How far below the surface is the mantle-core boundary?
Jul 15, 2010
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Earthquake Questions
Seismic waves are partly reflected when they cross a boundary such as the between the solid mantle and the liquid outer core. Suppose a P wave has a constant speed of 8Km/s. 700 seconds after an earthquake near the surface, a seismograph at the site of the earthquake detect a reflected p wave . How far below the surface is the mantle-core boundary?
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One comment
wache_it@yahoo.com on July 15, 2010 at 5:12 pm
8km/s *700S = 5600km= 2800 km depth. This is a little deep for the normal 2200km depth of the mantle core boundary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutenberg_discontinuity
I would put the difference to the less dense material of the surface slowing the wave, 75 km *2 = 150 km of mantle material but could be enough so 2200 km is the MC boundary.