Earth's Core

Earth's core is the very hot center of our planet.

The Earth's core is a turmoil of superheated rock known as magma. It is potentially a source of immense power, provided it can be safely tapped. Accessing Earth's core can be a tricky prospect, however should you try, be very careful what you're getting into, as Earth's core might actually be Unicron, and he tends to get cranky if you drill into him. Earth's core is particularly notable as the "birthplace" of Hexxus, the Spirit of Destruction.

Description
The Earth has three major layers. All known life exists on the solid outer layer, called the crust. Beneath the crust is the mantle, a gooey, hot layer of magma and other semi-solid rocks and minerals. Movement in the mantle leads to tectonic activity, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, on the crust.

The core, beneath the mantle, is the deepest and hottest layer of the Earth. It is made almost entirely of metal. The core is made of two layers: the outer core, which borders the mantle, and the inner core. The inner core is shaped like a ball.

Scientists say the outer core is made mostly of iron and nickel. Iron and nickel are two important metals found everywhere on the planet. (On the surface of the Earth, these metals are found in solid form.) Iron and nickel in the outer core form an alloy, or a mixture of metallic elements. The outer core is approximately 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) thick. The alloy of the outer core is very hot, between 4,000 and 5,000 degrees Celsius (7,200 and 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit).

The inner core is made mostly of iron. It is approximately 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) thick. Although the iron is extremely hot—between 5,000 and 7,000 degrees Celsius (9,000 and 13,000 degrees Fahrenheit)—the pressure from the rest of the planet is so great that the iron cannot melt. For this reason, the inner core is mostly solid.

Because the Earth has a ball of metal in the middle of it, the entire planet is magnetic. Scientists believe the liquid outer core is what controls the Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field acts almost like a bubble. It protects the planet from charged particles floating around in the solar system, such as those from the sun. The magnetic North and South Poles are opposing sides of Earth's big magnet.

The hard, metallic material in the core is balled up in the center of the Earth because it's the heaviest material on the planet. When Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, all the heavier substances sank toward the middle. The lighter and less dense material, such as air and water, stayed closer to the crust.

Inside the core, the metals are constantly moving. The core of the Earth rotates regularly. Some scientists say the inner core actually rotates faster than the rest of the planet! As the liquid outer core moves, it can change the location of the magnetic North and South Poles.

The Transformers cartoon
A shaft of crystal in the Arctic led all the way to Earth's core. The Decepticons tapped it to turn Earth's heat into energon, causing temperatures worldwide to plummet. After a battle with the Autobots resulted in the Decepticons retreating, the crystal was buried. Another similar crystal shaft was located in Peru. The Decepticons used the energies from the Earth's core to power a laser cannon until the Autobots again foiled their plans. Never ones to give up, the Decepticons constructed a massive drill in a cave and began drilling their way to the Earth's core. This plan was undone when an Autobot attempt to gain control of Devastator resulted in the giant damaging the drill, endangering Earth while the Decepticons were still on it. Devastator successfully stopped the drill before Earth was destroyed.

The Headmasters cartoon
The Decepticons constructed Death Towers as part of a plan to destroy the planet, drawing power from the Earth's core and turning it into electromagnetic radiation.

Marvel The Transformers comics
After traveling back in time, Galvatron set up a power siphon atop Mount Verona with the aim of harnessing the power of the Earth's core, believing it would give him godlike power. The siphon was eventually destroyed during a battle between Galvatron and the Autobots Ultra Magnus and Goldbug.

The Official Transformers: Generation 2 Annual
The Decepticons constructed huge rocket engines on Clarke Atoll, powering them with plasma from the Earth's core in order to turn the planet into a huge spacecraft. The Autobots flew right into the engines and them engines up, because that sort of thing isn't cool.

2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon
Optimus Prime lured Megatron into Earth's core via the Global Space Bridge for a final climactic battle and defeated the Decepticon leader with the Matrix Blade.

Titan Magazines Transformers movie comics
Following an unsuccessful attempt by Megatron to use the AllSpark to reformat Earth into a new Cybertron, Optimus Prime worked out that the corruption had reached the Earth's core and infected it. The Autobots later successfully obtained a supply of Nucleon with which to save the planet.

Prime cartoon
Earth formed around Unicron, with the evil god becoming its core. As a planetary alignment approached, Dark Energon began welling up from Unicron. As Unicron began to wake, Team Prime took the desperate step of teaming up with Megatron and GroundBridging to the core. Braving Unicron's antibodies, they fought their way to Unicron's spark chamber and Optimus Prime used the Matrix of Leadership to defeat the dark god.

Sailor Moon
In FernGully: The Last Rainforest, Hexxus emerged from the core of the Earth when the balance of nature shifted and attacked FernGully. The Sailor Senshi arrived at Astoroth's abandoned tower at the Earth's core. Sailor V, the Spirit of Earth Day Past and Zak Young came to the center of the Earth and exampled that where Hexxus came from. In FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue, after re-trapped Holli and the rest of the doodles, Sailor Moon sent the key to the gateway between Toontown and Cool World to the deepest point in the center of the Earth, making sure no one would ever find it again.

DuckTales
In "Launchpad's First Crash", Scrooge and Launchpad nearly fall into the Earth's molten core while finding the Lost City of Diamonds. In DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, Scrooge acts curmudgeonly, threatening to send the lamp to the deepest point in the center of the Earth, but instead uses his final wish to give Gene freedom by transforming him into a real boy.

Laputa: Castle in the Sky
Gerald Robotnik discovered Laputa and researched the castle. Dr. Eggman learned this and gave Colonel Muska power. Secretly, he planned to take the Chaos Emeralds to the center of Laputa, where they have their powers to send the entire castle to the Earth's core.

The Brave Little Toaster trilogy
In The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue, Scrooge, Launchpad, Fenton and Gyro revisited the Thick-of-It Rain Forest on the Millennium Shortcut and fly through the crater of the volcano to the center of the Earth to locate the Lost City of Diamonds. Gyro mentioned that he cannot freeze the Earth's molten core to save Scrooge's and Launchpad's past selves without causing temperatures worldwide to plummet. In The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, Scrooge proved that the Wonder Luxe Appliances failed to destroy the planet Earth because The Missile was a prototype, not the powerful doomsday device. Unfortunately, Glomgold and Magica revealed that they reset the missile's target at the Earth's core as its true weak spot, reachable only through a volcano. Thankfully, Toaster and the ex-Supreme Commander stopped the Missile from destroying Earth's core and Earth itself.

Ice Age series
In Ice Age: The Meltdown, according to Layla Zee, the rocks from the Earth's core was super-heated and reaching the surface, where it would melt ice built up from thousands of years: by sacrificing the Fire King. In Ice Age: Continental Drift, Scrat had ended up in the Earth's core and began the continental shift.

Xiaolin Showdown
Omi hid the Golden Tiger Claws in the center of the Earth. To defeat Mala Mala Jong, Omi used the Serpent's Tail to travel through the Earth's crust to retrieve the Golden Tiger Claws. He then used them to take the Heart of Jong to defeat the demon.

Dragon Ball series
Shenron can be summoned by gathering all seven of the Dragon Balls of Earth. According to the back of the "Saga of Goku" boxed set, Shenron dwells in a raging fire deep inside the Earth's core when the Dragon Balls are currently not being used.

Sonic Unleashed
Earth's core is where Dark Gaia and Light Gaia sleep in.