Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1908-01-15
THEEARTH'S INTERIOR
Our Planets Core Is Liquid, Yet
It's as Rigid as Steel.
UNDER ENORMOUS PRESSURE
Neither Rock Nor Metal Gould Remain
There In the State In Which We See
IL on the surfaoe-The Lava That
Breaks Through the Earth's Crust

4. Noitner Hock NOR Metal Could Renal
" There In the State In Which We 81
IL on the Surfaoe-The Lava Ths
Breaks Through the Earth's Crust.
II The idea that the interior of the glob
h Is composed of flowing lava has lon
/" since been abandoned, but the plctur
u that modern science offers of the In
g side Of the earth Is hardly less ap
G palling. All Investigations unite t
s prove that the heat increases as we de
] scend deeper in the terrestrial crus
8 at such a rate that forty or fifty miles
2 down no substance with which we ar,
e acquainted could remain unmelted An(
3 yet the same science tells us that thu
/. core OF the globe is enormously NOR,
! rigid than the hardest STEEL This ap
: parent contradiction Is due to the tire
, mendous pressure inside the earth. Nc
, 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 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
servations show that the shocks of
earthquakes are confined to thin up-
per SHE'LL They originate at q depth
Of only 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 1t responds to q
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 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 a bell against which
blow is struck.
But this Is not all. Whenever a 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 a
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 q
mystery, far beyond the
searching hand Of science. Indirectly,
however, we may learn much about 1t.
Astronomical considerations throw
great deal of light upon the subject.
We see that through the planetary sys-
tenn rotating globes are fiattened at the
poles. The same thing Is true of the
earth. Its equator bulges; its polar
regions are drawn inward. Mechan- I
cal laws assure us that the cause Is
20 be found in the fact that the earth
Ind the other planets have assumed
shape under the influence of the CEN
orce is necessarily greatest at the
'quator. Beginning as completed mol
en- bodies, they have commenced to so
ldify ut the surface after having as [
umed an ellihordal form due to their q
citation.
Another very significant fact is that o
he shape Of the earth corresponds with S
hat which globe rotating with its t
elocity would have If composed of /
arranged to their density k
nat Is to say, growing denser toward o
le center. The heaviest materials Il
lust be deep down In the globe; the b
ghier materials have remained at the Il
lrface. This again corresponds with n
le facts Of observation. We know /.
he total weight and the average Il
enTity Of the earth. 1t weighs" six Ia
'Xt.lll0ns Of tons, and its average 10
ensity Is five snd half times that of ft
alter. But the substances composing pl
e crust Of the earth have an average 10
'nslty of twice that of water. 1t CT
llows that the heaviest things in the T
nth, on the average, exist deep with th
Its exterior. For all that we can ia
II, its inner core may be wholly me- ke
He At the center there Is probably
enormous aggregation Of dense me- to
llic substances. pl
An indication that the inner parts Of al
e earth consist largely If not mainly fr
iron Is to be found In the mag. WI
tism of the globe. The earth Is a lei
eat permanent magnet. If we could tir
i'm the facts 1t might turn out that wi
N Is the most abundant substance I'M
the solar system and perhaps In Ito
, whole universe. The majority of is
meteorites that fall upon the earth on
1sist Of solid iron. Blow the earth wa
pieces and In the resulting cloud plf
fragments the rocks that we are VIC
niliar with would be almost imper-
,tible. There would be rain of to,
n and other metals descending upon fir,
moon and upon any other attract ins
: body In the vicinity. str
his view Of the interior of the Wi
be disposes Of the notion, so pictur- ira
uely developed in one of Jules sid
rne's romances, Of the existence of sue
It cavernous openings in the inte- cit
of the earth. Such void spaces, th
ugh on no large scale, may exist abl
the upper part of the crust, but not "
great depth. The earth Is eff ira
lively more solid than a cannon pin
!, and the movable rocks compos- NIT
its crust are like a film of rust on -ha
hard metal.-Professor Garrett P. pre-
viss in New York American. -
- at
is better to become great than to ant
born great.-Proverb. II /