Table of Contents

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Introduction
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The Crust
Because the crust is accessible to us, its geology has been extensively studied, and therefore much more information is known about its structure and composition than about the structure and composition of the mantle and core. Within the crust, intricate patterns are created when rocks are redistributed and deposited in layers through the geologic processes of eruption and intrusion of lava, erosion, and consolidation of rock particles, and solidification and recrystallization of porous rock.
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By the large-scale process of plate tectonics, about twelve plates, which contain combinations of continents and ocean basins, have moved around on the Earth’s surface through much of geologic time. The edges of the plates are marked by concentrations of earthquakes and volcanoes. Collisions of plates can produce mountains like the Himalayas, the tallest range in the world. The plates include the crust and part of the upper mantle, and they move over a hot, yielding upper mantle zone at very slow rates of a few centimeters per year, slower than the rate at which fingernails grow. The crust is much thinner under the oceans than under continents (see figure above).
The boundary between the crust and mantle is called the Mohorovicic discontinuity (or Moho); it is named in honor of the man who discovered it, the Croatian scientist Andrija Mohorovicic. No one has ever seen this boundary, but it can be detected by a sharp increase downward in the speed of earthquake waves there. The explanation for the increase at the Moho is presumed to be a change in rock types. Drill holes to penetrate the Moho have been proposed, and a Soviet hole on the Kola Peninsula has been drilled to a depth of 12 kilometers, but drilling expense increases enormously with depth, and Moho penetration is not likely very soon.
The Mantle
Our knowledge of the upper mantle, including the tectonic plates, is derived from analyses of earthquake waves (see figure for paths); heat flow, magnetic, and gravity studies; and laboratory experiments on rocks and minerals. Between 100 and 200 kilometers below the Earth’s surface, the temperature of the rock is near the melting point; molten rock erupted by some volcanoes originates in this region of the mantle. This zone of extremely yielding rock has a slightly lower velocity of earthquake waves and is presumed to be the layer on which the tectonic plates ride. Below this low-velocity zone is a transition zone in the upper mantle; it contains two discontinuities caused by changes from less dense to more dense minerals. The chemical composition and crystal forms of these minerals have been identified by laboratory experiments at high pressure and temperature. The lower mantle, below the transition zone, is made up of relatively simple iron and magnesium silicate minerals, which change gradually with depth to very dense forms. Going from mantle to core, there is a marked decrease (about 30 percent) in earthquake wave velocity and a marked increase (about 30 percent) in density.
The Core
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The core was the first internal structural element to be identified. It was discovered in 1906 by R.D. Oldham, from his study of earthquake records, and it helped to explain Newton’s calculation of the Earth’s density. The outer core is presumed to be liquid because it does not transmit shear (S) waves and because the velocity of compressional (P) waves that pass through it is sharply reduced. The inner core is considered to be solid because of the behavior of P and S waves passing through it.
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The Structure of the Moon
The Moon, our fellow-traveler in space, has a diameter half that of the Earth’s core, and it revolves around the Earth, as all the planets revolve around the Sun, under the force of gravity. Moonquakes of very low energy are caused by land tides produced by the pull of Earth’s gravity, and, from analysis of moonquake data, scientists believe the Moon has two layers: a crust, from the surface to 65 kilometers depth, and an inner, more dense mantle from the crust to the center at 3,700 kilometers. The crust is presumed to be com- posed primarily of rocks containing feldspar, calcium aluminum silicate, and lesser pyrox- ene, iron and magnesium silicate; the crust also contains basalt in the mares, which con- tains less iron and more titanium than earth basalt. The mantle is thought to be made up of calcic peridotite, containing both pyroxene and feldspar.
Suggested Reading
Anderson, D.L., 1989, Theory of the Earth: Boston, Blackwell Publications, 366 pages.
Flint, R.F., and Skinner, B.J., 1977, Physical geology: New York, John Wiley and Sons, 594 pages.
Press, Frank, and Siever, Raymond, 1974, Earth: San Francisco, W.H. Freeman, 649 pages.
Robertson, E.C., 1966, The interior of the Earth; an elementary description: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 532, 10 pages.
Smith, P.J., editor, 1986, The Earth: New York, Macmillan, 248 pages.
Yockstick, M.L., 1987, Earthbook — Encyclopedia of the Earth: Stockholm, Sweden, Esselte Map Service, 327 pages.
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