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The Earth's core is that portion of the Earth which is composed primarily of iron (86 %) and Nickel (10 %) with a mixture of other elements making up the remainder.

The Earth's core is split into two. The outer core, which is a liquid and the inner core, which is a solid.

The Earth's core has a radius of approximately 3470 kmA with a total volume of 1.7502x1011 km3

This is separated into the inner and outer core with dimensions as follows:

The inner core has a radius of 1220 kmA extending from the centre of the Earth approximately 6370 km below Earth's surface to 5150 km below the surface (the change from inner to outer core is marked by a density change known as the Lehmann discontinuity). The inner core has a total volume of 7.4207x109 km3.

The outer core is approximately 2260 km thick extending from 5150 km below Earth's surface to 2890 km (the core mantle boundary or Gutenberg discontinuity) The outer core has a volume of 1.6760x1011 km3.

Geophysicists believe that convection currents in the liquid outer core are responsible for Earth's magnetic field. It is also thought that the very high difference in temperature between the outer core and the mantle is responsible for the creation of deep mantle plumes which in turn cause hot spot volcanism such as that occurring in Iceland and Hawaii. There is however some debate about the existence of deep mantle plumes occurring within the geophysics community.

For more information on the Earth's core, please see the related links.

Source:

A - Wilson, M. (2000). Igneous Petrogenesis - A Global Tectonic Approach. Chapmen & Hall, London.

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