The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-12-12
EARTH'S Interior
Our Planets Core Is Liquid, Yet
us as Rigid as Steel.
UNDER ENORMOUS PRESSURE
Neither Rock Nor Metal Could Roman
There In tho State IN Which Wa Coo

u on tho 3Jr'as.--, a. ...va Tha.
Breaks Through tho Garth's Crust
The ldea Tint The interior of the globe
" composed of flowing lava has long
since been abandoned, but the picture
That liodern science offers of tho IN
side OF tho earth Ia lnrdly less mp
phlllng All Investigations unite 10
prove that tho heat increases as we DC
secnh deeper Ia the terrestrial crust
nj such rate Tint forty or llfty miles
down no substance with which wc are
acquainted could remnin unmelicd, Aud
yet tho same science tells ua that tho
core OF the globe IL enormously more
riglj thhn the hardest steel. This MP,
parent contradiction In due to tho trc.
mcndous pressure inside the enrth No
rock nnd no metal eun remain there In
the state In which wesce II on tho sur.
face, Its molecules must ioso tho nd.
hercncc characteristic Of solid bodies
In consequence Of the heat, but still
they are not free 70 now Ike an ordl.
nary liquid. because Of the compression
to which they are subjected.
Tho phenomena Of earthquakes have
given wonderful Information about the
internal state Of tho globe. All oh,
scrvatlons show that the shocks Of
earthquakes aro confined 10 thin up.
per shell. They originate at depth
OF only few miles at the most But
tho vibrations which they set going
arc felt all through the earth. often OK.
tending to tho antlpodcs. The great
core, held rigid by the pressure. is OK.
tremely elastic, and II responds TO a
shock like n ball OF steel or OF glass.
The density OF the earth increases to.
ward the center. II is only IN tho up.
per part OF tAp crust that local move.
ments can take place, causing shocks
and changes Of level nj tho surface
Deeper down everything IL grlpped and
immovable. except, nv already re-
marked. that the molecules OF the rocks
and metals there are subject to vibra.
tion like those OF a bell against which
a blow is struck
But this IL not nll, Whenever local
release from the pressure In brought
about BY changes near the surface the
potentially liquid but cifectually solid
core at that point may suddenly be.
come nuld and gush forth through
volcanic throat or other vent But
such effects cannot extend 10 any great
depth. Nothing comes 10 us from the
vast interior mass That remains
perpetual mystery. far beyond the
searching hand Of science. Indirectly.
however. We may learn much about IT,
Astronomical considerations throw
great deal or light upon the subject,
We see that through the planetary sys'
TEN rotating globes are nattened at the
poles. The same thing IL true OF the
earth. Its equator bulgcs: ts polnr
regions are drawn inward. Mcchnn.
ical laws assure us that the cause Is
to bc found In the fact that the earth
and the other planets have assumed
shape under the influence of the cen
trlfugul force OF their rotation. Thai
force Ia necessarily greatest at the
equator. Beginning M completed mol
ten bodies, they have commenced to so
lidify at the surface after having az
aumed an ellhorial form due to their
rotation.
Another very significant fact IL that
the shape OF the earth corresponds with
that which globe rotating with Its
velocity would have II composed OF
materials arranged to their density
that Is TO say. growing denser toward
the center, The heaviest materials
must be deep down In tho 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, II "welghs" six
sextilllons OF tons. and Its average
density IL Ave and half times that OF
water. But the substances composing
the crust Of the earth have an average
density OF twice that Of water II
follows that the heaviest things In the
earth, on the average, exist deep with.
In Its exterior For all that we can
tell. Its inner core may be wholly me.
tallic. At the center there Is probably I
an enormous aggregation of dense me.
talllc substances, ...
An indication that the inner parts OF
the earth consist largely II not mainly |
or iron Is to be found In the mag
netlsm OF the globe. The earth Is a
great permanent magnet. II we could |
learn the facts It might turn out that
Iron Is the most abundant substance
In the solar system and perhaps In
the whole universe. The majority Of |
the meteorltes 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 a rain Of
iron and other metals descending upon
the moon and upon any other attract
ing body In the vicinity. U
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 late
rIor Of the earth, Such void spaces,