The Earth's Interior
Schematic View of the Interior of the Earth
Interior Zones:
- Crust
- Outer Layer of Earth
- Oceanic Crust
- ~ 5 km thick; young (<2x108 million
years)
- Continental Crust
- ~ 20-50 km thick; older (108 - 109
years)
- Mantle
- "Plastic" consistency
- convection zones
- Outer Core
- liquid
- Nickel (Ni) and Iron (Fe) composition
- currents give rise to Earth's
magnetic field
- Inner Core
- solid Ni and Fe
- high pressure
How do we know this?