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What are some facts about the inner and outer core?

What are some facts about the inner and outer core?

The center of the Earth is made up of two layers, the outer core and the inner core. The outer core is the third layer of the Earth. It is the only liquid layer, and is mainly made up of the metals iron and nickel, as well as small amounts of other substances. The outer core is responsible for Earth’s magnetic field.

What are 5 facts about the inner core?

5 Facts About the Earth’s Inner Core

  • It’s Almost The Size of the Moon. The Earth’s inner core is surprisingly large, measuring 2,440 km (1,516 miles) across.
  • It’s Hot…Really Hot.
  • It’s Mostly Made of Iron.
  • It Spins Faster Than the Surface of the Earth.
  • It Creates a Magnetic Field.

What is the inner and outer core made of?

Core. At the center of the Earth is the core, which has two parts. The solid, inner core of iron has a radius of about 760 miles (about 1,220 km), according to NASA. It is surrounded by a liquid, outer core composed of a nickel-iron alloy.

What is an interesting fact about the inner core?

The inner core is the fourth layer inside the Earth. It is a solid metallic ball made mainly of iron. Here, temperatures reach extraordinary levels, estimated to be between 7,200–8,500ºF (4,000–4,700ºC). Although the inner core is very hot, it is not liquid like the outer core.

What are 3 facts about the crust?

Interesting Facts about the Earths Crust

  • The crust is deepest in mountainous areas.
  • The continental and oceanic crusts are bonded to the mantle, which we spoke about earlier, and this forms a layer called the lithosphere.
  • Beneath the lithosphere, there is a hotter part of the mantle that is always moving.

What are 5 facts about the mantle?

Five facts about the mantle include:

  • The mantle makes up 84% of Earth’s volume.
  • The mantle extends from 35-2980 kilometers below Earth’s surface.
  • The mantle is mostly solid rock.
  • The mantle ranges in temperatures from 200 to 4000 degrees Celsius.
  • Convection currents in the mantle drive plate tectonics.

What describe the outer core?

Earth’s outer core is a fluid layer about 2,400 km (1,500 mi) thick and composed of mostly iron and nickel that lies above Earth’s solid inner core and below its mantle. Its outer boundary lies 2,890 km (1,800 mi) beneath Earth’s surface. Unlike the inner (or solid) core, the outer core is liquid.

How hot is the inner core?

approximately 5,700 K
The inner core is believed to be composed of an iron–nickel alloy with some other elements. The temperature at the inner core’s surface is estimated to be approximately 5,700 K (5,430 °C; 9,800 °F), which is about the temperature at the surface of the Sun.

Who discovered the outer core?

Inge Lehmann
The discovery that the core of the Earth contains a solid inner core surrounded by a liquid outer core was made by seismologist Inge Lehmann, who was studying how seismic waves bounce off the interior of the Earth.

Why the inner core is important?

Earth’s solid-metal inner core is a key component of the planet, helping to give rise to the magnetic field that protects us from harmful space radiation, but its remoteness from the planet’s surface means that there is much we don’t know about what goes on down there.

How old is the earth?

4.543 billion years
Earth/Age

What does the inner core do?