journey to the center of the earth quizlet

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Jules verne, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Science and Discovery

Journey to the Center of the Earth follows eccentric scientist Professor Lidenbrock as he and his nephew Axel travel underground in an attempt to find the center of the earth. Both Lidenbrock and Axel are geologists and mineralogists, and they delight in identifying and classifying the geological curiosities they encounter underground. Lidenbrock’s desire to complete the adventure is driven in large part by his desire to prove his unpopular theory that the earth lacks a…

Maturity and Independence

Axel begins Journey to the Center of the Earth as the meek, put-upon assistant of his domineering uncle Lidenbrock . He reiterates often that he feels “compelled to obey” Lidenbrock, reluctantly yielding to the professor’s whims without voicing his complaint. For instance, when Lidenbrock is trying to solve Saknussemm ’s cipher, he won’t let anyone in his household leave to purchase food. Axel does not challenge these terms, and he eventually reveals the decryption out…

Intuition vs. Evidence

Professor Lidenbrock is renowned for his intelligence by both the academic community and his own nephew. Axel repeatedly refers to Lidenbrock as a “savant,” a term he uses to explain the professor’s eccentricities and dedication to knowledge. Lidenbrock and Axel are scientists, and both of them value the scientific principle of measuring a hypothesis against concrete evidence. When they argue with each other, each man only discusses facts that he can prove, structuring each argument…

Nature vs. Civilization

As Lidenbrock , Axel , and Hans travel to reach the center of the earth, Axel’s narration repeatedly remarks that the natural structures around them rival the civilization’s creations. He describes Iceland’s basalt formations as perfectly geometric and unsurpassed by the “splendours of Babylon and the marvels of Greece,” two ancient societies viewed as pillars of Western civilization. He emphasizes that the formation seems orderly and deliberate, granting traits to nature that are often deemed…

The driving action of Journey to the Center of the World is the titular journey: Professor Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel travel to Iceland, where their guide Hans accompanies them down a volcanic crater to search for the center of the earth. The voyage is an incredibly perilous one, as the men face sea monsters, a hurricane, and the constant threat of becoming lost underground. The dangers that most directly threaten the characters’ lives, however…

2.2 Journey to the Center of the Earth

Charlene Estrada

Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift hypothesis faced some major problems. One was that scientists of the early 1900s thought that the ocean floor was one uniformly flat basin like a cement pool. Such a flat surface beneath the ocean would not bear any evidence of past moving continents. The next chapter will address how this idea significantly changed in the scientific community. The other problem with Continental Drift was that Wegener could not convincingly explain why the continents would move.

To satisfy this issue, geologists needed to think beyond the Earth’s surface. In Wegener’s time, scientists knew some of the necessary information about the Earth’s interior; there was a crust , a mantle , and core . The key to the movement of the continents was not something happening to the crust – it was a process operating within the Earth’s interior in the mantle and the engine driving it within the core! Before we discuss these processes, it is important to understand the differences between each layer in our planet.

Layers of the Earth

In Ancient Greece, it was believed that all the matter in the Universe was made up of the four basic elements Water, Air, Earth, and Fire. Today, we have refined our understanding of the Universe: there are 118 known elements (94 of which are naturally-occurring), and there are still four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.

This is all important in how we describe the interior of our planet. Our Earth is geologically active, and a big reason for that is the fact that the inside of the Earth is composed of different layers. These layers differ chemically – the bulk makeup of elements – and physically – with differences in their states of matter. All of this is a fancy way of saying that the inside of Earth is not the same as the outside!

Crust, Mantle, and Core. Most of you have probably heard of the three main layers of Earth before in school, media, or elsewhere. We live on the crust, beneath it is a hot mantle, and at the very center of the planet is a very hot core. Even if you aren’t already familiar with this basic description, there’s a good deal more to the composition of our planet. Let’s take a journey to the center of our Earth!

Or take your own journey right here!!

