DISCONTINUITIES
BETWEEN
EARTH'S LAYERS
PART 3
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EARTH'S LAYERS
Earth’s interior is made of different kinds of
materials.
Each of those materials are different from each
other by their physical and chemical properties,
such as temperature, density etc. Unique layers are
there according to their characteristics inside the
earth.
All those layers are separated from each other
through a transition zone.
These transition zones are called discontinuities.
There are five discontinuies inside the earth.
1. Conrad Discontinuity 2.Mohorovicic Discontinuity
3. Repiti Discontinuity 4.Gutenberg Discontinuity
5. Lehman Discontinuity
DISCONTINUITIES
CONRAD DISCONTINUITY
TRANSITION ZONE B/W SIAL & SIMA
The name come from the Austrian geophysicist Vector
Conrad.
The transition zone between thee upper and lower part
of the lithosphere, is called as Conrad discontinuity.
It is observed at a depth of 15 to 20 km.
It is not found in
oceanic regions.
The velocity of
longitudinal seismic
waves increases
abruptly from
approximately 6 -
6.5km/sec.
DISCONTINUITIES
MOHOROVICIC DISCONTINUITY
TRANSITION ZONE BETWEEN CRUST & MANTLE
It was discovered by Andrija Mohorovicic in the year of
1909.
It lies at the depth of 35km beneath the continents & 8 km
beneath the oceanic crust.
It separates both continental crust & oceanic crust from
underlying mantle.
Above the Moho velocity of the P wave is 6km/sec
and just below the Moho it becomes 8km/sec.
It is up to 500km thick.
DISCONTINUITIES
REPITI DISCONTINUITY
TRANSITION ZONE BETWEEN OUTER & INNER MANTLE
REPETTI (1930)
OBSERVED A STRONG
CHANGE OF
APPARENT P
VELOCITY AT A
DISTANCE OF 33°.
REPETTI
DISCONTINUITY
NEAR 900 KM DEPTH.
THIS MAY BE THE
CHEMICAL
INTERFACE BETWEEN
THE UPPER AND
LOWER MANTLES.
DISCONTINUITIES
GUTENBERG DISCONTINUITY
TRANSITION ZONE BETWEEN MANTLE - CORE
It was discovered by Weichert Gutenberg.
The mantle-core transition zone is called Gutenberg
discontinuity.
The velocity of P wave decreases and S wave completely
disappear at this depth.
DISCONTINUITIES
GUTENBERG DISCONTINUITY
TRANSITION ZONE BETWEEN MANTLE - CORE
Above the discontinuity is solid, while below it is liquid or
molten(700°c).
It is also denser, probably due to a greater percentage of
iron.
It is a narrow ,uneven zone and contains undulations which
may be up to 5-8km wide.
Eddies and currents in the outer core's iron-rich fluids affect the
undulations that produce the Earth's magnetic field.
The earth's molten core solidifies and shrinks, causing the core
mantle boundary to move deeper into the earth as heat
dissipates from the interior.
DISCONTINUITIES
LEHMAN DISCONTINUITY
TRANSITION ZONE BETWEEN OUTER AND INNER
CORE.
It was discovered by seismologist Inge Lehmann.
It is the transition zone between outer and inner core.
It increase of P-wave & S-wave velocities at the depth of
220±30 km.
It appears beneath continents, but not usually beneath
oceans.
WHAT IS THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN
THE EARTH'S CRUST AND MANTLE
CALLED?
Tell us in Comments
Here is the answer to our yesterday's quiz
WHICH METALS ARE FOUND IN THE OUTER CORE?
Iron and nickel are the prominent metals found in the core. It is also
called the NiFe layer because Ni and Fe are the symbols for nickel
and iron.
@sakariyain
Sakariya Mines & Minerals
Sakariya Mines & Minerals
www.sakariya.in
