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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 20% of Earth's radius or 70% of the Moon's radius. [1] [2] There are no samples of the core accessible for direct measurement, as there are for Earth's mantle. [3]
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 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
The findings add to the mystique of the most inscrutable part of our world, Vidale said. Literature and lore involving Earth's core have filled the knowledge void with all sorts of fanciful ideas.
Researchers are still discovering more about the Earth's center. A team at Australian National University (ANU) has found evidence of a new layer to the planet sitting within the inner core. This ...
Beneath the mantle, an extremely low viscosity liquid outer core lies above a solid inner core. [132] 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]
Earth's inner core, a super-hot and super-compressed ball of iron smaller than the moon, helps generate the Earth's magnetic field and, by extension, the aurora borealis -- or Northern Lights.