GEL 1: Lecture 2: Interior of the Earth

(Ch. 2, pp. 296-299, pp. 330-340 (part of Interlude D) - read this material
selectively – if you see words and concepts in the book that don’t sound familiar, don’t
bother trying to understand that content. Just focus on the parts of the text that are
included in the notes and therefore were discussed in class. It’s probably more efficient
to read the textbook after talking about the topic in class and after reading the notes so
that you know what to focus on.)

Interior of the Earth

Earth, having differentiated early in its history like the rest of the planets, is composed
of an interior core, a thick mantle and relatively thin, outer crust.
- radius of the Earth is 6371 km

The composition of the Earth, derived from the constant accretion of material from the
solar nebula by collisions early in its history, is dominated by iron (35%), oxygen (30%),
silicon (15%), and magnesium (10%).
- because of differentiation early in Earth history, these elements are unevenly
distributed throughout the planet.
- much of the iron collapsed toward the interior to become the metallic core, while silicon
and oxygen combined to create the molecule SiO2 (silica), the main component of silicate
rocks that dominate the rocky mantle and crust.
So Earth is mostly composed of metallic iron and silicate rock . . .

Pressure increases with depth in the Earth because of the weight of overlying rock.
Density increases toward Earth’s interior, partly due to increasing pressure and thus
tighter packing of molecules within rock and partly due to the change in composition at
the core-mantle boundary to denser metallic iron
Temperature also increases toward the center of the Earth. This rate of change in
temperature with depth is known as the geothermal gradient.
- temperatures at the center of the Earth are estimated by mathematical models to be
about 4700°C, slightly less than the temp. of the Sun's surface.

Layers of Earth based on composition:

Inner core is solid, outer core is liquid, both composed of very hot, very dense (~10-13
g/cc), metallic iron with small amounts of nickle and sulfur. (You don’t have to memorize the
absolute densities – just knowing that density increases toward the center of the planet is enough)
The solid inner core is almost pure crystalline iron but “frozen” at the center of the planet
by the intense pressure.

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The liquid outer core is a dense sea of molten iron with traces of other metals (iron alloy).
The flow of liquid iron in the outer core generates Earth's magnetic field that shields it
from the solar wind. (more on this later)
Why is the outer core liquid?
Just as pressure and density increase toward the center of the Earth, temperature also
increases.
- at the outer margin of the liquid outer core (i.e., core-mantle boundary), temperatures
become high enough to melt iron, making it liquid
- at the transition to the solid inner core, the effects of increasing pressure exceed the
effects of increasing temperature and thus the metallic iron-nickel alloy remains solid

Mantle composed of dense (3.5 to 5.8 g/cc) silicate rock and metal oxides that is a solid
that acts like a very thick liquid
- due to the higher temperatures at depth, mantle rock behaves like a plastic that flows
very very slowly under pressure at a rate of a few cm per year
- the mantle comprises the greatest volume of the Earth

Crust is relatively thin (average of 40 km, but up to 70 km under continents and only 7-10
km under oceans) and has the lowest density (2.5 to 3.5 g/cc).
- it is composed of mostly silicate rock that acts, in general, as a brittle material (it cracks
rather than flows).

But we’ve never been very far into the Earth’s interior - (the deepest we’ve ever drilled is
about 12 km down and the deepest mine tunnel is only 3.6 km deep) . . . compared to the
6371 km radius of the Earth, these are mere pinpricks in the surface.
How do we know the thicknesses and compositions of the Earth's interior so specifically?

Seismology: using earthquake waves to see inside the Earth

Seismology is the study of earthquake waves that can be analyzed to discern the interior
dimensions and compositions of the Earth (or any planet for that matter).
Earthquakes are caused by the abrupt release of energy stored along faults in the Earth
by the build-up of stress along the fault.
- when enough stress accumulates to exceed the frictional strength of the rocks on either
side of the fault plane, the rocks shift abruptly along the fault, generating energy in the
form of seismic waves that radiate outward in a spherical shape
- when the seismic energy hits the surface, it creates the groundshaking characteristic of
earthquakes. (more on earthquakes later in the course)

When an earthquake occurs anywhere in the world, seismic waves travel through the Earth
and are recorded by a global network of seismographs (devises that measure the arrival

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 of seismic waves from the earthquake) that register the quake by its record of wiggly
patterns on a seismogram.
Analysis of several thousands of earthquakes over time permits the calculation of the size
and composition of the internal layering of the Earth.

Two types of seismic body waves: (p. 296-299)

- body waves pass through the interior of the Earth

P waves (“p” for primary or pressure wave).

