Earth’s Internal Structure

A knowledge of earth's interior is essential for understanding plate tectonics. A good analogy for
teaching about earth's interior is a piece of fruit with a large pit such as a peach or a plum. Most
students are familiar with these fruits and have seen them cut in half. In addition, the sizes of the
features are very similar.
There are two different types of crust: thin oceanic crust that underlies the ocean basins, and
thicker continental crust that underlies the continents. These two different types of crust are
made up of different types of rock. The thin oceanic crust is composed of primarily of basalt, and
the thicker continental crust is composed primarily of granite. The low density of the thick
continental crust allows it to "float" in high relief on the much higher density mantle below.
The asthenosphere is a semisolid layer of hot rock that's found at the top of the upper mantle. It
is thinner beneath the oceanic crust and thicker beneath the terrestrial crust. The transition
between the crust and the upper mantle is known as the Mohorovic discontinuity, or the Moho.
The Mantle is the second layer of the Earth. It is the biggest and takes up 84 percent of the
Earth. The mantle is composed of silicates of iron and magnesium, sulphides and oxides of
silicon and magnesium. The mantle is about 2900 km thick. There are two parts of the mantle,
the upper mantle and the lower mantle.
The upper mantle is between the crust and the lower mantle, it is around 200-250 miles and it
ranges from 900 to 1400 F, while the other one which is the lower mantle is thicker. The lower
mantle is the one responsible for seismic activities. The lower mantle represents approximately
56% of the Earth's total volume and is located 660–2900 km below the Earth's surface in
between the transition zone and the outer core.
And lastly we have the core, The core is through to be 80% iron, as well as nickel and other
dense elements like gold, platinum and uranium. The inner core is solid, but the outer core is a
hot liquid. Scientists think that movements of metal, like currents in the oceans, create the
magnetic field that surrounds the Earth.
There are two parts of the core, the inner core and the outer core. The outer core is hot liquid and
It is the only liquid layer and made up of metals. Responsible for the Magnetic Field of the Earth,
has a temperature of 4k-5k C and 2.2k km thick, while the inner core is like a solid ball inside the
Earth It is primarily a solid ball with a radius of about 1,220 kilometres, which is about 20% of
the Earth's radius and 70% of the Moon's radius. 3425