Journey to the center of the earth: An exploration into the layers of our planet

Jules Verne planted a seed of discovery in our imagination in Journey to the Center of the Earth. What child hasn’t tried to dig in the backyard to reach the heart of the earth?

These children grew up and some became professional explorers, but they managed to dig to a maximum depth of 12.2 km. The Kola superdeep well barely scratched the crust.

Unfortunately, unlike Verne’s fantasy adventure, true discovery is not so simple. To reach the core, we would need to be able to dig deeper than 6,000 meters and then discover a Sun inside our planet.By passing through at least two of the three layers of the earth.

So, do you want to know how we are so sure about the layers, depths, and materials found in each of these terrestrial layers? Stay tuned and we’ll tell you.

How do you know what’s under our feet?

Studying our planet brings together many different fields of science. Physics, geology, engineering, geography, chemistry and many other fields focus on how our planet was created and evolved.

Yes, it is developing, because every day there are changes in the way the inner layers interact, which causes changes in the landscape and even causes a nuclear slowdown, which could extinguish the Earth’s magnetic field in a few million years.

It is believed that in the early events of the creation of our planetary system, a swirling, incandescent mass of rock and metal slowly cooled to form our planet. We still have remnants of this creation at the center of the Earth, and there is heat in the Earth’s core.

With cooling, our planet has divided into layers that are not well defined, contrary to what was thought. Their boundaries are scattered. However, it is possible to determine the boundaries of these layers through the rock or metal materials found in each of them.From the outside, the Earth has been cooling for thousands of years.

Since we do not have sufficient technology to probe the Earth’s core, our measurements are made indirectly, based on seismology studies, volcano observations, among other methods of study.

For seismological measurements, for example, we cause small seismic shocks, mini-earthquakes, and check what signals can be received in that area. Every material, whether mineralized or crystallized rocks, metals, liquids or other elements, Helps to diagnose soil by providing a different type of vibration that can be identified in seismological readings.

With the data at hand, it is possible to theorize and create models that explain how the Earth has shaped over the last 4 billion years.

From incandescent core to earth’s crust

Our planet is divided into three main layers: core, mantle and crust. Each of these layers can be subdivided into specific names depending on their location and depth. Let’s start our exploration from the heart of the earth.

Sunflower seed

The core is almost an inner Sun. The Earth’s heart, with an estimated temperature of about 5,200 degrees Celsius, is composed of the metals iron and nickel, which are in a “semisolid” state. The temperature is high enough for the metals to be liquid, but the internal pressure causes them to behave like solids.

In this core The majority of Earth’s magnetic field is created by. It is predicted that once the core has completely cooled, our electromagnetic “shields” will fade, leaving the Earth at the mercy of the sun’s mood and its deadly winds. It can be divided into internal and external.

Cloak

The mantle corresponds to the largest layer of the Earth and can be divided into the asthenosphere and the lithosphere. The asthenosphere is at the boundary of the outer core, while the lithosphere is the upper part of the mantle and at the boundary of the crust.

The main elements found in the mantle are: magnesium, silicon, and oxygen. Magma from volcanic vents originates in the mantle. This layer is estimated to be 2,900 kilometers thick.

Shell

We have reached the surface again. The Earth’s crust is estimated to be at least 40 km thick. It can be divided into oceanic crust and continental crust. Oceanic crust is mostly made up of basalt, and continental crust is made up of rocks, sediments, and other soil elements.

The well-known movement of tectonic plates is caused by the sliding of the oceanic crust under the continental plate, which creates not only land masses, but also increased relief. Like Mount Everest, which grew as the Eurasian-Indian plates interacted.

The journey of the world

All layers of the world They are in constant interaction, shaping, reshaping, creating and maintaining the conditions for supporting life on this planet.Partitions are, first of all, theoretical models for a more detailed study of our home.

All the information generated here feeds into the way we study other rocky worlds, their formation, and even the way we predict future events, such as what will happen when the Earth’s core cools.

Until then, there is still much to be excavated and discovered. Perhaps one day a grown child, a professional explorer, will be able to make the Vernian adventure possible.

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