EARTHS STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION
The structure of the Earth is divided into layers. These layers are both physically and chemically
different. The Earth has an outer solid layer called the crust, a highly viscous layer called the
mantle, a liquid layer that is the outer part of the core, called the outer core, and a solid centre
called the inner core.

CONTENT
The crust

This is the outside layer of the earth and is made of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite. There
are two types of crust; oceanic and continental. Oceanic crust is denser and thinner and mainly
composed of basalt.  Continental crust is less dense, thicker, and mainly composed of granite.

The mantle

The mantle lies below the crust and is up to 2900 km thick.  It consists of hot, dense, iron and
magnesium-rich solid rock. The crust and the upper part of the mantle make up the lithosphere,
which is broken into plates, both large and small. To learn more about these plates see the Plate
Tectonics page. 

The core

The core is the centre of the earth and is made up of two parts: the liquid outer core and
solid inner core. The outer core is made of nickel, iron and molten rock. Temperatures here can
reach up to 50,000 C.

The internal structure of Earth is layered in spherical shells: an outer silicate solid crust, a

highly viscous asthenosphere and mantle, a liquid outer core that is much less viscous than the
mantle, and a solid inner core. Scientific understanding of the internal structure of Earth is based
on observations of topography and bathymetry, observations of rock in outcrop, samples brought
to the surface from greater depths by volcanoes or volcanic activity, analysis of the seismic
waves that pass through Earth, measurements of the gravitational and magnetic fields of Earth,
and experiments with crystalline solids at pressures and temperatures characteristic of Earth's
deep interior.

Inner Core
Temperature: 5,000°C – 6,000°C
State: Solid
Composition: iron and nickel
The Earth’s inner core is a huge metal ball, 2,500km wide. Made
mainly of iron, the temperature of the ball is 5,000°C to 6,000°C –
that’s up to 6,000 times hotter than our atmosphere and scorching
enough to make metal melt! The metal at the inner core stays solid
because of the incredible pressure surrounding it.

Outer Core
Temperature: 4,000°C – 6,000°C
State: Liquid
Composition: iron, nickel, sulphur and oxygen

This liquid layer of iron and nickel is 5,150km deep. The outer core
flows around the centre of the Earth, and the movement of the
metals creates our planet’s magnetic field.

Lower Mantle
Temperature: 3,000°C
State: solid
Composition: iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium and aluminium

The lower mantle is found between 670km and 2,890km below

the surface, and is made from solid rock. The rock is hot enough to
melt, but is solid because of the pressure pushing down on it.

Upper Mantle
Temperature: 1,400°C – 3,000°C
State: liquid / solid
Composition: iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium and aluminium

This layer is up to 670km below the Earth’s surface. The lower part

of the upper mantle is made from both solid and melted rock (liquid),
while the rock in the upper region is stiffer, because it’s cooler.

Crust
Temperature: Around 22°C
State: Solid
Composition: Oceanic crust made up of iron, oxygen, silicon,
magnesium and aluminium.
Continental crust made up of granite, sedimentary rocks and
metamorphic rocks.

The Earth’s surface is covered by its thinnest layer, the crust. Land
is made of continental crust, which is 8km to 70km thick and
made mostly from a rock called granite. The layer beneath the
ocean bed is made of oceanic crust, which is about 8km thick and
made mainly from a rock called basalt.

About the Earth

Let’s get the basics out of
the way. The Earth is the
third planet from the Sun.
We all live on Earth and it
is currently the only planet
where evidence of life
exists. As we discover
more planets in other
systems, we are finding a
variety of worlds that
might support life.
However, we have no
direct evidence for life
anywhere else in the
Universe.

Of the eight planets in the Solar System, the Earth is one of

the inner planets and is made of rock and metal. You may
also hear it described as a terrestrial planet as opposed to
gas giants that include Jupiter and Saturn. Because of our
distance from the Sun and our atmosphere, we exist in a
very narrow temperature range that allows water to exist in
solid, liquid, and gas states across the planet. We live in the
"Goldilocks’ Zone" or for those of you who will become
scientists… the circumstellar habitable zone.