Stop 1: The Crust

Physical State: Solid

Chemical Composition: O, Si, Al, Fe,

Depth: 0 – 70 km (variable depending on crust type)

Temperature: 0 – 500 °C

The crust is where we and every known organism on the planet lives. It may be pretty important to us, but it only makes up a measly 1% of Earth’s total mass! Even if it is a very thin layer on Earth, the majority of geologic hazards we will be studying occur on the crust.

The crust is mainly composed of 4 elements: 46.6% Oxygen, 27.7% Silicon, 8.1%, Aluminum, and 5.1% Iron [7]. These elements mostly form igneous rocks in the crust, although a smaller percentage of the crust is also made of the two remaining rock types, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Physically, the crust is solid and pretty brittle at the uppermost regions on the surface. However, we draw some distinctions between two types of crust: oceanic and continental.

As the name implies, oceanic crust can be found underneath the world’s oceans. It is the denser of the two crust types because it contains more rocks and minerals with heavier elements such as iron (Fe). Basalt and Gabbro are very common rock types found here. Oceanic crust is typically thin, about 5 km, or sometimes at maximum 10 km, but there is another intriguing property about the crust beneath the oceans: it’s young. Although our planet is 4.54 billion years old, the oldest oceanic crust is typically about 200-300 million years old. Why is there such a disconnect? We will explore this further as we investigate plate tectonics!

continental crust is the material that makes up the large landmasses of our world. It is lighter than oceanic crust because it contains rocks and minerals with lighter elements such as those with more silicon and alkali elements. Some rocks that you would typically find on continental crust would be granite, rhyolite, andesite, and diorite. Unlike oceanic crust, continental crust is very thick: in some areas it can be between 40 – 70 km in depth! Continental crust can sometimes be billions of years old, and it can hold clues for the oldest events in Earth’s history.

Stop 2: The Upper Mantle

PASSPORT TO THE UPPER MANTLE

Chemical Composition: O, Si, Mg

Depth: ~70 – 410 km

Temperature: 500 – 900 °C

We’ve now arrived at the Earth’s mantle , which makes up over 80% of Earth’s total volume – don’t get lost! Because of its great volume and variation with increasing depth, it is more accurate to think of the mantle as being separated into two distinct zones: an upper and lower mantle. Here, we will begin with the upper mantle.

At the upper mantle, we see a distinct change in chemical composition from the crust. The mantle, in general, is much denser with an elemental breakdown of 44.8% oxygen, 22.8% magnesium, and 21.5% silicon [8]. Silicate rocks and oxide minerals often form here, but many of them would not be as common on the surface: peridotites, spinels, garnets, and olivine are all prime examples.

If you were to do a quick search for the depth of the upper mantle, you won’t get a consensus between different sources; the depth, pressure, and temperature of the upper mantle vary! The exact transition point to the lower mantle is a matter of debate because we cannot directly observe it. So, what do we know?

From the crust-mantle boundary down to about 100 km beneath the Earth’s surface, the upper mantle is rigid. This means that even though it is hotter and chemically different than the crust, this section of the mantle will tend to break and rupture when it is subjected to stress. This section of the mantle belongs to what we call the “ lithosphere “, and we will discuss what that means later in the chapter.

Between 100 – 410 km in depth, the upper mantle becomes hotter and begins to flow and stretch easier; we call this reaction ductility or plastic flow . Nevertheless, this section of rock is still solid. This part of the mantle is called the “ asthenosphere “, but don’t worry about this term and its implications just yet – all you need to know now is that with depth, the upper mantle is beginning to act differently!

