EARTH’S INTERIOR

By : Mumtaz Ali Khan

 INTRODUCTION
• Deep interior of the Earth is
mostly studied indirectly.
– Direct access only to crustal rocks
and small upper mantle fragments
brought up by volcanic eruptions or
slapped onto continents by
subducting oceanic plates.
GEOPHYSICS
• Is the branch of geology
that studies the interior of the Earth.
SE Germany – 10 km drill hole
INDIRECT STUDY OF THE EARTH’S INTERIOR

1) Seismic Waves
2) Gravity
3) Magnetic Field
 SEISMIC WAVES
 Two types of waves travel away from the focus of a seismic
event. These waves travel at different speeds. In addition to
surface waves, the waves that are providing evidence about
the interior of the Earth are 'P' waves (P standing for
primary or pressure), and 'S' waves (S for secondary or
shear). P-waves are faster than S waves.

 P-waves can travel through solid rock and fluids, and their
speed will vary depending on the density of the rock
through which they travel; increased speed will indicate
increased density, thus providing information about the
density and possible mineralogy of Earth's various layers.
 SEISMIC WAVES

• S-waves cannot travel through fluids, thus when an

S-wave encounters the outer core of the Earth (liquid
iron and nickel), it is disrupted or diminish,
indicating the boundary between the mantle and
outer core.

• The effect observed from the motion of S-waves

reveals a 'shadow zone', opposite to where they
originate.
 GRAVITY
• In general the earth's interior has been sorted by Gravity.
• Heavier elements like iron tend to sink toward the center or core
of the earth.
• Lighter materials like silicates have risen to become part of the
crust.
• This action has created distinct layers within the earth and is still
in process today.
 MAGNETIC FIELD
• Earth's magnetic field is generated deep in the interior.
• As Oersted discovered, electric currents induce
magnetic fields. Earth's magnetic field is no exception,
electric currents deep in Earth's interior induce its
magnetic field.
• In order to have electric currents in the core, the
composition must be an electrically conducting
material, such as metal.
• Earth's density is also consistent with a metallic core,
so both the density and magnetic field tell geophysicists
that Earth has a metallic core.
 MAGNETIC FIELD
• From seismic waves scientists know that Earth's metallic
outer core is liquid. The liquid metallic outer core
circulates as Earth rotates and generates electric currents.
These currents in turn induce Earth's magnetic field.

• Electric current induces magnetic fields, but the presence

of a magnetic metal, such as iron, increases the magnetic
field. Hence scientists think that Earth has an nickel iron
alloy core rather than some nonmagnetic metal.
 STUDY OF THE EARTH’S INTERIOR

• Knowledge primarily through the study of seismology.

• SEISMOLOGY: Study of earthquakes and seismic

waves.

• Examining the paths and speeds of seismic waves

 Reflection and Refraction

 SEISMIC REFLECTION

• SEISMIC WAVES or vibrations from a large earthquake (or underground

nuclear test) will pass through the entire Earth.

• SEISMIC REFLECTION : The return of some waves to the surface after

bouncing off a rock layer boundary.
– Sharp boundary between two materials of different
densities will reflect seismic waves.
 SEISMIC REFRACTION
• Bending of seismic waves as they pass from one material to another
having different seismic wave velocities.
TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES
Two basic types of seismic waves

 Body Waves: P and S waves

 Surface Waves: Love and Rayleigh Waves
 SEISMIC P WAVE
• Its motion is the same as that of a sound wave in
that, as it spreads out, it alternately pushes
(compresses) and pulls (dilates) the rock.

• Direction of rock particle vibration parallel to that

of wave propagation.

• Fastest rates of propagation, first arrival to the

seismograph.

• These P waves are able to travel through both solid

rock, such as granite, and liquid material, such as
volcanic magma or the water of the oceans.
 SEISMIC P WAVE
• P wave velocity is about 1.7 times greater than the S
wave velocity in the same medium.
• Consequently, for an identical travel path, P waves
arrive before S waves, so called Primary wave.
 SEISMIC S WAVE
• Secondary or shear waves.
• The direction of particle vibration perpendicular to that of
propagation.
• As an S wave propagates, it shears the rock sideways at
right angles to the direction of travel.
 SEISMIC S WAVE

• If a material is sheared sideways or twisted, it will not

spring back, hence S wave cannot propagates in the liquid
parts of the earth, such as oceans, lakes an the outer core.

• Propagates slower than P waves.

