Earthquakes, explosions and observations of Earth's ever-changing magnetic field are helping scientists open up a new window on the heart of our planet.
When Jules Verne wrote A Journey to the Centre of the Earth over 100 years ago, he imagined a place of glowing crystals and a turbulent sea, complete with prehistoric animals and giant mushrooms.
What was actually beneath our feet was a complete enigma. Even to this day scientists astonishingly know more about the rings of Saturn than they do about the core of our own planet.
But that is beginning to change. "We're at a golden age in terms of the real discovery of the bulk of the deep Earth," says seismologist Professor Rick Aster.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14678002