Chapter 3
Interior of the Earth
Gold mines in South Africa are as deep as 3 – 4 km. Going
beyond this depth is not possible as it is very hot at this depth.
The earth’s radius is 6,370 km.
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and magma are major sources
of the information on interior of the earth. The indirect sources
include analysis of the information, meteors reaching the earth,
gravitation, magnetic field, and seismic activity.
We get to know through mining activity that temperature and
pressure increase with the increasing distance from the surface
towards the interior in deeper depths. Moreover, it is also
known that the density of the material also increases with
depth. It is possible to find the rate of change of these
characteristics.
The lithosphere refers to the portion of depth up to 200 km
from the surface of the earth.
An instrument called ‘seismograph’ records the waves reaching
the surface.
The velocity of waves changes as they travel through materials
with different densities. The denser the material, the higher is
the velocity.
Seismographic waves are of two types: P waves and S waves.
The seismographs located beyond 145° from epicenter, record
the arrival of P-waves, but not that of S-waves.
A zone between 105° and 145° from epicenter was identified
as the shadow zone for both the types of waves.
The entire zone beyond 105° does not receive S-waves. The
shadow zone of S-wave is much larger than that of the P-
waves. The shadow zone of P-waves appears as a band around
the earth between 105° and 145° away from the epicenter.
Earthquakes are of two types: a) Tectonic earthquake and b)
Volcanic earthquake.
The magnitude of earthquake is measured through Richter
Scale. It relates to the energy released during the quake. The
magnitude is expressed in absolute numbers, 0-10. The
intensity scale is named after Mercalli, an Italian seismologist.
The Crust is the outermost solid part of the earth. It is brittle in
nature. The thickness of the crust varies under the oceanic and
continental areas. Oceanic crust is thinner as compared to the
continental crust.
The mean thickness of oceanic crust is 5 km whereas that of
the continental is around 30 km. The continental crust is
thicker in the areas of major mountain systems. It is as much
as 70 km thick in the Himalayan region.
The portion of the interior beyond the crust is called the
mantle. The mantle extends from Moho’s discontinuity to a
depth of 2,900 km.
The Core is the innermost portion of the earth. The core-
mantle boundary is located at the depth of 2,900 km. The outer
core is in liquid state while the inner core is in solid state. The
depth of the core is from 2900 km to 6378 km.
Barring the basalt flows, the shield volcanoes are the largest of all
the volcanoes on the earth. The Hawaiian volcanoes are the most
famous examples.
Important Terms:
Earthquake: An earthquake in simple words is shaking of the
earth. It is a natural [Link] is caused due to release of energy,
which generates waves that travel in all directions.
Lithosphere: The lithosphere refers to the portion of depth up
to 200 km from the surface of the earth,
Volcano: A volcano is a place where gases, ashes and/or
molten rock material – lava – escape to the ground.
Active Volcano: A volcano is called an active volcano if the
materials mentioned are being released or have been Released
out in the recent past.
Magma: As long as liquid rocks arena the upper portion of the
mantle, it is called magma.
Lava: When magma reaches the irust of the earth, it is called
lava.
Intrusive Forms: The lava that, cools within the crustal portions
assumes different forms. These forms are called intrusive
forms.
Batholiths: A large body of magmatic material that cools in the
deeper depth of the crust develops in the form of large
domfss.’Batholiths are the cooled portion of magma chambers.
Caldera: These are the most explosive of the earth’s volcanoes.
They are usually so explosive that when they erupt they fend
to collapse on themselves rather than building any tall
structure.
Lapolith: As and when the lava moves upwards, a portion of the
same may tend to move in a horizontal direction wherever it finds a
weak plane. It may get rested in different forms.‘ In case it develops
into a saucer shape, concave to the sky body, it is called lapolith.
Phacolith: A wavy mass of intrusive rocks, at times, is found at the
base of synclines or at the top of anticline in folded igneous country.
Such wavy materials have a definite conduit to source beneath in
the form of magma chambers (subsequently developed as
batholiths). These are called the phacoliths.
Sills: The near horizontal bodies gf the intrusive igneous rocks are
called sill or sheet, depending on the thickness of the material. The
thinner ones are called sheets while the thick horizontal deposits are
called sills.
Hypocentre: The point where the energy is released is called the
focus of an earthquake, alternatively, it is called the hypocentre.
Epicentre: The point on the surface which is nearest to the focus of
energy is called epicenterIt is the first one to experience the waves.
It is a point directly above the focus.
Crust: The Crust is the outermost solid part of the earth.
Mantle: The portion of the interior beyond the crust is called the
mantle.
Gravity Anomalies: The difference in readings from the expected
values is called gravity anomaly. Gravity anomalies give us
information about the distribution of mass of the material in the
crust of the earth.
Shadow Zone: There exist some specific areas where the waves are
not reported. Such a zone is called the ‘shadow zone’.
Richter Scale: The earthquake events are scaled either according to
the magnitude or intensity of the shock. The magnitude scale is
known as the Richter scale.
Shield Volcanoes: These volcanoes are mostly made up of basalt, a
type of lava that is very fluid when erupted. For this reason, these
volcanoes are not steep.
Composite Volcanoes: These volcanoes are characterised by
eruptions of cooler and more viscous waves than basalt. These
volcanoes often result in explosive eruptions.
P-waves: P waves move faster and are the first to arrive at the
surface. These are also called ‘primary waves’.
[Link]: S-waves arrive at the surface with some time lag. These
are called secondary waves .