 SURFACE WAVES
 Surface waves (L-waves) travel along the Earth's surface.
 They travel slower than body waves.
 Because of their low frequency, long duration, and large
amplitude, they can be the most destructive type of seismic wave.
 They are called surface waves because they diminish as they get
further from the surface.
 Surface waves can be divided into two types:

1) Love Wave 2) Rayleigh Waves

 LOVE WAVES
• Its motion is essentially that of S waves that have no vertical
displacement.
• It moves the ground from side to side in a horizontal plane but at
right angles to the direction of propagation.
• The horizontal shaking of Love waves is particularly damaging to
the foundations of structures.
 LOVE WAVES
• Surface waves travel more slowly than body waves (P and S).

• Love waves generally travel faster than Rayleigh waves.

 RAYLEIGH WAVES
• Like rolling ocean waves, Rayleigh waves move both vertically
and horizontally in a vertical plane pointed in the direction in
which the waves are travelling.
• The existence of these waves was predicted by John William
Strutt, Lord Rayleigh, in 1885.
• They are slower than body waves.
 GRAVITY
&
ISOSTASY

Gravity is a fundamental
force of nature. A
constant force in every
system on Earth.
Isostasy is gravitational
adjustment of the crust. 21
HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE
EARTH INTERIOR IS LIKE ?
1) Drilling
2) Volcanic activity
3) Samples of the solar system (meteorites)
4) Study of seismic waves generated by earthquakes
and nuclear explosions

22

Seismograph Seismogram
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEISMOGRAM &
SEISMOGRAPH

• SEISMOGRAPH
Is an instrument that records movements within the earth.

• SEISMOGRAM
Is a graph output by a seismograph. It is a record of the ground
motion at a measuring station as a function of time.
SEISMOGRAM PRINTOUT
EARTH’S INTERNAL STRUCTURE

Earth

Crust Mantle Core

 EARTH’S INTERNAL STRUCTURE
(Radius = 6370km , Diameter = 12,740km)
• Seismic waves have been used to
determine three main layers of the
Earth: the crust, mantle and core.
• The crust is the outer layer of rock
that forms a thin skin on Earth’s
surface (granite, feldspars, quartz).
• The mantle is a thick shell
of dense rock that separates
the crust above from the core below
(olivine composition).
• The core is the metallic central zone
of the Earth (metals).
LAYERS OF THE EARTH
 THE CRUST
• The crust is the thin, solid, outermost layer of the
Earth.
• 0-70 km thick.
• Occupies 0.473% of Earth's mass.
• Seismic wave studies indicate crust is thinner and
denser beneath the oceans than on the continents.
• Different seismic wave velocities in Oceanic
(7km/sec) vs. Continental (6km/sec) crustal rocks
are indicative of different compositions.
• Only the uppermost part of the crust is available for
direct sampling.
 THE CRUST

• Oceanic crust is mafic,

composed primarily of basalt
and gabbro.
• Continental crust is felsic, with
an average composition similar
to granite.
 MAFIC MINERALS
 Mafic is used for silicate minerals, magmas, and rocks which are
relatively high in the heavier elements.
 The term is derived from using the MA from magnesium and the
FIC from the Latin word for iron (ferric), mafic magmas also are
relatively enriched in calcium and sodium.
 Mafic minerals are usually dark in color and have relatively
high specific gravities (greater than 3.0).
 Specific Gravity is the ratio of density of a substance to the
density of water.
 Mafic magmas are usually produced at spreading centers.
 Common mafic rocks include basalt and gabbros.
 FELSIC MINERALS
 Felsic, on the other hand, is used for silicate minerals,
magmas, and rocks which have a lower percentage of the
heavier elements.
 They are correspondingly enriched in the lighter elements,
such as silicon and oxygen, aluminum, and potassium.
 The term comes from FEL for feldspar and SIC, which
indicates the higher percentage of silica.
 Felsic minerals are usually light in color and have specific
gravities less than 3.0
 Common felsic minerals include quartz, muscovite mica,
and the orthoclase feldspars. The most common felsic
rock is granite.
 MOHO DISCONTINUITY

