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Oxygen a bit player in Earth’s outer core

Sulfur and silicon may be more abundant in the planet’s heart

By Alexandra Witze

- More than 2 years ago

Like a virtual journey to the center of the Earth, laboratory experiments are helping resolve a decades-old mystery that even Jules Verne couldn’t explain: what Earth’s core is made of.

LAYERED Scientists know that Earth has inner and outer cores made largely of iron, but the abundance of lighter elements in the outer core is unknown.