BACKYARD GEOLOGY: SAN CARLOS, AZ

The San Carlos Apache Reservation is located east of Phoenix in Gila County. This region is a rich source of the gem peridot , which originates from the igneous rock peridotite. Peridotite is an intrusive , ultramafic rock. What makes the occurrence of peridotite and the resulting olivine/peridot unusual is that ultramafic rocks only tend to form at the mantle; they are rarely found on Earth’s surface. How did the peridotite end up at San Carlos? Up to 4 million years ago, a volcano erupted basaltic lava; however, in that eruption, it carried hardened peridotite rocks up to the surface in the process. The mafic magma would not melt the peridotite, because it originally crystallized at higher temperatures deeper in the mantle. Mantle rocks that are brought up to the surface with a volcanic eruption are called xenoliths , which imply that they did not form within or on the crust. The peridotite at San Carlos remains a literal “piece” of our upper mantle that we can physically examine – as it turns out, the mantle is actually green, not hot red or orange as most diagrams of the Earth’s interior might suggest [9]!

Pit-Stop: The Transition Zone

Around 410 – 660 km in depth, we enter the transition zone . This area is wide boundary between the upper mantle and the lower mantle. There’s a lot of pressure in the transition zone, which causes the rocks there to become very dense. However, what has really fascinated scientists in recent years has been the discovery of water stored in solid minerals like ringwoodite (Mg 2 SiO 4 ). We currently estimate that there’s just as much stored water in the transition zone as in our oceans [8]!!!

Stop 3: The Lower Mantle

PASSPORT TO THE LOWER MANTLE

Chemical Composition: Mg, Fe, Si, O

Depth: 660 – 2900 km

Temperature: 900 – 3500 °C

The lower mantle is HUGE! It spans from 660 – 2900 km in depth, and it easily makes up the majority of the whole mantle. At up to 3500 °C, the lower mantle is very hot, but there is also plenty of pressure from the overlying layers of rocks (think over ONE MILLION TIMES the pressure we have on the surface of Earth!). Some websites and sources might claim that because of the high temperatures, the lower mantle is liquid, but this is not true! The high pressures experienced at the lower mantle keep the materials in the solid phase [8].

There’s still a lot that we don’t know about the lower mantle. It is generally agreed that because of the pressure, the rocks in this layer do not flow and stretch with ductile deformation as much as they might in the upper mantle . A lot of the lower mantle is also composed of Mg, Si, and O, but the main minerals are made of Mg, Si, and Ca, which are squeezed together in an atomic structure called the perovskite group.

Stop 4: The Outer Core

PASSPORT TO THE OUTER CORE

Physical State: Liquid

Chemical Composition: Fe, Ni

Depth: 2890 – 5150 km

Temperature: 4,500 – 5,500 °C

Welcome to the core – it’s getting hot! At a devilish 4,500 to 5,500 °C, the material in the outer core cannot remain solid. The outer core is the only liquid layer in the Earth’s interior [10]. Just imagine – molten, liquid iron and nickel swirling around under tremendous pressures and temperatures! The outer core is not only fascinating; it is responsible for making life far more tolerable here on Earth’s surface. But how?

Iron and nickel are both metallic elements that also hold some magnetic properties – think about a refrigerator magnet attracting iron shavings, for example. When these elements move around in liquid form, they actually generate electric currents! When these currents are combined with the way the Earth is tilted slightly on its axis and rotates, a magnetic field is established.

Why should we care about a magnetic field? Our Sun emits electromagnetic radiation that can disrupt electronics as well as destroy living tissues. These come in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Be glad we have a magnetic field around to keep us protected!

Stop 5: The Inner Core

PASSPORT TO THE INNER CORE

Chemical Composition: Fe, Ni (possible other elements Si, C, S, ???)

Depth: 5,150 – 6370 km

Temperature: 5,200 – 6,000 °C

We’ve made it quite literally to the center of the Earth! Our final stop is the inner core , which is a solid sphere composed of iron and nickel. The inner core’s composition is very similar to the outer core ; however, unlike our previous stop, it has remained solid! Why does the inner core remain solid while the outer core is liquid? The temperature of outer core is not much different at nearly 6000 °C, so heat is not the reason [10]. Instead, think about the other process occurring at the inner core: pressure.

