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LITHOEN

Geological process

Seismic wave propagation

The travel of elastic waves through the Earth. Compressional (P) and shear (S) waves behave differently in solids and liquids, and it is that difference which reveals the state of Earth’s interior.

How this record is known

3
Settled consensus
Cited as the accepted position of the discipline.

3 of 3 claims on this page cite at least one registered source. Counts describe how each statement is known, not how likely it is to be true.

What Lithoen records

Each claim states how it is known and cites its evidence.

Established103 deg

Shear waves from an earthquake are not observed beyond an angular distance of about 103 degrees from the epicentre.

  • precision note: About 103°, as stated by the source; the shadow is a global effect observed for large earthquakes.
  • method: Global seismographic recording of direct S arrivals as a function of epicentral distance.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence one source

Evidence: EarthScope Consortium (NSF SAGE) n.d. Institutional reference

EstablishedA region of the surface receiving no direct arrivals of a given wave type.

A seismic shadow zone is an area of Earth’s surface where seismographs cannot detect an earthquake after its waves have passed through the planet — an absence in the data that constrains what lies inside.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence one source

Evidence: EarthScope Consortium (NSF SAGE) n.d. Institutional reference

EstablishedP waves traverse solids and liquids; S waves traverse only solids.

Compressional (P) waves pass through both solids and liquids, whereas shear (S) waves cannot travel through a liquid, because a liquid cannot be sheared.

Evidence support: Supported by the cited evidence one source

Evidence: EarthScope Consortium (NSF SAGE) n.d. Institutional reference

In the knowledge graph

Record last updated 2026-09-06. Corrections follow the published corrections policy; superseded claims are retained, never silently edited.