Models of the Earth's Core
- Creators
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Stevenson, D. J.
Abstract
Combined inferences from seismology, high-pressure experiment and theory, geomagnetism, fluid dynamics, and current views of terrestrial planetary evolution lead to models of the earth's core with the following properties. Core formation was contemporaneous with earth accretion; the core is not in chemical equilibrium with the mantle; the outer core is a fluid iron alloy containing significant quantities of lighter elements and is probably almost adiabatic and compositionally uniform; the more iron-rich inner solid core is a consequence of partial freezing of the outer core, and the energy release from this process sustains the earth's magnetic field; and the thermodynamic properties of the core are well constrained by the application of liquid-state theory to seismic and laboratory data.
Additional Information
© 1981 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Published 6 November 1981. I acknowledge useful comments and corrections from J. M. Brown, S. Cooperman, G. Davies, W. M. Kaula, D. E. Loper, and N. H. Sleep. This work was supported in part by the President's Fund, California Institute of Technology and by NASA grant NGL05-007-002 at the University of California, Los Angeles. Contribution number 3622 of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 42485
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20131115-085359345
- Caltech President's Fund
- NGL05-007-002
- NASA
- Created
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2013-11-15Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2019-10-03Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
- Other Numbering System Name
- Caltech Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 3622