This page provides a brief outline of, lists the main points of, gives links to figures for, and lists the assigned reading for a lecture in Dr. Bruce Railsback's GEOL 1121 class at the University of Georgia. This page is not intended as a set of lecture notes, and it cannot subsititute for a set of lecture notes. Familiarity with this page alone will not assure satisfactory grades on exams in the course.

Lecture 17 (Wednesday, Feburary 27): Earth's Interior

Brief outline of this lecture:
Evidence about Earth's interior.
Inferred passage of seismic waves through the earth.
Earth's internal structure.
Applied Reflection Seismology
     

Main points of this lecture:
We don't have much direct information about Earth's deep interior.
Passage (and non-passage) of seismic waves is some of our best information about Earth's interior.
Passage of seismic waves is consistent with a solid inner core but liquid outer core.
The mantle makes up most of the Earth.
We can learn about Earth's structure with human-induced shaking of the Earth.

Figures used in this lecture:
Evidence about Earth's Interior
Observations of Seismic Waves Across the Earth
(Inferred) Passage of S waves through the Earth
(Inferred) Passage of P waves through the Earth
Refraction
Conclusions about Earth's Interior
ReflectionSeismology

Reading assignment: None.

Next Lecture
Email to Railsback (rlsbk@gly.uga.edu)
Railsback's main 1121 web page
Railsback's main web page
UGA Geology Department web page