• Question: What goes on in the centre of the earth?

    Asked by claireandhannah to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      The core of the earth is believed to consist of iron-nickel alloy, and may have a temperature of nearly 5,500 degrees celsius!

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_core

      In terms of what goes on there, it is probably safe to assume that dinner parties and shopping centres are off the menu!

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I don’t really know: even though I learned some geology at university, I obviously wasn’t a very good student because I don’t remember. I think there’s just lots of hot molten rock…

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      I know that it’s REALLY hot in there, but I didn’t really listen in the lessons at school about what’s inside the earth, so you probably know more about it than I do.

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      I seem to remember something that is called NiFe, a nucleus of Nichel and Iron (hence the name from the symbols of these elements). Again, it was the crosswords that brought me this piece of knowledge 🙂

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Nobody really knows, but geophysicists have worked out that it is solid, because of the really high pressure, and that it is probably mostly iron. Apart from that, I haven’t got a clue.

Comments