THE LAYERS OF EARTH
The Inner Core
It is the centre and the hottest layer of the Earth. The inner core is solid and made up of
iron and nickel with temperatures up to 5,500oC. Due to its immense heat energy, the inner core
is more like the engine room of the Earth.
The Outer Core
The outer core of the Earth is similar to a very hot ball of metals, whose temperature is
around 4000 oF to 90000F. It is so hot that the metals inside are all liquid. The outer core is
around 1800 miles under the crust and is approximately 1400 miles thick. It is composed of
metals such as iron and nickel. The outer core surrounds the inner core. The inner core has
pressures and temperatures so high that the metals are squeezed together and not able to move
like a liquid but are forced to vibrate instead of solid.
Mantle
Mantle is the widest section of the Earth. Its thickness is approximately 2,900 km. The
mantle is mainly made up of semi-molten rock known as magma. The rock is hard in the upper
part of the mantle, but lower down the rock is softer and begins to melt.
The mantle is located directly under the Sima. The mantle consists of very hot and
dense rock. This layer of rock flows like asphalt under heavy weight. This flow is because of the
greatest temperature differences from the bottom to the top of the mantle. The reason behind
the plates of the Earth moving is the movement of the mantle. Its temperature varies between
1600 oF at the upper part to 4000 oF near the bottom.
Crust
The crust is the outer layer where we live. The thickness is around 0-60 km. It’s a solid rock layer
divided into two types:
• Continental crust covers the land and,
• Oceanic crust covers water
The crust is the most widely studied and understood. The mantle is hotter and capable of
flowing. The outer and inner core is much hotter with great pressures that you can squeeze into
a ball smaller than marble if you are able to go to the centre of the Earth.
What should you understand about the interior of the earth?
• It is not possible to know about the earth’s interior by direct observations because of the
huge size and the changing nature of its interior composition.
• It is an almost impossible distance for the humans to reach till the centre of the earth
(The earth’s radius is 6,370 km).
• Through mining and drilling operations we have been able to observe the earth’s interior
directly only up to a depth of few kilometers.
• The rapid increase in temperature below the earth’s surface is mainly responsible for
setting a limit to direct observations inside the earth.
• But still, through some direct and indirect sources, the scientists have a fair idea about
how the earth’s interior look like.
Sources of Information about the interior of the earth
Direct Sources:
• Rocks from mining area
• Volcanic eruptions
Indirect Sources
• By analyzing the rate of change of temperature and pressure from the surface towards
the interior.
• Meteors, as they belong to the same type of materials earth is made of.
• Gravitation, which is greater near poles and less at the equator.
• Gravity anomaly, which is the change in gravity value according to the mass of material,
gives us information about the materials in the earth’s interior.
• Magnetic sources.
• Seismic Waves: the shadow zones of body waves (Primary and secondary waves) give
us information about the state of materials in the interior.
LET’S DISCUSS
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1) Name the different layers of the Earth.
2) Which is the centre and the hottest layer of the Earth?
3) The Outer Core is composed of which Metals?
4) What is the temperature of the Outer Core of the Earth?
5) Which is the widest section of the Earth, and what is its thickness?
WORKSHEETS
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WORKSHEET 1:
https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/science/1961201
WORKSHEET 2:
https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/physics/1711554
WORKSHEET 3:
https://www.liveworksheets.com/w/en/social-science/187952
