SEISMOLOGY

scientific discipline that is concerned with the study of earthquakes and of the propagation of seismic waves
within the Earth. A branch of geophysics, it has provided much information about the composition and state of
the planet's interior.

The goals of seismological investigations may be local or regional, as in the attempt to determine subsurface
faults and other structures in petroleum or mineral exploration, or they may be of global significance, as in
attempts to determine structural discontinuities in the Earth's interior, the geophysical characteristics of island
arcs, oceanic trenches, or mid-oceanic ridges, or the elastic properties of Earth materials generally.

SEISMICITY

the worldwide or local distribution of earthquakes in space, time, and magnitude. More specifically, it refers to
the measure of the frequency of earthquakes in a region—for example, the number of earthquakes of
magnitude between 5 and 6 per 100 square km (39 square miles).

EPICENTER

point on the surface of the Earth that is directly above the underground point (called the focus) where fault
rupture commences, producing an earthquake. The effects of the earthquake may not be most severe in the
vicinity of the epicentre. The epicentre can be located by computing arcs from each of three or more seismic
observatories, with the arcs' radii proportional to the time of travel of seismic waves from the focus to each
station. The point of intersection of the arcs marks the epicentre. Equivalent algebraic analysis is conducted in
computer programs.

SEISMIC WAVES
vibration generated by an earthquake, explosion, or similar energetic source and propagated within the Earth
or along its surface. Earthquakes generate four principal types of elastic waves; two, known as body waves,
travel within the Earth, whereas the other two, called surface waves, travel along its surface. Seismographs
record the amplitude and frequency of seismic waves and yield information about the Earth and its subsurface
structure. Artificially generated seismic waves recorded during seismic surveys are used to collect data in oil
and gas prospecting and engineering.
Of the body waves, the primary, or P, wave has the higher speed of propagation and so reaches a seismic
recording station faster than the secondary, or S, wave. P waves, also called compressional or longitudinal
waves, give the transmitting medium—whether liquid, solid, or gas—a back-and-forth motion in the direction
of the path of propagation, thus stretching or compressing the medium as the wave passes any one point in a
manner similar to that of sound waves in air. In the Earth, P waves travel at speeds from about 6 km (3.7
miles) per second in surface rock to about 10.4 km (6.5 miles) per second near the Earth's core some 2,900 km
(1,800 miles) below the surface. As the waves enter the core, the velocity drops to about 8 km (5 miles) per
second. It increases to about 11 km (6.8 miles) per second near the centre of the Earth. The speed increase
with depth results from increased hydrostatic pressure as well as from changes in rock composition; in
general, the increase causes P waves to travel in curved paths that are concave upward.
S waves, also called shear or transverse waves, cause points of solid media to move back and forth
perpendicular to the direction of propagation; as the wave passes, the medium is sheared first in one direction
and then in another. In the Earth the speed of S waves increases from about 3.4 km (2.1 miles) per second at
the surface to 7.2 km (4.5 miles) per second near the boundary of the core, which, being liquid, cannot
transmit them; indeed, their observed absence is a compelling argument for the liquid nature of the outer core.
Like P waves, S waves travel in curved paths that are concave upward.
Of the two surface seismic waves, Love waves—named after the British seismologist A.E.H. Love, who first
predicted their existence—travel faster. They are propagated when the solid medium near the surface has
varying vertical elastic properties. Displacement of the medium by the wave is entirely perpendicular to the
direction of propagation and has no vertical or longitudinal components. The energy of Love waves, like that
of other surface waves, spreads from the source in two directions rather than in three, and so these waves
produce a strong record at seismic stations even when originating from distant earthquakes.
The other principal surface waves are called Rayleigh waves after the British physicist Lord Rayleigh, who
first mathematically demonstrated their existence. Rayleigh waves travel along the free surface of an elastic
solid such as the Earth. Their motion is a combination of longitudinal compression and dilation that results in
an elliptical motion of points on the surface. Of all seismic waves, Rayleigh waves spread out most in time,
producing a long wave duration on seismographs.
PLATE TECTONICS
scientific study of the deformation of the rocks that make up the Earth's crust and the forces that produce such
deformation. It deals with the folding and faulting associated with mountain building; the large-scale, gradual upward
and downward movements of the crust (epeirogenic movements); and sudden horizontal displacements along faults.
Other phenomena studied include igneous processes and metamorphism. Tectonics embraces as its chief working
principle the concept of plate tectonics (q.v.), a theory that was formulated in the late 1960s by American, Canadian,
and British geophysicists to broaden and synthesize the notion of continental drift and the seafloor spreading
hypothesis (qq.v.).

theory dealing with the dynamics of Earth's outer shell, the lithosphere, that revolutionized Earth sciences by
providing a uniform context for understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes, as
well as understanding the evolution of Earth's surface and reconstructing its past continental and oceanic
configurations.

The concept of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s. According to the theory, Earth has a rigid outer
layer, known as the lithosphere, which is typically about 100 km (60 miles) thick and overlies a plastic layer
called the asthenosphere. The lithosphere is broken up into about a dozen large plates and several small ones.
These plates move relative to each other, typically at rates of 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) per year, and interact
along their boundaries, where they converge, diverge, or slip past one another. Such interactions are thought to
be responsible for most of Earth's seismic and volcanic activity, although earthquakes and volcanoes are not
wholly absent in plate interiors. Plate motions cause mountains to rise where plates push together, or
converge, and continents to fracture and oceans to form where plates pull apart, or diverge. The continents are
embedded in the plates and drift passively with them, which over millions of years results in significant
changes in Earth's geography.