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Scientists have recently detected the signs of a hidden structure deep inside the core of Earth. This sign has the potential to change the long-standing narrative of what lies at center of Earth. This layer is being termed as the ‘fifth layer’.
What Hidden Inside The Earth?
Earth’s solid inner core may be home to a “hidden new world”, scientists have claimed. Within the scientific community, there is consensus about Earth’s inner core being a solid compressed ball of iron alloy, which is surrounded by the Earth’s outer core. A new study may change that understanding of the Earth’s insides.
In fact, for humans to ever get raw access to the Earth’s core, the planet must undergo some sort of disaster than rips it open. With so much heat and pressure at the center of Earth, it’s not ideal for humans to travel into or to even send remote probes.
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Earth Layers
1: Who was the first woman President of India?
The earth can be divided into two ways. Mechanically and Chemically. By mechanically earth can be divided into lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesospheric mantle, outer core, and the inner core.
By chemically earth can be divided into the crust, the mantle (which can be subdivided into the upper and lower mantle), and the core – which can also be subdivided into the outer core, and inner core.
Earth’s atmosphere has five major and several secondary layers. From lowest to highest, the major layers are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.
Troposphere. Earth’s troposphere extends from Earth’s surface to, on average, about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in height, with its height lower at Earth’s poles and higher at the equator. The troposphere is the densest atmospheric layer, compressed by the weight of the rest of the atmosphere above it. Most of Earth’s weather happens here, and almost all clouds that are generated by weather are found here, with the exception of cumulonimbus thunder clouds, whose tops can rise into the lowest parts of the neighboring stratosphere. Most aviation takes place here, including in the transition region between the troposphere and the stratosphere.
Stratosphere. Located between approximately 12 and 50 kilometers (7.5 and 31 miles) above Earth’s surface, the stratosphere is perhaps best known as home to Earth’s ozone layer, which protects us from the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. Because of that UV radiation, the higher up you go into the stratosphere, the warmer temperatures become.
Mesosphere. Located between about 50 and 80 kilometers (31 and 50 miles) above Earth’s surface, the mesosphere gets progressively colder with altitude. The very scarce water vapor present at the top of the mesosphere forms noctilucent clouds, the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, which can be seen by the naked eye under certain conditions and at certain times of day.
Thermosphere. Located between about 80 and 700 kilometers (50 and 440 miles) above Earth’s surface is the thermosphere, whose lowest part contains the ionosphere. In this layer, temperatures increase with altitude due to the very low density of molecules found here. It is both cloud- and water vapor-free.
Exosphere. Located between about 700 and 10,000 kilometers (440 and 6,200 miles) above Earth’s surface, the exosphere is the highest layer of Earth’s atmosphere and, at its top, merges with the solar wind. Molecules found here are of extremely low density, so this layer doesn’t behave like a gas, and particles here escape into space.
Inner Layers Of Earth
The Inner Core
It is the center and the hottest layer of the Earth. The inner core is solid and made up of iron and nickel with temperatures up to 5,500oC. Due to its immense heat energy, the inner core is more like the engine room of the Earth.
Mantle
Mantle is the widest section of the Earth. Its thickness is approximately 2,900 km. The mantle is mainly made up of semi-molten rock known as magma. The rock is hard in the upper part of the mantle, but lower down the rock is softer and begins to melt.
The mantle is located directly under the Sima. The mantle consists of very hot and dense rock. This layer of rock flows like asphalt under heavy weight. This flow is because of the greatest temperature differences from the bottom to the top of the mantle. The reason behind the plates of the Earth moving is the movement of the mantle. Its temperature varies between 1600 oF at the upper part to 4000 oF near the bottom.
The Outer Core
The outer core of the Earth is similar to a very hot ball of metals, whose temperature is around 4000 oF to 90000F. It is so hot that the metals inside are all liquid. The outer core is around 1800 miles under the crust and is approximately 1400 miles thick. It is composed of metals such as iron and nickel. The outer core surrounds the inner core.
The inner core has pressures and temperatures so high that the metals are squeezed together and not able to move like a liquid but are forced to vibrate instead of solid.
Crust
The crust is the outer layer where we live. The thickness is around 0-60 km. It’s a solid rock layer divided into two types:
- Continental crust covers the land and,
- Oceanic crust covers water
The crust is the most widely studied and understood. The mantle is hotter and capable of flowing. The outer and inner core is much hotter with great pressures that you can squeeze into a ball smaller than marble if you are able to go to the center of the Earth.
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Earth Layer – Key Facts And Highlights
We can’t see the earth deeply, geologists have a variety of tricks to create a clear picture of our Earth’s layers. Earth consists of layers that differ in composition and generally get hotter and higher in pressure as you move toward the center of the planet.
The layers of Earth are:
- Crust – 5 to 70 km thick
- Mantle – 2,900 km thick
- Outer Core – 2,200 km thick
- Inner Core – 1,230 to 1,530 km thick
- The crust makes up only of the volume of Earth.
- The most common mineral in the mantle is olivine, which is also known as peridot when the mineral is gem quality.
- Without the outer core’s magnetic field our planet would resemble the barren planet of Mars.
- Earth’s inner core is growing in size by 1mm per year. Eventually, the entire outer core will solidify as part of the inner core. But don’t worry, that won’t happen for many billions of years.
- The very center of the Earth is the core, which is mostly iron and nickel. The inner core is solid and measures 1,516 miles in diameter.
- Meteorites often contain bits of nickel and iron. Scientists believe they may be pieces from other planets which exploded.
- The mantle of the Earth is solid rock, but it’s not completely hard. Because of the intense heat, the mantle is moldable, like play dough. The mantle slowly moves. This movement causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
- he crust of the Earth is made of granite and other solid rock. Sand, soil and crushed rock sit atop the crust. The crust ranges in depth from 3 to 43 miles.
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