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Although having a composition similar to Earth's solid inner core, the outer core remains liquid as there is not enough pressure to keep it in a solid state. 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. [7]: 94
The transition between the inner core and outer core is located approximately 5,150 km (3,200 mi) beneath Earth's surface. Earth's inner core is the innermost geologic layer of the planet Earth . It is primarily a solid ball with a radius of about 1,220 km (760 mi), which is about 19% of Earth's radius [0.7% of volume] or 70% of the Moon 's radius.
Earth's inner structure can be described both chemically (crust, mantle, and core) and mechanically. The lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary lies between Earth's cooler, rigid lithosphere and the warmer, ductile asthenosphere. The actual depth of the boundary is still a topic of debate and study, although it is known to vary according to the ...
[9] [10] [11] In 1938, Beno Gutenberg and Charles Richter analyzed a more extensive set of data and estimated the thickness of the outer core as 1,950 km (1,210 mi) with a steep but continuous 300 km (190 mi) thick transition to the inner core, implying a radius between 1,230 and 1,530 km (760 and 950 mi) for the inner core.
The core–mantle boundary (CMB) of Earth lies between the planet's silicate mantle and its liquid iron–nickel outer core, at a depth of 2,891 km (1,796 mi) below Earth's surface. The boundary is observed via the discontinuity in seismic wave velocities at that depth due to the differences between the acoustic impedances of the solid mantle ...
The scientists found the 'hidden' core by studying seismic waves that traveled back and forth across the Earth's entire diameter up to five times — previous studies only looked at single bounces.
Earth's mantle is a layer of silicate rock between the crust and the outer core. It has a mass of 4.01 × 10 24 kg (8.84 × 10 24 lb) and makes up 67% of the mass of Earth. [ 1 ] It has a thickness of 2,900 kilometers (1,800 mi) [ 1 ] making up about 46% of Earth's radius and 84% of Earth's volume.
S-waves: Do not propagate as the outer core is liquid [28] [27] Inner core: Average P-wave velocity: 4.4 km/s [27] Average S-wave velocity: 2.4 km/s [27] The sharp decline in P-wave velocity at the mantle-core boundary suggests a liquid outer core, transitioning from 7.7 km/s in the mantle to 4 km/s in the outer core. [59]