there is correlation between the density of metal and their location in the interior of the earth.
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You can do a small-scale density experiment at home, with a glass of water. You’ll notice that materials that are more dense than water will sink; less dense materials will float.
However, the Earth’s interior complicates that picture. The farther down you go, the higher the pressure. High pressures change the characteristics of substances, such as melting point. They also change the crystalline structure, turning some minerals into other minerals. So the Earth’s interior complicates our density experiment, BUT . . .
We know less dense materials rise in the upper mantle. Part of a subducting plate will tend to undergo partial melting, because the water vapor in the crust lowers the melting point. As that material rises toward the surface, the pressures decrease, so it melts further (decompression melting). The denser materials in the crust will continue to sink into the mantle.
Once you get to the zone between the lower mantle and the outer core, I suspect density is not the only issue. Iron is not the heaviest metal in the table of elements. This is the area where geology, chemistry, and physics have to intersect to understand what might be going on at the center of the Earth. The attributes of iron/nickel under those enormous temperatures and pressures are the key.
it helps you !
However, the Earth’s interior complicates that picture. The farther down you go, the higher the pressure. High pressures change the characteristics of substances, such as melting point. They also change the crystalline structure, turning some minerals into other minerals. So the Earth’s interior complicates our density experiment, BUT . . .
We know less dense materials rise in the upper mantle. Part of a subducting plate will tend to undergo partial melting, because the water vapor in the crust lowers the melting point. As that material rises toward the surface, the pressures decrease, so it melts further (decompression melting). The denser materials in the crust will continue to sink into the mantle.
Once you get to the zone between the lower mantle and the outer core, I suspect density is not the only issue. Iron is not the heaviest metal in the table of elements. This is the area where geology, chemistry, and physics have to intersect to understand what might be going on at the center of the Earth. The attributes of iron/nickel under those enormous temperatures and pressures are the key.
it helps you !
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