How does refraction affect earthquakes?

Refraction of seismic waves causes them to curve away from a direct path. Reflection causes them to glance off certain surfaces (e.g. core mantle boundary) when they hit it at too shallow of an angle.

What is wavefront in earthquake?

The wavefront is the instantaneous boundary between the seismic waves in the earth material, and the material that the seismic energy has not yet reached.

What is the difference between reflection and refraction earthquakes?

In this sense, reflection method is a very sophisticated version of the echosounding used in submarines, ships, and radar systems. Whereas, in seismic refraction method, principal portion of the wave-path is along the interface between the two layers and hence approximately horizontal.

Why does refraction occur to seismic waves?

The methods depend on the fact that seismic waves have differing velocities in different types of soil or rock. The waves are refracted when they cross the boundary between different types (or conditions) of soil or rock.

What waves cause earthquakes?

Seismic waves are caused by the sudden movement of materials within the Earth, such as slip along a fault during an earthquake. Volcanic eruptions, explosions, landslides, avalanches, and even rushing rivers can also cause seismic waves.

What type of waves do earthquakes produce?

The two main types of waves are body waves and surface waves. Body waves can travel through the Earth’s inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water. Earthquakes send out seismic energy as both body and surface waves.

What waves is produced during an earthquake?

There are two different types wave produced by an earthquake: body waves and surface waves. Body waves are seismic waves that travel through the body of the earth.

What is true of reflection versus refraction?

Which are true of reflection versus refraction? Reflection sends a portion of the wave energy back away from the encountered boundary. Refraction bends a portion of the wave energy as the wave either slows or speeds up as it crosses the encountered boundary.

Why reflection seismic method are relatively more used than refractive techniques?

The second reason is that the seismic reflection method uses high-frequency (20–50 Hz) seismic energy that resolves features as thin as 50–100 m. While dependent on an accurate velocity model for the data processing, seismic reflection has the potential to image the crust with much more resolution than with refraction.

What is seismic waves refraction?

A seismic refraction or seismic reflection line is a set of seismographs usually lined up along the earth’s surface to record seismic waves generated by an explosion for the purpose of recording reflections and refractions of these waves from velocity discontinuities within the earth.