please answer the questions in just 3-5 sentences: 1) When an earthquake occurs,

Question

please answer the questions in just 3-5 sentences:

1) When an earthquake occurs, where is energy released from, and in what form of energy does it travel?

2) How do surface waves and body waves travel differently?

3) In terms of dating, what evidence can geologists glean from analyzing igneous rocks?

4) How is the study of geologic time used to locate valuable natural resources for our economy?

5) What does the burning of fossil fuels do? Describe the equation that shows this process.

6) How can we track carbon dioxide levels from the past several hundred thousand years?

Explanation / Answer

1. Earthquakes are formed when the building pressure between two crustal plates releases to readjust the plates. The energy is released from the point of pressure release, deep inside the earth also known as Hypocentre or Focus. The energy released in this process travels in the form of energy waves (called seismic waves) through the entire earth. When these seismic waves reach the surface, they cause the surface of the earth to shake causing earthquake.

2. Surface waves propagate the seismic waves only along the surface, but body waves are seismic waves that travel through the interior of the earth. P-type and S-type waves are types of body waves. Types of surface waves include Rayleigh and Love waves.

3. When geologists analyze an igneous rock by dating it, they are essentially trying to know how long ago the rock has crystallized from the lava from the magmatic processes. Certain minerals like zircons spread out through igneous rocks that help in understanding the age of the rock.

4. Study of the geological timescale will help in understanding the events that have shaped the earth’s history, times when lot of organic mass was buried or a volcanic activity that led to deposition of mining minerals. When you find a similar age to a rock of the same type in a nearby location, you can make a calculated guess that similar mineral occurrences in both the locations. From carbon dating plant fossils, you can evaluate, if the plant fossil deposits have turned to coal or natural gas.

5. Burning of fossil fuels often releases Carbon compounds as products into the atmosphere. Incomplete burning of natural gas releases various gases like Carbon dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Methane, etc. whereas complete burning of Natural gas releases Carbon dioxide. Methane (CH4) is one of the components of the fossil fuels.

CH4 + 2O2 ->   CO2 + 2H2O

6. Carbon dioxide has the nature to sink into the oceans. The carbon dioxide dissolves into water to form bicarbonate and carbonate ions. These carbonate ions combine with the cations in the ocean water and precipitate as minerals such as Calcite in various forms such as limestone, Stalactites, Stromatolites, etc. By measuring the trend of ratio of Carbon isotopes in these formations will give us information about the carbon dioxide levels of the past.

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