Geophysics is the science that studies the Earth from a physical perspective. Its object of study encompasses all phenomena related to the structure, physical conditions, and evolutionary history of the Earth. As a primarily experimental discipline, it uses quantitative physical methods for its study, such as the physics of reflection and refraction of mechanical waves, and a series of methods based on the measurement of gravity, electromagnetic, magnetic, or electric fields, and radioactive phenomena. In some cases, these methods exploit natural fields or phenomena (gravity, Earth’s magnetism, tides, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), and in others, they are human-induced (electric fields and seismic phenomena).
Within geophysics, two major branches are distinguished: internal geophysics and external geophysics.
