Mohorovičić discontinuity

Also Mo·ho

[moh-haw-roh-vuh-chich dis-kon-tn-oo-i-tee, -hoh-, -yoo-]

noun

Geology.

1. the discontinuity between the crust and the mantle of the earth, occurring at depths that average about 22 miles (35 km) beneath the continents and about 6 miles (10 km) beneath the ocean floor.

Mohorovičić discontinuity

/ ˌməʊhəˈrəʊvɪtʃɪtʃ /

noun

1. Often shortened to: Moho. the boundary between the earth's crust and mantle, across which there is a sudden change in the velocity of seismic waves

Mohorovičić discontinuity

1. The boundary between the Earth's crust and mantle, located at an average depth of 8 km (5 mi) under the oceans and 32 km (20 mi) under the continents. The velocity of seismic primary waves across this boundary changes abruptly from 6.7 to 7.2 km (4.1 to 4.5 mi) per second in the lower crust to 7.6 to 8.6 km (4.7 to 5.3 mi) per second in the upper mantle. The boundary is estimated to be between 0.2 and 3 km (0.1 and 1.9 mi) thick and is believed to coincide with a change in rock type from basalts (above) to peridotites and dunites (below). It is named after its discoverer, Croatian seismologist Andrija Mohorovičić (1857–1936).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mohorovičić discontinuity¹

1935–40; named after Andrija Mohorovičić (1857–1936), Croatian geophysicist, who discovered it

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mohorovičić discontinuity¹

C20: named after Andrija Mohorovičić (1857–1936), Croatian geologist

Example Sentences

It was named after the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or “Moho,” a geophysical boundary defined by a sudden spike in the speed of seismic waves where the crust, a mélange of rocks crystallized out of mantle melt and altered by water, gives way to the more homogeneous mantle.

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In the 1950s, he was a key player in Project Mohole — an audacious attempt to drill through Earth’s crust to obtain a sample of the mantle at the boundary, the Mohorovičić discontinuity.

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He had discovered the boundary between the crust and the layer immediately below, the mantle; this zone has been known ever since as the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho for short.

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Normally, the crust–mantle boundary is thought to be marked by a feature known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity, or ‘Moho’, at which seismic waves change velocity.

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The drilling project planned to study the Mohorovičić discontinuity, situated at a depth of 15 kilometers.

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