Life has developed over billions of years because liquid water

is present across our planet. What else makes the Earth
special? We have an atmosphere made up of nitrogen (N ), 2

a relatively inert gas. If we had clouds of sulfuric acid (H SO )

2 4

or methane (CH ), life may never have developed. Venus is a

4

planet with sulfuric acid clouds while Saturn’s moon, Titan,

has methane in its atmosphere.

The Plates and Mantle

You will learn about the several layers of the planet in class,
but you will spend your whole life on the lithosphere. The
lithosphere is the solid surface layer of the planet. It is a cool
crust that surrounds the liquid and solid interior of Earth. You
will probably spend your life above water which means you
will live on a group of large landmasses or rock plates.

The rock plates that float across the surface of the Earth are
called tectonic plates. Those plates float on the mantle, an
area between the core and the crust. While the mantle is
able to move in a very slow way, it is basically solid. It is a
very special solid that is able to deform and move. It’s super-
hot, but not hot enough to be liquid rock. There are places
where magma seeps to the surface, but the mantle is
basically a plastic-like solid that can slowly swirl and move
around the planet.

Liquid and Solid in the Core

The core of the Earth has
two distinct regions. There
is a liquid outer core and a
solid inner core. Both
layers of the core are
made of iron and nickel.
The inner core is a giant
furnace at super-high
temperatures and
pressures. The flowing
metal of the outer core helps create a dynamo effect.
Dynamos can create large magnetic fields. In the case of the
Earth, the magnetic field protects our planet from
space, solar winds and solar radiation.

Scientists have also discovered that the pressure and

temperature increase as you move towards the centre of the
planet. The outer core of the Earth has extreme
temperatures and pressures that keep iron (Fe) and nickel
(Ni) molecules in a liquid state. Current evidence suggests
that the inner core is 6,000 degrees Celsius (10,800 degrees
Fahrenheit). The mantle has a range of 500 to 4,000 degrees
Celsius (900-7200  f). Room temperature is about 23
o

degrees Celsius (74  f).

o

The Aurora borealis and Aurora Australis are locations

above the north and south poles where solar winds collide
with the magnetosphere. The colours of the aurora change
when different types of molecules in the atmosphere are hit
by the charged particles from the sun.

The structure of the Earth

Core structure
Seismology helps us work out the dimensions of the inner and outer core
of the Earth.
P-waves of a hypothetical earthquake at the North Pole are refracted at
the core–mantle boundary, and shadow zones are created. Although P-
waves reappear, S-waves do not.
Most of what we know about the interior of the Earth comes from the
study of seismic waves from earthquakes. Seismic waves from large
earthquakes pass throughout the Earth.
These waves contain vital information about the internal structure of the
Earth. As seismic waves pass through the Earth, they are refracted, or
bent, like rays of light bend when they pass through a glass prism.
Because the speed of the seismic waves depends on density, we can use
the travel-time of seismic waves to map change in density with depth, and
show that the Earth is composed of several layers.

The crust
This brittle outermost layer varies in thickness from about 25 to 70 km
under continents, and from about 5 to 10 km under the oceans.
Continental crust is quite complex in structure and is made from many
different kinds of rocks.

The mantle
Below the crust lies the dense mantle, extending to a depth of 2890 km. It
consists of dense silicate rocks. Both P- and S-waves from earthquakes
travel through the mantle, demonstrating that it is solid.
However, there is separate evidence that parts of the mantle behave as a
fluid over very long geological times scales, with rocks flowing slowly in
giant convection cells.

The core
At a depth of about 2900 km is the boundary between the mantle and the
Earth's core. The core is composed of iron and we know that it exists
because it refracts seismic waves creating a 'shadow zone' at distances
between 103º and 143º (see above diagram).
We also know that the outer part of the core is liquid, because S-waves do
not pass through it.

Interactive Seismic Waves animation

The following interactive seismic waves viewer works with any HTML5
enabled web browser and allows users to follow seismic waves as they
propagate through a draggable, spinnable cutaway globe. Seismic Waves
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/education/our-planet-earth/Pages/The-Earth-structure.aspx#

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_Earth

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk

http://www.geography4kids.com/files/earth_intro.html