- first wave to arrive because they travel the fastest through the Earth
- similar to sound waves in that it alternately pushes (compresses) and pulls (dilates) the
rock
- travels through solid rock and liquid material such as magma or water

S waves - (secondary wave or shear wave)

- slower than P waves, so arrive at seismograph at a later time
- shears rock sideways or up and down at right angles to the direction of travel
- only travels through solids because liquids are not rigid enough
(i.e., they don’t spring back after shearing or twisting)

Waves & rays . . .

Seismic energy moves as a series of waves emanating outward as a sphere from the focus
of the earthquake. We can show the direction of wave movement by using rays, the
straight-line representation of the direction of movement drawn perpendicular to the
wavefront.

The actual path taken by the seismic waves is not straight and the speed at which they
travel is not constant. Yes, this is counterintuitive . . .

Path: Seismic waves may reflect off of sharp boundaries inside the Earth, or they may
refract (bend, like light through a prism) upon contact with a layer of different density
within the Earth.
- so discontinuities within the Earth (i.e., boundaries between bodies of rock with
different densities and elastic properties – e.g., core/mantle boundary) cause seismic
waves to reflect or refract, resulting in a ‘curving’ ray path.

Speed: The actual velocity at which these two seismic body waves travel depends on the
density and elastic properties (like rigidity) of the rock through which they travel.
In general, the denser the material, the faster the seismic wave will pass through it

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- sound waves are analogous to seismic P waves: sound waves in air travel 670 mph, sound
waves in water travel 3300 mph, sound waves in rock travel 10000 mph (the denser the
material, the faster waves travel through it)

If a material in the Earth has low rigidity (like the liquid outer core or hot, plastic mantle
rocks under pressure), then seismic waves slow down as they travel through the weak,
‘soft’ material. The energy is absorbed and scattered by the weak material rather than
being transmitted by it.

Skipping details . . . by looking at thousands of seismograms, seismologists were able to

construct a cross-section of the Earth where layers are marked by changes in seismic
velocity. (Fig. D.9, p.338)

The velocity of seismic waves typically changes abruptly at the boundaries between
distinct layers in the Earth due to compositional changes in density and rigidity
- the crust/mantle boundary (aka, the Moho) is defined by P wave velocities that increase
rapidly because of the abrupt increase in density of mantle rock relative to crustal rock
- seismic velocities increase downward through the mantle due to progressive increase in
density of mantle rock

P wave velocities decrease at the abrupt change from the mantle to liquid outer core
(called the ‘core-mantle boundary’) - the liquid iron in the outer core is much denser
than the overlying silicate rock of the mantle, but the liquid composition and consequent
lack of rigidity slows down P waves
- S waves do not pass into the liquid outer core due to its complete lack of rigidity
- the core-mantle boundary is very sharply defined ~2900 km depths
Another abrupt increase in P wave velocity (and thus density and rigidity) occurs at the
outer-to-inner core transition

S waves do not penetrate the liquid outer core of the Earth, so a shadow zone occurs on
the far side of the Earth that receives no S waves after each earthquake. This is
primary evidence for a liquid metallic outer core.

Geologists gain a much more precise view of the interior of the Earth using seismic
tomography - a computer-aided technique that details variations in seismic velocity of
materials within the Earth.
- these tomographic images are built from thousands of seismograms of earthquakes from
the worldwide network of seismograph stations
- the images identify velocity heterogeneities within the mantle that reflect variability in
density, rigidity and temperature (e.g, the hotter the rock, the lower its rigidity and

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 density: thus it has slower velocity. The ‘cooler’ the rock, the higher its rigidity and
density, producing faster velocities.)
(Incidentally, not all geologists go into the field and climb volcanoes or map earthquake faults.
Many geologists spend their time working inside a geochemistry lab, or making maps using GIS,
or building computer models.)

How do we know the core is mostly composed of iron?

1) Iron meteorites were likely originally derived from asteroids that had differentiated
into a core, mantle and crust. An ancient impact must have broken them apart severely
enough to send parts of the iron core flying off into space where they intersected
Earth orbit and landed on the surface.

2) From experiments in the lab, we know the seismic velocity of highly compressed iron.
Velocities of P waves through Earth’s core are consistent with the core being composed
of iron (and lesser nickel).

3) Iron is a very common element in the solar system and in the universe.

Why do we care about the Earth’s core?

- motion in the liquid outer core generates our magnetic field that deflects energized
particles of the solar wind
- every compass works because of the magnetic field generated by the core

We'll discuss the lithosphere and asthenosphere, important layers in the crust and upper
mantle, when we talk about plate tectonics.