ESC111

Lecture 2 and 3
The internal structure and composition of the Earth

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 Deepest underground mine ~4km

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 Deepest drill-hole (Russia ~12km)

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How do we know what the interior structure
and composition of the Earth is?
The Earth's structure is revealed by:
• The behaviour of different types of seismic waves in Earth materials
• The velocities of seismic waves travelling through the Earth
• Geophysics

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 Internal Structure of the Earth

• Crust (normal silicate rocks such as granite and basalt) - solid

• The division between the crust and the mantle is known as the
Moho discontinuity
• Mantle (ferromagnesium-rich silicate rocks) – solid
• The division between the mantle and the core is known as the
Gutenberg discontinuity
• Core (iron-nickel alloy) - liquid upper part and solid lower part
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 The Crust

• The crust makes up only 0.5 % of the

Earth's total mass
• Subdivided into two main parts
• Continental crust
• Oceanic crust
• Oceanic and continental crust differ in
thickness, density and composition
• Although oceanic crust covers
approximately 61 % of the Earth's
surface, it only comprises about 30 % of
the crustal mass, as the continental crust
is much thicker.
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 The Crust

• Continental Crust • Oceanic Crust

• Underlies the continents
• Thickness of 30 km - 50 km
• Underlies the sea floor
• The exposed parts of the • Thickness of 10 km - 12 km
continental crust are less dense
than oceanic crust (this is because • Consists of fairly uniform
oceanic crust contains minerals
rich in heavier elements such as
layers
Upper and Lower Crust differences:
iron and magnesium) • Composition
Upper Crust (sial): felsic is more
igneous andmafic
• Continental crust appears to be than continental
metamorphic rocks. crust and
stratified and becomes denser with Lower Crust (sima): anhydrous (no water) -
depth therefore
quartz more dense
andesite or andesite; hydrous -
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 Mantle

• Mantle consists of 3 main layers:

• Upper mantle (400km)
• Transition zone(400-1000km)
• Lower mantle(1000-2900km)
• Most of the mantle is solid rock
• Mantle rock is so hot it is soft enough to flow very slowly
• Over long periods of time, mantle rocks can change shape without breaking
• Temperature in the mantle increases with depth but varies with location
• Warmer regions are less dense than cooler regions
• Up to 2% of mantle has melted and exists as molten rock (magma) between
solid grains
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 The Core

• It is believed to be composed primarily

of a nickel-iron alloy (along with
abundant platinum-group elements)
• Consisting of a liquid outer zone, and a solid inner zone It is also marked by an
abrupt increase in pressure
• Liquid iron alloy with a density of 12 g/cm3
• Exists as a liquid because temperature is so high
• Outer core (2900 km - 5000 km below the Earth's surface). 30 % of the Earth's total
mass.
• Inner core (5000 km - 6370 km below the Earth's surface). 2 % of the Earth's total mass
• Even though inner core is hotter than outer core, it is a solid due to its depth
and greater pressure
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Average compositions of the Earth’s
mantle and crust (weight% oxide)

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 Summary of the
Chemical Composition of Earth
• The core of the Earth is largely composed of iron and nickel
• The crust of the Earth mainly comprises the minerals plagioclase,
quartz and hornblende and is dominated by the elements oxygen,
silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium, sodium, and potassium
• The overall composition of the Earth is very similar to that of meteorites
• Dominated by the elements iron (Fe), oxygen (O), silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg),
nickel (Ni) and sulphur (S)
• Most of the mass of the Earth occurs within the mantle which is
composed largely of the ferro-magnesium silicate minerals olivine and
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