Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1908-01-04

The idea that the interior of the globe
is composed Of flowing lava has long
since been abandoned, but the picture
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 |
at 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. It's molecules must lose the adj
herence characteristic Of solid bodies
in consequence Of the heat, but still
they are not free to flow like an ordi-
nary liquid, because Of the compression
to which they are subjected.
The phenomena Of earthquakes have
given wonderful information about the
internal state Of the globe. All OBJ
I
earthquakes are confined to a thin up
/ per SHE'LL They originate at depth
| of only a few miles at the most. But
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 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 gripped and
immovable, except, as already re-
marked, that the molecules of the rocks
and metals there are subject to vibra-
ton like those Of bell against which
a blow is struck.
But this Is not all. Whenever local
release from the pressure is brought
about by changes near the surface the
potentially liquid but effectually solid
core at that point may suddenly be-
come fluid and gush forth through
volcanic throat or other vent. But
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 planetary sys-
TEN rotating globes are f1attened at the
poles The same thing is true of the
earth Its equator bulges; its polar
4 regions are drawn inward. Mechan-
ical laws assure us that the cause is
q to be found In the fact that the earth
O and the other planets have assumed
shape under the influence Of the cen
trifugal force Of their rotation. That
force Is necessarily greatest at the
! equator. Beginning as completed mol
s. ten bodies, they have commenced to so
n lidify at the surface after having as
e sumed an elliflorial form due to their
t. rotation.
10 Another very significant fact is that
n the shape of the earth corresponds with
that which globe rotating with its
it velocity would have If composed Of
lie that is to say, growing denser toward
the center The heaviest material:
e. must be deep down in the globe; the
ID lighter materials have remained at The
1t surface This again corresponds will
a the facts of observation. We know
tie the total weight and the average
" density Of the earth. 1t weighs" 81,
sextillions of tons, and its averag
,u density is five and half times that o
an water. But the substances composing
a the crust of the earth have an averag
he density of twice that of water.
it follows that the heaviest things in tn
Id earth, on the average, exist deep with
In its exterior. For all that we ca
tell its inner core may be wholly me
k tallic. At the center there is probabl
it an enormous aggregation of dense me
- tallic substances.
An indication that the inner parts c
the earth consist largely If not mafpl
or iron is to be found in the ma:
netism of the globe. he earth Is
II great permanent magnet If we coul
~ learn the facts it might turn out thu
BIZ iron is the most abundant subs!anS
III IN the solar system and perhaps
OF the whole universe. The majority {
* the mcteorites that fall ulon the cart
consist of solid iron. Blow the earl
to pieces and in the resulting clor
of fragments the rocks that we a.
familiar with would be almost inpo
ceptible. There would lie rain
iron and other metals descending up(
the moon and upon any ether attra(