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Geochemistry pp 151–156Cite as

Earth's core

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Science ((EESS))

Introduction

The solid Earth is made up of three fundamental layers, the core, mantle and crust, which are the products of planetary differentiation. The core, which is about half and Earth radius wide or only about 1/8 of an Earth volume, makes up about 1/3 of the Earth's mass and is composed of ∼85% iron, ∼5% nickel and lesser amounts of other elements that readily alloy with iron. The mantle and crust make up the other half of the Earth's radius, and are dominantly composed of silicates of magnesium, iron, aluminum, and calcium.

Our understanding of the Earth's core is primarily established from remote geophysical measurements, including studies of the Earth's seismological profile and its magnetic field, and from studies of the Earth's orbital behavior, which provides us with a coefficient of the moment of inertia for the Earth. Secondary constraints on the nature of the Earth's core come from studies of meteorites and models for the bulk composition of the Earth and its primitive...

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Authors
  1. William F. McDonough
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© 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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McDonough, W.F. (1998). Earth's core . In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_83

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_83

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-412-75500-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4496-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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