Abstract
IN his opening address to the Mathematical and Physical Section of the British Association, Sir William Thomson affirmed “with almost perfect certainty, that, whatever may be the relative densities of rock, solid and melted, or at about the temperature of liquefaction, it is, I think, quite certain that cold solid rock is denser than, hot melted rock; and no possible degree of rigidity in the crust could prevent it from breaking in pieces and sinking wholly below the liquid lava,” and that “this process must go on until the sunk portions of the crust build up from the bottom a sufficiently close-ribbed skeleton or frame, to allow fresh incrustations to remain bridging across the now small areas of lava, pools, or lakes” (NATURE, vol. xiv. p. 429).
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
WILLIAMS, W. The Solidity of the Earth. Nature 15, 5–6 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/015005c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/015005c0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.