How do seismic waves act when they encounter a fault?

How do seismic waves act when they encounter a fault?

How do seismic waves behave when they encounter a fault? They learn the location of hidden faults.

Does a P wave move like an accordion or a snake?

They move up and down or side to side like a snake. When P Waves and S Waves hit the crust, some of them turn into surface waves. Surface waves are the most violent waves. The can move like and accordion or like a snake.

How do monitoring faults help geologists predict an earthquake?

How might monitoring faults help geologists predict an earthquake? Earthquakes happen because pressure builds up on a fault line and then is suddenly released. Geologists measure changes in the amount of pressure, or stress, on faults to see if pressure is building up.

What is a fault line in geology?

A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. Most faults produce repeated displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other.

Do P waves move like an accordion?

P Waves- The 1st waves to arrive that compress and expand the ground like an accordion. Can damage buildings and travel through liquids and solids. S Waves- Secondary waves that vibrate from side to side as well as up and down. They shake the ground and structures violently and can only travel through solids.

What is the bouncing back of a wave called?

Reflection – when a wave hits a surface, any part of the wave that cannot pass through the surface bounces back. This interaction with a surface is called reflection.

What device uses a laser beam to monitor changes along a fault line?

Four instruments that are used to monitor faults are creep meters, laser-ranging devices, tiltmeters, and satellites. A creep meter uses a wire stretched across a fault to measure sideways movement of the ground. A laser-ranging device uses a laser beam bounced off a reflector to detect even slight fault movements.

How does a laser-ranging device monitor faults?

A laser-ranging device is used to measure horizontal movement at a fault. A laser is located on one side of a fault and a reflector is placed on the other side. A laser-ranging device measures movement by determining the time it takes for the laser to be reflected back across the fault.

What is seismic reflector?

A seismic reflector is a boundary between beds with different properties. There may be a change of lithology or fluid fill from bed 1 to bed 2.

What kind of method is seismic reflection?

Seismic reflection is a method of exploration geophysics that provides information about the sub-surface structure of the seafloor.