To arrive at the inner core, it is necessary to travel to a depth of 5,150 km or about 3,200 miles. Under all of that densely packed rock, the inner core is subjected to at least 3.6 MILLION times the pressure we would experience at the Earth’s surface [10]! That’s enough to keep molten hot iron and nickel in solid form!

Besides iron and nickel, scientists believe that there are trace amounts of other elements in the Earth’s core. The identity of these elements has not been well agreed upon yet – they could be anything from sulfur (S) to silicon (Si) or even carbon (C)! Another strange property of the inner core is that it might even be divided further into an inner-inner core. Geologists suggest that the crystals making up the iron in the outer shell are oriented North and South, whereas those in the inner-inner core are oriented East and West (Stephenson, Tkalčić and Sambridge 2015). This idea of two layers being present within the Inner Core has been gaining wider acceptance as of 2015, which shows us how much we are constantly learning about Earth’s Interior!

The Below Activity is for Practice Only. It will not affect your Knowledge Check score!

A hypothesis that claims the Earth's landforms, specifically continents, move across the oceans over tens of millions of years.

The thin, outermost layer of Earth composed of rigid rock, which is home to all known life on the planet.

A hot interior layer of solid rock between the crust and core that is capable of plastic flow. The mantle is the largest layer of Earth.

The extremely hot center layer within Earth, which is composed mainly of iron and nickel.

Rocks that crystallize from molten materials beneath the Earth surface or from volcanic processes.

rocks that cement together from weathering products, either from sediments or chemical ions in water.

Rocks that form when any type of preexisting rock is warped or transformed under elevated temperatures and pressures.

A type of rigid, thin crust made of iron and magnesium rich minerals that is found beneath the planet's oceans.

Thick crustal material mostly made of feldspar and silica rich minerals which forms the world's large landmasses.

The outermost layer of the Earth's mantle, which contains both the lower lithosphere and upper asthenosphere. This layer is susceptible to convection currents and plastic flow.

A mineral class that is primarily composed or defined by silicon (Si) and oxygen (O).

A class of minerals with a chemical composition of a metallic element bound with oxygen.

The deeper of the two mantle layers in Earth's interior, also called the mesophere. The lower mantle is hotter and more rigid than the upper mantle.

The outer, relatively rigid layer of the Earth that is composed of crust and upper mantle.

also known as ductile flow or ductility. The tendency for very hot rock to flow like putty under stress.

A ductile but solid, hot layer in the Earth composed of the lower crust and upper mantle that flows like putty over long periods of time. It drives the movement of the rigid tectonic plates riding above.

a gemstone commonly made from the forsterite (Mg-dominated) variety of the mineral olivine

an ultramafic, coarse-grained igneous rock that forms from magma and is primarily composed of olivine and pyroxene.

coarse-grained igneous rock texture with visible crystals within the matrix.

A magnesium and iron rich rock that contains very little silica.

Originating from an iron and magnesium-rich magma/lava composition.

a piece of rock in volcanic deposits that is not from the source magma, but that was created from another process.

a region between the upper and lower mantle in which dense rocks may store water in quantities as large as the Earth's oceans.

The hot, liquid layer between the inner core and mantle made of iron and nickel.

A concept which describes how magnetic force is distributed around something, such as a planet.

a spectrum of known energy emitted by any body which can range from damaging gamma radiation, x-rays, UV light, visible light, infrared, microwave, to radio radiation.

the innermost or center layer of the Earth made mostly of iron and nickel and subjected to the highest temperatures and pressures.

Dynamic Planet: Exploring Geological Disasters and Environmental Change 2022 Copyright © 2021 by Charlene Estrada is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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The Journey to the Center of the Earth

By jules verne, chapter xi. a guide found to the centre of the earth.

