is located in Italy, specifically on the Gulf of Naples. It is most famous for its eruption in 79 AD, which buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under layers of ash and pumice. It remains ...
Secondary waves (S-waves), also known as shear waves, cannot pass through liquids. They require a medium with “shear strength” (the ability to resist changing shape) to propagate. Since liquids (like the Earth’s outer core) do not have shear strength, S-waves ...
The Richter and Moment Magnitude scales are logarithmic. Each increase of one magnitude releases about 32 times more energy. From magnitude 6.0 to 8.0 is a two-step increase, so the energy released is 32 × 32 = 1,024 times more. ...