The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-11-16
THE EARTH'S INTERIOR
Our Planets Core Is Liquid, Yet
It's as Rigid as Steel.
UNDER ENORMOUS PRESSURE

Neither Rock Nor Metal Could Remain
There In the State In Which We See
e on the Surface-The Lava That
Breaks Through the .Earth's Crust.
The idea that the interior Of the globe
Is composed OF flowing lava has long
since been abandoned, but the picture
that modern science offers of the in
side OF the earth Is hardly less ap-
palling. All Investigations unite TO
prove that the heat increases as we de-
scend deeper In the terrestrial crust
ut such rate that forty or fifty miles
down no substance with which we are
acquainted could remain unmelted And
yet the same science tells us that the
core OF the globe is enormously more
rigid than the hardest steel. This ap-
parent contradiction Is due to the ire
mendous pressure inside the earth. No
rock and no metal can remain there in
the state In which we see 1t on the sur
face. Its molecules must lose the ad-
herence characteristic of solid bottles
in consequence Of the heat, but still
they are not free to flow like an ord-
to which they are subjected.
The phenomena Of earthquakes have
given wonderful information about the
internal state Of the globe. All OBJ
servations show that the shocks Of
earthquakes are confined to thin up
per shell. They originate at a depth
OF only few miles at the most Bat
the vibrations which they set going
are felt all through the earth. often ex-
tending to the antipodes. The great
core. held rigid by the pressure, is ex-
tremely elastic, and it responds to
shock like a ball Of steel or Of glass.
The density Of the earth increases to-
ward the center. 1t is only in the up
per part of the crust that local move
ments can take place, causing shocks
and changes Of level at the surface.
Deeper down everything is grpped and
immovable, except. as already re-
marked. that the molecules OF the rocks
and metals there are subject to vibra-
tiOn like those Of bell against which
n blow is struck.
But this Is not ALL Whenever local
release from the pressure is brought
hpcut ny CliduSeS ucdT lDe surface Tue
potentially liquid but effectually solid
core at that point may suddenly be-
come fluid and gush forth through
volcanic throat or other vent. But
such effects cannot extend to any great
depth. Nothing comes to us from the
vast interior mass. That remains a
perpetual mystery, far beyond the
searching hand OF science. Indirectly.
however. we may learn much about it,
Astronomical considerations throw a
great deal OF light upon the subject.
We see that through the plar etary sys-
tenn rotating globes are f1attened at the
poles. The same thing is true of the
earth. It's equator bulges; its polar
regions are drawn inward. Mechan-
ical laws assure us that the cause is
to be found in the fact that the earth
and the other planets have assumed
shape under the influence of the cen
trlfugal force of their rotation. That
TO-" Is necessarily greatest at the
@, =, beginning as completed mol
te.. Nies. they have commenced to So
lidify at the surface after having as
sumed an elliflordal form due to their
rotation.
Another very significant fact is that
the shape of the earth corresponds with
that which a globe rotating with its
velocity would have If composed of
materials arranged to their density
that Is to say. growing denser toward
the center. The heaviest materials
must be deep down in the globe: the
lighter materials have remained at the
surface. This again corresponds with
the facts OF observation. We know
the total weight" and the average
density Of the earth. 1t weighs" six
sextillions of tons, and its average
density is FIVE and a half times that Of
water But the substances composing
the crust of the earth have an average
density Of twice that Of water. 1t
follows that the heaviest things in the
earth, on the average. exist deep with
in ~ exterior. For all that we can
tell. its inner core may be wholly me-
tallic. At the center there is probably
an enormous aggregation Of dense me-
tallic substances.
An indication that the inner parts Of
the earth consist largely If not mainly
or iron Is to be found In the mag
netism Of the globe. The earth Is
great permanent magnet. If we could
learr: the facts 1t might turn out that
Iron Is the most abundant substance
IN the solar system and perhaps in
the whole universe. The majority of
the meteorites that fall upon the earth
consist of solid iron. Blow the earth
to pieces and in the resulting cloud
OF fragments the rocks that we are
familiar with would be almost imper-
ceptible. There would be rain of
iron and other metals descending upon
the moon and upon any other attract
ing body in tue vicinity.
This view of the interior Of the
globe disposes OF the notion. so pictur-
esquely developed in one Of Jules
verne's romances. OF the existence Of
vast cavernous openings in the inte-
rior of the earth. Such void spaces,
though On no large scale may exist
In the upper part of the crust. but not
at a great depth. The earth is ef-
fectively more solid than cannon
ball. and the movable rocks compos-
ing its crust are like film OF rrst on
the hard metal.-ProfesSor CIV,