• Year Published: 1871
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: France
• Source: Verne, J. (1871) A Journey to the Center of the Earth (Frederick Amadeus Malleson, Trans.) London: Ward, Lock, &Co., Ltd. (Original work published 1864)
• Flesch–Kincaid Level: 6.0
• Word Count: 2,054
• Genre: Adventure
• ✎ Cite This

Verne, J. (1871). Chapter XI. A GUIDE FOUND TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. The Journey to the Center of the Earth (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved May 04, 2024, from https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/222/the-journey-to-the-center-of-the-earth/5659/chapter-xi-a-guide-found-to-the-centre-of-the-earth/

Verne, Jules. "Chapter XI. A GUIDE FOUND TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH." The Journey to the Center of the Earth . Lit2Go Edition. 1871. Web. https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/222/the-journey-to-the-center-of-the-earth/5659/chapter-xi-a-guide-found-to-the-centre-of-the-earth/ >. May 04, 2024.

Jules Verne, "Chapter XI. A GUIDE FOUND TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH," The Journey to the Center of the Earth , Lit2Go Edition, (1871), accessed May 04, 2024, https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/222/the-journey-to-the-center-of-the-earth/5659/chapter-xi-a-guide-found-to-the-centre-of-the-earth/ .

In the evening I took a short walk on the beach and returned at night to my plank–bed, where I slept soundly all night.

When I awoke I heard my uncle talking at a great rate in the next room. I immediately dressed and joined him.

He was conversing in the Danish language with a tall man, of robust build. This fine fellow must have been possessed of great strength. His eyes, set in a large and ingenuous face, seemed to me very intelligent; they were of a dreamy sea–blue. Long hair, which would have been called red even in England, fell in long meshes upon his broad shoulders. The movements of this native were lithe and supple; but he made little use of his arms in speaking, like a man who knew nothing or cared nothing about the language of gestures. His whole appearance bespoke perfect calmness and self–possession, not indolence but tranquillity. It was felt at once that he would be beholden to nobody, that he worked for his own convenience, and that nothing in this world could astonish or disturb his philosophic calmness.

I caught the shades of this Icelander's character by the way in which he listened to the impassioned flow of words which fell from the Professor. He stood with arms crossed, perfectly unmoved by my uncle's incessant gesticulations. A negative was expressed by a slow movement of the head from left to right, an affirmative by a slight bend, so slight that his long hair scarcely moved. He carried economy of motion even to parsimony.

Certainly I should never have dreamt in looking at this man that he was a hunter; he did not look likely to frighten his game, nor did he seem as if he would even get near it. But the mystery was explained when M. Fridrikssen informed me that this tranquil personage was only a hunter of the eider duck, whose under plumage constitutes the chief wealth of the island. This is the celebrated eider down, and it requires no great rapidity of movement to get it.

Early in summer the female, a very pretty bird, goes to build her nest among the rocks of the fiords with which the coast is fringed. After building the nest she feathers it with down plucked from her own breast. Immediately the hunter, or rather the trader, comes and robs the nest, and the female recommences her work. This goes on as long as she has any down left. When she has stripped herself bare the male takes his turn to pluck himself. But as the coarse and hard plumage of the male has no commercial value, the hunter does not take the trouble to rob the nest of this; the female therefore lays her eggs in the spoils of her mate, the young are hatched, and next year the harvest begins again.

Now, as the eider duck does not select steep cliffs for her nest, but rather the smooth terraced rocks which slope to the sea, the Icelandic hunter might exercise his calling without any inconvenient exertion. He was a farmer who was not obliged either to sow or reap his harvest, but merely to gather it in.

This grave, phlegmatic, and silent individual was called Hans Bjelke; and he came recommended by M. Fridrikssen. He was our future guide. His manners were a singular contrast with my uncle's.

Nevertheless, they soon came to understand each other. Neither looked at the amount of the payment: the one was ready to accept whatever was offered; the other was ready to give whatever was demanded. Never was bargain more readily concluded.

The result of the treaty was, that Hans engaged on his part to conduct us to the village of Stapi, on the south shore of the Snaefell peninsula, at the very foot of the volcano. By land this would be about twenty–two miles, to be done, said my uncle, in two days.

