How fast do love waves travel

Also different types of seismic waves travel at different speeds. Properties of Compressional or P waves. The first kind of body wave is the P wave. This is the fastest kind of seismic wave their name derives for the fact that P is an abbreviation for primary, first wave to arrive. The P wave can move through solid rock and fluids, like water or the liquid layers of the earth.

It pushes and pulls the rock it moves through just like sound waves push and pull the air. Sometimes animals can hear the P waves of an earthquake. Usually we only feel the bump and rattle of these waves.

Properties of Traverse or S waves. The second kind of body wave is the Shear or Secondary wave. Secondary or shear waves travel slower than P waves. The lower bound of this speed usually occurs around unconsolidated material while the upper bound of this speed usually occurs at the earth's mantel.

S waves do not have the ability to travel through a fluid or a gas environment. This is because s waves do not change the volume of the material they travel through they shear it.

Gas and fluid environment cannot transmit a shear stress. Properties of Love Waves. The first kind of surface wave is called a Love wave, named after A. Love, a British mathematician who worked out the mathematical model for this kind of wave in It's the fastest surface wave and moves the ground from side-to-side.

Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Miscellaneous What do Love waves travel through? Esther Fleming March 26, Table of Contents. Previous Article What is the Wisconsin State wildlife animal?

Next Article How has climate change affected Afghanistan? Back To Top. As a P-wave passes, material compresses in the same direction the wave is moving, and then extends back to its original thickness once the wave has passed.

The speed at which P-waves travel through material is determined by:. The animations below show P-waves propagating across a plane left and from a point source right. P-waves travel through liquids and gases as well as through solids. Although liquids and gases have zero rigidity, they have compressibility, which enables them to transmit P-waves. Sound waves are P-waves moving through the air.

The density of the mantle also increases with depth below the asthenosphere. The higher density reduces the speed of seismic waves. However, the effects of increased rigidity and compressibility in the deep mantle are much greater than the effect of the increased density.

The S in S-waves stands for secondary, because they are the second-fastest seismic waves and the second type to be detected once an earthquake has occurred. S-waves are shear waves though that is not what the S stands for. They move by material flexing or deforming sideways shearing from the direction of wave travel, and then returning to the original shape once the wave passes. The speed at which S-waves travel through material is determined only by:.