Geology Exam 3

Front 1

Size of a seismic wave is defined as half the vertical distance between its trough and peak as measured by a seismometer

Back 1

Amplitude

Front 2

seismic waves that travel through the interior of the earth

Back 2

Body Waves

Front 3

a large ocean wave commonly generated by movement of the seafloor during a subduction zone earthquake

Back 3

Tsunami

Front 4

Seismic waves that travel along earth's outer edges rather than through its interior

Back 4

Surface waves

Front 5

an instrument that measures ground motions caused by passing seismic waves

Back 5

Seismometer

Front 6

the study of earthquakes, and of the structure of the earth, by means of both natural and artificially generated seismic waves

Back 6

seismology

Front 7

a record of ground motion measured by a seismometer

Back 7

seismogram

Front 8

a general term for elastic waves (vibrations) in earth, typically produced by earthquakes

Back 8

seismic waves

Front 9

a segment of a fault that has not ruptured recently relative to neighboring segments

Back 9

seismic gap

Front 10

seismic body waves that vibrate rock perpendicular to the direction of wave movement- that is up and down or side to side as in waves on a shaken rope. about half as fast as P waves and do not travel through liquids or through the outer core of earth

Back 10

S-waves

Front 11

represents the size of an earthquake based on the strongest seismic wave amplitude recorded at a standard distance of 100 km from the epicenter with a standard torsion seismograph

Back 11

Richter Magnitude Scale

Front 12

average time interval between characteristic earthquakes as a fault

Back 12

Recurrence interval

Front 13

A physical or seismic phenomena that may indicate a pending earthquake

Back 13

precursor

Front 14

The (blank) of a seismic wave is the interval of time required for one complete peak to peak vibration to pass by a seismometer

Back 14

Period

Front 15

Seismic body waves that alternatively push and pull (that is, compress and expand) rocks along their direction of travel. They are the fastest of the seismic waves

Back 15

P (primary Waves)

Front 16

a numerical scale of the amount of energy released by an earthquake. It is calculated from the total area of the fault that ruptures, how far the rocks move along the fault during the earthquake, and the strength of the rock that ruptures, how far the rocks move along the fault during the earthquake, and the strength of the rock that ruptures

Back 16

moment magnitude

Front 17

ranks earthquake intensities on a 12-point scale, expressed as roman numerals from I to XII

Back 17

Modified Mercalli Scale

Front 18

a measure of the strength of an earthquake as determined by seismograph observations

Back 18

magnitude

Front 19

the change of a water-saturated and unconsolidated surface material, such as soil, from a solid to a liquid state when internal strength is lost - typically caused by earthquake shaking

Back 19

liquefaction

Front 20

one that occurs within a tectonic plate rather than at a plate boundary

Back 20

intraplate earthquake

Front 21

a measure of the amount of shaking and other effects by an earthquake at a particular location. It is measured in terms of its effects on people and structures

Back 21

intensity

Front 22

the number of vibrations that a seismic wave completes in a given period of time; it is commonly measured in cycles per second

Back 22

frequency

Front 23

the point underground where rock first ruptures to generate an earthquake

Back 23

focus

Front 24

a linear feature that marks the intersection of a fault plane within the ground surface

Back 24

fault trace

Front 25

the slow gradual movement along a fault that doesn't cause significant earthquakes

Back 25

fault creep

Front 26

the point on the earth's surface that is directly above the focus of an earthquake

Back 26

epicenter

Front 27

the change in shape or size of a material caused by stress long a fault that can be reversed when stress is released

Back 27

elastic strain

Front 28

states that movement along a fault is the result of an abrupt release of a progressively increasing elastic strain between the rock masses on either side of the fault

Back 28

elastic rebound theory

Front 29

the repeated generation of earthquakes by the build up and release of elastic strain on a fault

Back 29

earthquake cycle

Front 30

a vibration in the earth caused by the release of elastic strain on a fault

Back 30

earthquake