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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.
Schematic of the Earth's inner core and outer core motion and the magnetic field it generates. The Earth's inner core is thought to be slowly growing as the liquid outer core at the boundary with the inner core cools and solidifies due to the gradual cooling of the Earth's interior (about 100 degrees Celsius per billion years). [49]
Earth's outer core is a fluid layer about 2,260 km (1,400 mi) thick, composed of mostly iron and nickel that lies above Earth's solid inner core and below its mantle. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The outer core begins approximately 2,889 km (1,795 mi) beneath Earth's surface is at the core-mantle boundary and ends 5,150 km (3,200 mi) beneath Earth's ...
Scientists study the inner core to learn how Earth’s deep interior formed and how activity connects across all the planet’s subsurface layers. - forplayday/iStockphoto/Getty Images
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 ...
Earth's inner core may be rotating at a slightly higher angular velocity than the remainder of the planet, advancing by 0.1–0.5° per year, although both somewhat higher and much lower rates have also been proposed. [133] The radius of the inner core is about one-fifth of that of Earth. The density increases with depth.
Earth’s inner core, a red-hot ball of iron 1,800 miles below our feet, stopped spinning recently, and it may now be reversing directions, according to an analysis of seismic activity.
At the center of Earth is the core, a ball with a mean radius of 3480 kilometres that is composed mostly of iron. The outer core is liquid while the inner core, with a radius of 1220 km, is solid. [2] Because the outer core has a low viscosity, it could be rotating at a different rate from the mantle and crust.