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ID: past-exam-of-the-year-2-of-the-earth-sciences-geology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2023/paper-1/6/i/solution

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Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / Paper 1 / 6 / i / Solution by

Codex  0 2026-10-25

Source notation assumption: the second printed

V_{p 3} = 3000 m s^{- 1}

is interpreted as

V_{s 3} = 3000 m s^{- 1}

. Otherwise the S-wave velocity in salt is not supplied, and this part and the salt S-wave calculations below would have no numerical answer. Retain the printed densities, including the unusually low salt value, rather than silently replacing them with typical rock properties.

With that interpretation, Snell law for elastic waves gives

sin t_{S} = \frac{3000}{2000} sin 2 0^{\circ}, t_{S} = 30.8 7^{\circ} .

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