Inside planet earth is a scientific documentary that tells us about the inner condition and functions of the inside of the Earth. It describes the different distances, structures, movements, and functions of the part.
The documentary starts with the question “What do we really know about the planet we live on?”. Answering the question it says, there is something extraordinary going on in this giant ball of spinning rock.
Powerful forces and mysterious processes are going on beneath our feet. To discover we need to crack the earth open and travel all the way to the core. All the secrets are inside the earth.
A journey to the center of the earth is impossible. 99% beneath us is inexcusable to humans but we need to know what is inside there. Prof. Dan Lathrop (Geophysicist, University of Maryland) prepared a planet Earth model with its inner and outer cores. The inside earth is more interesting than the outer part.
This part of the documentary starts to explain the functions according to the distance. At 250,000 miles above the ground, gravity keeps the moon and all the man-made satellites in their orbits even the gas molecules of the atmosphere by 62 miles. Without it, there will be no atmosphere, no air to breathe, and no life.
Volcanoes release the slightest energy of the rock beneath the surface. The most visible representation of the forces is the volcanoes. Life is possible because of the balance of the two energies – the earth’s sun and the forces from inside the earth.
In the 1900s scientists found that inner energy can not only move mountains it can move the entire continent. There is a cave below the Mexican desert that is full of crystals. In 1.5 miles under we can find coal, and in 2.0 miles gold.
The next stop is under 1000 feet below the ground. The mountains in Chicago are red but there is a history behind that. It is made from a rock that is 3 and a half million years old. The red represents iron, it was once the river bed for the Chicago River to run through. They talk about the extremophiles.
48 kilometers under the land. It is 80% of the earth’s volume. Without the mantle, there will be no continents. We will basically have a geologically dead planet. But it comes out with volcanic eruptions. but we can find mantle rocks on the surface in some places.
Dr. Robin Shail is a scientist studying mantle rocks. He explains the rocks, and why they are different from other rocks.160 kilometers under where we can find the diamond. But it comes out with volcanic eruptions.
The diamonds provide important information about the mantle. This is not the only way to see what’s down there. Prof. Ed Garnero uses a data production system to study the mantle’s whole 18 hundred miles of the pacific ocean.
There is a ring circling the ocean called the ring of fire. 320 kilometers below the ground we can have x-ray images by analyzing the earthquakes. They use seismometers to understand the vibrations.
Now the lower mantle. 1,600 kilometers under the ground. Scientists think there are exotic chemical things and so many layers of them.
Then they talk about the yellow stone volcano. It’s been hundred and 40 thousand years since that volcano erupted. There are so many questions. Nobody knows the answer. But the answer lies somewhere in the core.
The core is a huge bowl of liquid matter which is bigger than the moon. The temperature is 3000 degrees, pressure is more than a million atm. Scientists like Prof Dan are finding out what is going on inside the core by the electromagnetic energy it produces. In his model, he is using 13 tons of sodium to safely shield inside.
The constant movement is causing the magnetic fields. Which is highly important for the earth. Prof. Peter Olson is one of the scientists studying the inside activities of the core. In his experiment, we can see if the movement stops the magnetic field will be destroyed. They said that nowadays the magnetic field is weakening.
After all this inner core is still inexcusable. The inner core is the most mysterious place on earth. It is hotter than the sun but still solid. It exchanges heat and also crashes things with gravity. There is no way to see it or sample it. How did it get there? Where did it come from?
To finish, it compares the earth with the other planets of the earth. How is Earth so different if the formation process is the same? How the earth is so perfect. But the biggest question is,”what is the future??”
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Writer
Raziya Nasrin
Intern, Content Writing Department
YSSE