Week 3: Chemical Composition

of our planet  Because the core starts below 2,900km from the surface of the
Earth, we cannot directly collect the materials there.
 The most reliable circumstantial evidence of the chemical
composition of the Earth is the chemical composition of
meteorites which come from the asteroid belt that exists
between Mars and Jupiter.
 The mantle is the “parent” of the crust.
- Because the chemical compositions of the solar atmosphere
- The mantle and the crust are both made up of rocks,
and asteroids are the same, except for volatile constituents,
but the ways they are formed are completely different.
and the Earth is located between the Sun and the asteroid
belt.
 The crust is originally formed from magmas.
 There are two major types of magma in the Earth.
★ Calculation of the chemical composition of the Earth’s core
・Basaltic magma ・Granitic magma
without taking into account volatile elements
• Assumption: the average chemical composition of the
Basaltic magma Granitic magma Earth’s crust, mantle, and core is the same as the
Color Black (more Fe) White (less Fe) chemical composition of primitive meteorites
 The chemical compositions of the Earth's crust and
Temperature 1100-1200ºC (High) 800-900ºC (Low) mantle (already known) is subtracted from the chemical
composition of primitive meteorites, leaving us with the
Origin Partial melting of the mantle (Some) Re-melting of chemical composition of the core, which contains iron
basaltic rock (Fe), nickel (Ni), and silicon (Si).
Water content Very low (= also seen on the High (= only on the Earth)
other planets)

 The actual core density obtained from

 The mantle makes up about 85% of the Earth by volume. seismic observation is much lower than that
- The mantle reaches a depth of 2,900 km. of pure iron and still lower than that of the
 When magma is created from the mantle, the magma sometimes alloy Fe-6.5wt%Si that the composition of
carries some mantle rocks (xenoliths) with it as it rises. meteorites suggests (cf. 3-3).

 There are four layers:  To account for such a low core density,
・The upper mantle ・The transition zone there must be a certain amount of light
・The lower mantle ・The lowermost mantle elements contained in it that are volatile
 Based on seismology, constituents.
• The whole mantle is thoroughly mixed by convection.
• The material differs by depth.  People have been arguing over this for the
- The main minerals that make up the rocks differ last 60 years, but it is still a subject of
while the overall chemical composition of the rocks is the same. debate among researchers.

 In the laboratory, it has been found that there are 4 phase

transitions from the upper mantle to the lowermost mantle.
- The major minerals change at the boundaries of 410, 660, and
2,600 km depth.