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The internal structure of Earth

Earth's outer core is a fluid layer about Template:Convert thick and composed of mostly iron and nickel that lies above Earth's solid inner core and below its mantle.[1] Its outer boundary lies Template:Convert beneath Earth's surface. The transition between the inner core and outer core is located approximately Template:Convert beneath the Earth's surface. Unlike the inner (or solid[2]) core, the outer core is liquid.

Properties[]

Template:Expand section Seismic inversions of body waves and normal modes constrain the radius of the outer core to be 3483 km with an uncertainty of 5 km, while that of the inner core is 1220±10 km.[3]Template:Rp

Estimates for the temperature of the outer core are about Template:Convert in its outer region and Template:Convert near the inner core.[4] Evidence for a fluid outer core includes from seismology which shows that seismic shear-waves are not transmitted through the outer core.[5] Because of its high temperature, modeling work has shown that the outer core is a low-viscosity fluid that convects turbulently.[4] The dynamo theory sees eddy currents in the nickel–iron fluid of the outer core as principal source of the Earth's magnetic field. The average magnetic field strength in the Earth's outer core was estimated to be 2.5 millitesla, 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface.[6][7] The outer core is not under enough pressure to be solid, so it is liquid even though it has a composition similar to the inner core. Sulfur and oxygen could be present in the outer core.[8]

As heat is transferred outward toward the mantle, the net trend is for the inner boundary of the liquid region to freeze, causing the solid inner core to grow at expense of the outer core. This rate is estimated to be 1 mm per year.[9]

References[]

  1. "Earth's Interior". National Geographic. 18 January 2017. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/surface-of-the-earth/earths-interior/. 
  2. Gutenberg, Beno (2016). Physics of the Earth's interior. Academic Press. pp. 101–118. ISBN 978-1-4832-8212-1 ISBN 978-1-4832-8212-1. 
  3. Global earth physics a handbook of physical constants (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union. 1995. ISBN 9780875908519 ISBN 9780875908519. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 De Wijs, Gilles A.; Kresse, Georg; Vočadlo, Lidunka; Dobson, David; Alfè, Dario; Gillan, Michael J.; Price, Geoffrey D. (1998). "The viscosity of liquid iron at the physical conditions of the Earth's core". Nature 392 (6678): 805. doi:10.1038/33905 doi:10.1038/33905. Bibcode1998Natur.392..805D Bibcode: 1998Natur.392..805D. http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucfbdxa/pubblicazioni/nat.pdf. 
  5. Jeffreys, Harold (1 June 1926). "The Rigidity of the Earth's Central Core" (in en). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 1: 371–383. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.1926.tb05385.x doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.1926.tb05385.x. ISSN 1365-246X ISSN 1365-246X. Bibcode1926GeoJ....1..371J Bibcode: 1926GeoJ....1..371J. 
  6. Template:Cite news
  7. Buffett, Bruce A. (2010). "Tidal dissipation and the strength of the Earth's internal magnetic field". Nature 468 (7326): 952–4. doi:10.1038/nature09643 doi:10.1038/nature09643. PMID 21164483 PMID 21164483. Bibcode2010Natur.468..952B Bibcode: 2010Natur.468..952B. 
  8. Gubbins, David; Sreenivasan, Binod; Mound, Jon; Rost, Sebastian (May 19, 2011). "Melting of the Earth's inner core". Nature 473 (7347): 361–363. doi:10.1038/nature10068 doi:10.1038/nature10068. PMID 21593868 PMID 21593868. Bibcode2011Natur.473..361G Bibcode: 2011Natur.473..361G. 
  9. Waszek, Lauren; Irving, Jessica; Deuss, Arwen (2011). "Reconciling the hemispherical structure of Earth's inner core with its super-rotation". Nature Geoscience 4 (4): 264–267. doi:10.1038/ngeo1083 doi:10.1038/ngeo1083. Bibcode2011NatGe...4..264W Bibcode: 2011NatGe...4..264W. 

External links[]

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