Earth's layers

The 3 main layers

The crust is the Earth’s outermost and thinnest layer (approximately 5km thick under oceans and 30 kilometres thick under the continents).

The thickest section of the Earth is the mantle at approximately 2,900 kilometres. It is made up of semi-molten rock, called magma.

The core is the innermost part of the Earth and is composed mostly of iron.

Click on each layer name below the diagram to find out more.

A cross section of the Earth

Cross-section | Crust | Mantle | Core | Lithosphere

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