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It is difficult to precisely describe the structure of the Earth's interior and the processes that cause this. This science is known as geologygeologygeology. Drilling, in particular the deepest drilling, gives us lots of information, but only about the makeup of the upper parts of the Earth's crust. This allows us to extract samples and study them and measure the pressure and temperature that exists beneath the surface of the Earth. A lot of information is also provided by deep mines and natural rocky outcrops. However, due to rapidly increasing pressure and temperature, it is difficult to explore further by using deep drilling or mine shafts. Traditional geological methods are not sufficient to explore the deepest rocks and layers of the Earth. The discipline that applies methods from physics to study the Earth is called geophysicsgeophysicsgeophysics. The majority of data gathered is on the analysis of the movement of seismic wavesseismic wavesseismic waves which come about from natural shocks caused by earthquakes an sometimes, for the purposes of research, explosions carried out, or by the use of machinery that generates powerful vibrations.

Seismic waves, passing through rocks of varying densities or having other physical properties, can slow down, go faster, divert, stop or even disappear. The analysis of these changes allow us to draw conclusions about the structure of the Earth's interior. Based on this research, it is possible to conclude that our planet most likely consists of a number of layers with varying chemical compositions and different physical properties. Temperature and pressure both increase as you go deeper. In the upper layers of the Earth's crust, increasing depth by 33m leads to a temperature increase of 1°C. This is known as the geothermal temperature. The value given here is an average and depends on the geological makeup, the temperature can increase much more rapidly or slowly. Important information about the structure of the Earth is also provided by research into the relative and absolute age of rocks.

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Grafika przedstawia wykres. Na osi Y po lewej stronie opisane zostały centymetry sześcienne, wartości od zera do osiemnastu. Na osi Y po prawej stronie zostały opisane stopnie Celsjusza, wartości od zera do czterech i pół tysiąca. Na osi X przedstawiono podział na płaszcz Ziemi, Earth’s crust, skorupę ziemską, Earth’s mantle oraz jądro Ziemi, Earth’s core. Cały wykres pokazuje zależność między ciśnieniem, pressure, gęstością, density i temperaturą, temperature. Krzywa ciśnienia ma kształt litery es wychodząc poza krzywą gęstości dopiero w ostatnim fragmencie wykresu. Krzywa gęstości ma kształt stopni o nachylonych powierzchniach - każda wzrasta pomiędzy nagłymi skokami. Ostatnia - krzywa temperatury - jest łukiem ponad pozostałymi krzywymi.

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Keywords

geology, geophysics, earthquake

Glossary