Describe the layers of the Earth with diagram.


The structure of the Earth is divided into layers. These layers are both physically and chemically different. The Earth has an outer solid layer called the crust, a highly viscous layer called the mantle, a liquid layer that is the outer part of the core, called the outer core, and a solid center called the inner core.

1. The Crust

  • The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. It is made of solid rocks. It is mostly made of the lighter elements, silicon, oxygen, aluminium. Because of this, it is known as sial (silicon = Si; aluminium = Al) or felsic.

2. The Mantle

  • The mantle is the layer of the Earth right below the crust. It is made mostly of oxygen, silicon and the heavier element magnesium. It is known as sima (Si for silicon + ma for magnesium) or mafic. The mantle itself is divided into layers.
  • The uppermost part of the mantle is solid, and forms the base of the crust. It is made of the heavy rock peridotite. The continental and oceanic plates include both the crust proper and this uppermost solid layer of the mantle. Together this mass makes up the lithosphere. The lithosphere plates float on the semi-liquid aesthenosphere below.
  • Upper aesthenosphere: magma
  • Lower aesthenosphere
  • Lower mantle

3. The Core

  • The Earth's core is made of solid iron and nickel, and is at about 5000–6000 °C.
  • Outer core is a liquid layer below the mantle.
  • Inner core is the very center of the Earth.
  • Below is the earth cutaway diagram showing different layers of the Earth.

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Updated on: 10-Oct-2022

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