P-waves are a type of elastic wave, also called seismic waves, that can travel through gases (as sound waves), solids and liquids, including the Earth. P-waves are produced by earthquakes and recorded by seismographs. The name P-wave is often mistakenly said to stand either for primary wave, as it has the highest velocity and is therefore the first to be recorded; or pressure wave,[1] as it is formed from alternating compressions and rarefactions. Plane waves were originally referred to as primus(P)-waves), and secundus(S)-waves, as when these waves were first being studied, it was still contentious what kinds of elastic waves these arrivals actually represented.
In isotropic and homogeneous solids, the mode of propagation of a P-wave is always longitudinal; thus, the particles in the solid have vibrations along or parallel to the travel direction of the wave energy.
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The velocity of P-waves in a homogeneous isotropic medium is given by
where K is the bulk modulus (the modulus of incompressibility), is the shear modulus (modulus of rigidity, sometimes denoted as G and also called the second Lamé parameter), is the density of the material through which the wave propagates, and is the first Lamé parameter.
Of these, density shows the least variation, so the velocity is mostly controlled by K and μ.
The elastic moduli P-wave modulus, , is defined so that and thereby
Typical values for P-wave velocity in earthquakes are in the range 5 to 8 km/s.[2] The precise speed varies according to the region of the Earth's interior, from less than 6 km/s in the Earth's crust to 13 km/s through the core.[3]
The seismic waves of both P-type and S-type in the Earth are monitored to probe the interior structure of the Earth. Discontinuities in velocity as a function of depth are indicative of changes in phase or composition. Differences in arrival times of waves originating in a seismic event like an earthquake as a result of waves taking different paths allow mapping of the Earth's inner structure.[5][6]
Almost all the information available on the structure of the Earth's deep interior is derived from observations of the travel times, reflections, refractions and phase transitions of seismic body waves, or normal modes. Body waves travel through the fluid layers of the Earth's interior, but P-waves are refracted slightly when they pass through the transition between the semisolid mantle and the liquid outer core. As a result, there is a P-wave "shadow zone" between 105° and 143°[7] from the earthquake's focus, where the initial P-waves are not registered on seismometers. In contrast, S-waves do not travel through liquids, rather, they are attenuated.
Earthquake advance warning is possible by detecting the non-destructive primary waves that travel more quickly through the Earth's crust than do the destructive secondary and Rayleigh waves, in the same way that lightning flashes reaches our eyes before we hear the thunder during a storm. The amount of advance warning depends on the delay between the arrival of the P-wave and other destructive waves, generally on the order of seconds up to about 60–90 seconds for deep, distant, large quakes such as Tokyo would have received before the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. The effectiveness of advance warning depends on accurate detection of the P-waves and rejection of ground vibrations caused by local activity (such as trucks or construction) otherwise false-positive warnings will result. Technology currently in use known as the QuakeGuard system employs this technique to automate emergency response procedures that protect against loss of life and reduce property damage.[8]