Organised by:
North West Regional Group
Venue:
Alan Gemell Lecture Theatre (Hux0.15) in the Huxley Building (Biology), Keele University, ST5 5BG
Event status:
EVENT CLOSED
This event is for schools only (and accompanying parents)
Please note that this event has been cancelled
Although we have some clues from the Earth’s magnetic
field and the way the Earth conducts electrical currents,
the main way of providing indirect evidence for the
structure and composition of the Earth’s interior is using
earthquakes waves.
This lecture will first examine the different types of
earthquake waves, P-waves, S-waves, Love waves and
Rayleigh Waves, and the physical properties such as
elastic moduli and density which govern how these
waves propagate through the Earth. We will look at how
these waves get reflected, refracted and even converted
from one type to another where the velocity and density
of geological materials change within the Earth.
Using observations from vast numbers of earthquakes
and knowing the differing properties of the earthquake
waves we can build up a picture of the internal structure
and composition of the Earth's interior. On a basic level,
the absence or multiple occurrence of a particular
earthquake wave recorded at a particular distance away
from the earthquake be used to infer sharp increases and
decreases of velocity and allow us to divide the structure
of the Earth into the shells of crust, mantle, outer core &
inner core. A more detailed analysis of the results can
then pick out variations within these layers.
More advanced techniques such as seismic tomography
analyse where shells such as the mantle have faster or
slower velocities than average. This in turn allows us to
look in detail at how the mantle works and how mantle
motion might drive plate tectonics.
About the speaker
Dr Stimpson is a Senior Lecturer in Geophysics and
Course Director for Geology and Geoscience at Keele
University. He is a seismologist and geologist with wide
ranging interests from earthquakes to geoconservation.
Through his career he has studied earthquakes at all
scales from underground nuclear explosions and large
magnitude earthquakes in subduction zones to microearthquakes
caused by fracturing around tunnels, mine
workings and fracking for shale gas.
This will be the second lecture for the Geological
Society of London for the benefit of 6th form students, part of the A-Level Lecture series.The
purpose of this lecture is to provide a useful information
base for the purpose of the examination content of the A-Level
course, as well as to provide a university lecture
experience for the students. Please see the event flyer for more information on the A-Level Student University Tour.
Event Details & Booking
Time: 5:00pm for 5:30pm prompt start.
Duration: Approximately 1 hour.
Cost: Free
- Please contact Mr N Reynolds (Secretary of the North
West regional Group) to book places:
[email protected]