• Moho or Mohorovicic Discontinuity is the boundary between the

Crust and the Mantle.
 THE MANTLE
 The layer below the crust is the Mantle.
 The mantle has more iron and magnesium than the crust, making
it more dense. Also rich in Si.
 Depth 70-2883 km , 67.3% of Earth's mass, +10000 C.
 Crust and upper mantle together form the Lithosphere, the brittle
outer shell of the Earth that makes up the tectonic plates.
 Lithosphere averages 70 km thick beneath oceans and 125-250
km thick beneath continents.
 The rocky lithosphere is brittle and can fracture. This is the zone
where earthquakes occur.
 It’s the lithosphere that breaks into the thick, moving slabs of
rock, tectonic plates.
 THE MANTLE
 As we descend into the Earth, temperature rises and we reach part
of the mantle that is partially molten, the Asthenosphere.
 Seismic wave speeds abruptly decrease in a plastic (ductile) low-
velocity zone called the Asthenosphere
 As rock heats up, it becomes pliable or ‘plastic’. Rock here is hot
enough to fold, stretch, compress, and flow very slowly without
fracturing.
 Plates are made up of the relatively light, rigid rock of the
lithosphere ‘float’ on the more dense, flowing asthenosphere.
 Mantle materials are rarely brought to the surface.
 THE CORE
 At the center of the Earth lies the super-dense Core.
 The core is larger than the planet Mars.
 Unlike the Earth’s outer layers with rocky compositions, the core
is made up of metallic iron nickel alloy.
• The core is about 5 times as dense as surface rock.
• Seismic wave studies have provided primary evidence for
existence and nature of Earth’s core.
 The core of the Earth is made up of two distinct layers:
1) A liquid outer layer
2) A solid inner core
 OUTER CORE

• Depth of Outer Core is 2883-5140 kilometers.

• Outer Core occupies 30.8% of Earth's mass.

• Molten Fe with some Ni.

• Temperature 37000 C.
 INNER CORE

• Depth of Inner Core is 5140-6371 kilometers.

• Inner Core occupies 1.7% of the Earth's mass.

• Solid Fe with some Ni.

 CONVECTION CURRENTS
• Convection is the transfer of heat through a fluid by the physical
movement of the fluid itself, and convection currents are those
movements.

• They can form in air, in water, and within the earth itself. Basically,
if a portion of the fluid is heated, it will become less dense than the
surrounding fluid and will eventually rise; if it is cooled, it will sink.
CONVECTION CURRENTS
The middle mantle
"flows" because of
convection currents.
Convection currents
caused by the very hot
material at the deepest
part of the mantle rising,
then cooling and sinking
again repeating this
cycle over and over.
CONVECTION CURRENTS

The next time you heat anything

like soup or water in a pan you can
watch the convection currents
move in the liquid. When the
convection currents flow in the
asthenosphere they also move the
crust. The crust gets a free ride
with these currents, like the block
in this illustration.
 DENSITY
• Specific areas on the opposite side of the Earth which do
not receive seismic waves, resulting in seismic shadow
zones.
• Density of crust (2.8 g/cm^3) and mantle (3.3 g/cm^3).
• Core has a density of (10 g/cm^3).

P waves S waves
 SEISMIC SHADOW ZONES
• P-wave shadow zone (103°-142° from epicenter)
explained by refraction of waves encountering
core-mantle boundary.
• S-wave shadow zone (≥103° from epicenter)
suggests outer core is a liquid.

P waves S waves
 P waves
THE INNER CORE

S waves

• Inge Lehmann discovered that the inner core was solid in 1936
by careful observations of P-wave refraction patterns through
the inner core.
 THE CORE
• Core composition inferred from its
calculated density, electro-magnetic
properties, and composition of
meteorites.
 Iron metal (liquid in outer core and solid in
inner core) best fits observed properties.
 Iron is the only metal common in
meteorites.
• D layer or Gutenberg Discontinuity is
the core-mantle boundary, it is marked
by great changes in seismic velocity,
density and temperature.
 Hot core may melt lowermost mantle or
react chemically to form iron silicates in this
zone and is called as ultralow-velocity zone
(ULVZ).
 EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD
• A Magnetic Field (region of
magnetic force) surrounds the
Earth.
 Field has north and south
Magnetic Poles.
 Earth’s magnetic field is
what a compass detects.
 Recorded by magnetic
minerals (e.g., magnetite)
in igneous rocks as they
cool.
 EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD

• Magnetic Reversals : Times when the

poles of Earth’s magnetic field switch
 Recorded in magnetic minerals.
 Occurred many times; timing appears chaotic.

• Paleomagnetism : The study of ancient

magnetic fields in rocks.
MAGNETIC FIELD REVERSAL’S

 Computer simulations from Los Alamos (Glatzmaier).

 Also predicted the inner core must be spinning faster than Earth.
 INNER CORE ROTATION

Song and Richards later confirmed the rotation rate of the

inner core to be 1o/year faster than the Earth's rotation.
?