What is the earth: the internal and external structure

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What could be inside with you our home planet?Simply put, what is in the earth, what is its internal structure?These questions have long worried scientists.But it turned out to clarify the issue is not so simple.Even with the help of cutting-edge technology a person can go deep inside only by a distance equal to fifteen kilometers, and this, of course, not only to all to understand and justify.Therefore, even today, research on "what is in the Earth" are mainly using indirect data and assumptions, hypotheses.But in this, scientists have already achieved certain results.

how to study the planet

Even in the times of ancient individual members of humanity seek knowledge: what is in the earth.People studied and sections of rocks, bare nature itself and accessible for viewing.It is, first of all, cliffs, hillsides, steep bank of the seas and rivers.These natural slices a lot of things you can understand, because they consist of those breeds that have been here millions of years ago.Today, scientists in some areas of land being drilled.Of these, the most profound - 15 km in the Kola Peninsula.Also, the study is using mines, breaks for mining minerals: coal and ores, for example.Among them are also extracted rock samples that can tell people about what is in the earth.

Indirect data

But this - what concerns the experimental and visual knowledge of the structure of the planet.But with the help of science of seismology (the study of earthquakes) and geophysics researchers to penetrate into the depths of non-contact, analyzing the seismic waves and their propagation.These data tell us about the properties of substances that are deep underground.Conducted studies of the structure of the planet and with the help of satellites, staying in orbit.

What is Earth

internal structure of the planet's non-uniform.Today, scientists and researchers found that within the globe consists of several parts.In the middle is the kernel.Next - the mantle, which is huge, and is about five-sixths of the total mass of the Earth.The outer bark is represented by a thin layer covering the sphere.These three components, in turn, is also not absolutely uniform and have structural features.

kernel

What is the core of the earth?Scientists have put forward several versions of the composition and origin of the central part of the planet.The most popular: the core is a nickel-iron melt.The core is divided into several parts: an inner - solid, external - liquid.It is very heavy: more than one third of the total mass of the planet (for comparison, its volume is only 15%).According to researchers, it was formed gradually over time, and the iron and nickel are released from silicates.At the present time (in 2015), scientists from Oxford offered the version according to which the core consists of radioactive uranium.This, by the way, and they explain the increased heat of the planet, and the existence of a magnetic field to this day.In any case, the information of which is the core of the Earth, it can be obtained only hypothetically, as prototypes of modern science available.

Mantle

What is in the Earth's mantle?Immediately should mention that, as in the case of the nucleus, scientists have not yet had a chance to never reach it.Therefore, the study is also under way with the help of theories and hypotheses.In recent years, however, Japanese researchers are drilling on the ocean floor, where the mantle to remain "only some" of 3000 km.But the results are not yet sounded.And make up the mantle, according to scientists, silicates - rocks rich in iron and magnesium.They are in molten liquid state (temperature reaches 2500 degrees).And in the mantle, oddly enough, also includes water.There's a lot of it (if you throw water on the entire inner surface, the sea level would rise by 800 meters).

crust

It takes only a little more in terms of percent of the planet and a little less - by weight.But, despite its light weight, the crust of the earth is for mankind is very important, because it is on it, and live all life on Earth.

Areas Earth

known that the age of our planet is about 4.5 billion years (scientists have found it with the help of radiometric data).In the study of the Earth revealed several inherent shells called geospheres.They also differ in their chemical composition and physical properties.The hydrosphere includes all the available water on the planet in its various states (liquid, solid, gaseous).Lithosphere - stone shell, tightly encircling the Earth (from 50 to 200 km thick).Biosphere - all life on the planet, including bacteria and plants, and people.The atmosphere (from the Greek "Atmos" meaning pairs) - Air jacket land, without which it would be impossible the existence of life.

What is in the Earth's atmosphere

inner part of this major life shell adjacent to the earth's crust and is a gaseous substance.A foreign - it borders with the cosmic near-Earth space.It determines the weather on the planet, and its composition is not uniform.What is in the Earth's atmosphere?Modern scientists can determine with precision its components.Nitrogen as a percentage - over 75%.Oxygen - 23%.Argon - a little more than 1 percent.Very little: carbon dioxide, neon, helium, methane, hydrogen, xenon, and certain other substances.The water content in the composition of the atmosphere ranges from 0.2% to 2.5% depending on climate zone.The carbon dioxide content is also impermanent.Some characteristics of the modern Earth's atmosphere directly depend on human industrial activity.