Report1966
The Interior of the Earth
Eugene C. Robertson
Explains for a general audience how seismic waves, heat flow and meteorite composition combine as indirect evidence for a layered Earth of crust, mantle and core.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Geophysics
The physics of the planet's interior and its fields.
8 topics · 10 curated works
Topics
- 01Foundations & Overviews1
- 02Seismology1
- 03Plate Tectonics1
- 04Geomagnetism1
- 05Gravimetry2
- 06Geodynamics1
- 07Earth's Interior Structure2
- 08Geothermal Systems1
Reading in Geophysics
10A way in
Start here
No prior grounding assumed.
The Interior of the Earth
Eugene C. Robertson · 1966
Explains for a general audience how seismic waves, heat flow and meteorite composition combine as indirect evidence for a layered Earth of crust,…
+1 more at this level
Then
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
Assessment of Geothermal Resources of the United States: 1978
L. J. Patrick Muffler · 1979
Categorises the country's geothermal energy by system type and temperature and estimates how much of it could actually reach the surface, the…
+1 more at this level
Go deeper
Primary sources and full treatments.
General Theory of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carl Friedrich Gauss · 1839
Applies spherical-harmonic analysis to global magnetic observations to show the Earth's field is generated internally rather than by external…
+5 more at this level
10 works
Book1996
This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics
W. Jacquelyne Kious & Robert I. Tilling
Walks a general reader through the evidence — matching coastlines, magnetic stripes, earthquake belts — that persuaded geologists to accept moving plates within a single working generation.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Report1979
Assessment of Geothermal Resources of the United States: 1978
L. J. Patrick Muffler
Categorises the country's geothermal energy by system type and temperature and estimates how much of it could actually reach the surface, the baseline resource assessment US geothermal policy still cites.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeIntermediate
Talk2019
How to Look Inside a Volcano
Christopher Jackson (The Royal Institution)
Shows that seismic imaging lets geologists map the magma plumbing beneath a volcano, so eruption behaviour can be read from subsurface structure rather than inferred from the surface alone.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeIntermediate
Paper1839
General Theory of Terrestrial Magnetism
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Applies spherical-harmonic analysis to global magnetic observations to show the Earth's field is generated internally rather than by external sources, founding geomagnetism as a mathematical science.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeAdvanced
Paper1855
On the Computation of the Effect of the Attraction of Mountain-masses
George Biddell Airy
Proposes that mountains are compensated by lower-density root material beneath them, explaining gravimetric anomalies unaccounted for by visible topography and founding the theory of isostasy.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeAdvanced
Paper1931
Radioactivity and Earth Movements
Arthur Holmes
Proposes that heat from radioactive decay drives slow convection currents in the mantle, giving continental drift a physical engine three decades before plate tectonics was accepted.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeAdvanced
Paper1935
An Instrumental Earthquake Magnitude Scale
Charles F. Richter
Defines earthquake size as the logarithm of the maximum trace amplitude on a standard seismometer at a fixed distance, turning a qualitative sense of an earthquake's strength into a single reproducible number.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeAdvanced
Book1967
Physical Geodesy
William A. Heiskanen & Helmut Moritz
Formalises the mathematical relationship between gravity measurements and the Earth's true shape, becoming the standard reference for computing geoid models from gravimetric data.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeAdvanced
Paper1981
Preliminary Reference Earth Model
Adam M. Dziewonski & Don L. Anderson
Fits a single set of density, seismic-velocity and attenuation profiles to a huge compilation of seismic and mass and moment-of-inertia data, giving seismology a standard reference model of Earth's interior still used as the baseline today.
link checked 17 Sept 2026FreeAdvanced
In order written
1839 – 2019- 1839General Theory of Terrestrial MagnetismCarl Friedrich Gauss
- 1855On the Computation of the Effect of the Attraction of Mountain-massesGeorge Biddell Airy
- 1931Radioactivity and Earth MovementsArthur Holmes
- 1935An Instrumental Earthquake Magnitude ScaleCharles F. Richter
- 1966The Interior of the EarthEugene C. Robertson
- 1967Physical GeodesyWilliam A. Heiskanen & Helmut Moritz
- 1979Assessment of Geothermal Resources of the United States: 1978L. J. Patrick Muffler
- 1981Preliminary Reference Earth ModelAdam M. Dziewonski & Don L. Anderson
- 1996This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate TectonicsW. Jacquelyne Kious & Robert I. Tilling
- 2019How to Look Inside a VolcanoChristopher Jackson (The Royal Institution)