But when he learnt that the Danish mile was 24,000 feet long, he was obliged to modify his calculations and allow seven or eight days for the march.

Four horses were to be placed at our disposal – two to carry him and me, two for the baggage. Hams, as was his custom, would go on foot. He knew all that part of the coast perfectly, and promised to take us the shortest way.

His engagement was not to terminate with our arrival at Stapi; he was to continue in my uncle's service for the whole period of his scientific researches, for the remuneration of three rixdales a week (about twelve shillings), but it was an express article of the covenant that his wages should be counted out to him every Saturday at six o'clock in the evening, which, according to him, was one indispensable part of the engagement.

The start was fixed for the 16th of June. My uncle wanted to pay the hunter a portion in advance, but he refused with one word:

"Efter," said he.

"After," said the Professor for my edification.

The treaty concluded, Hans silently withdrew.

"A famous fellow," cried my uncle; "but he little thinks of the marvellous part he has to play in the future."

"So he is to go with us as far as ––"

"As far as the centre of the earth, Axel."

Forty–eight hours were left before our departure; to my great regret I had to employ them in preparations; for all our ingenuity was required to pack every article to the best advantage; instruments here, arms there, tools in this package, provisions in that: four sets of packages in all.

The instruments were:

1. An Eigel's centigrade thermometer, graduated up to 150 degrees (302 degrees Fahr.), which seemed to me too much or too little. Too much if the internal heat was to rise so high, for in this case we should be baked, not enough to measure the temperature of springs or any matter in a state of fusion.

2. An aneroid barometer, to indicate extreme pressures of the atmosphere. An ordinary barometer would not have answered the purpose, as the pressure would increase during our descent to a point which the mercurial barometer [1] would not register.

3. A chronometer, made by Boissonnas, jun., of Geneva, accurately set to the meridian of Hamburg.

4. Two compasses, viz., a common compass and a dipping needle.

5. A night glass.

6. Two of Ruhmkorff's apparatus, which, by means of an electric current, supplied a safe and handy portable light [2]

The arms consisted of two of Purdy's rifles and two brace of pistols. But what did we want arms for? We had neither savages nor wild beasts to fear, I supposed. But my uncle seemed to believe in his arsenal as in his instruments, and more especially in a considerable quantity of gun cotton, which is unaffected by moisture, and the explosive force of which exceeds that of gunpowder.

[1] In M. Verne's book a 'manometer' is the instrument used, of which very little is known. In a complete list of philosophical instruments the translator cannot find the name. As he is assured by a first–rate instrument maker, Chadburn, of Liverpool, that an aneroid can be constructed to measure any depth, he has thought it best to furnish the adventurous professor with this more familiar instrument. The 'manometer' is generally known as a pressure gauge. – TRANS.

[2] Ruhmkorff's apparatus consists of a Bunsen pile worked with bichromate of potash, which makes no smell; an induction coil carries the electricity generated by the pile into communication with a lantern of peculiar construction; in this lantern there is a spiral glass tube from which the air has been excluded, and in which remains only a residuum of carbonic acid gas or of nitrogen. When the apparatus is put in action this gas becomes luminous, producing a white steady light. The pile and coil are placed in a leathern bag which the traveller carries over his shoulders; the lantern outside of the bag throws sufficient light into deep darkness; it enables one to venture without fear of explosions into the midst of the most inflammable gases, and is not extinguished even in the deepest waters. M. Ruhmkorff is a learned and most ingenious man of science; his great discovery is his induction coil, which produces a powerful stream of electricity. He obtained in 1864 the quinquennial prize of 50,000 franc reserved by the French government for the most ingenious application of electricity.

The tools comprised two pickaxes, two spades, a silk ropeladder, three iron–tipped sticks, a hatchet, a hammer, a dozen wedges and iron spikes, and a long knotted rope. Now this was a large load, for the ladder was 300 feet long.

And there were provisions too: this was not a large parcel, but it was comforting to know that of essence of beef and biscuits there were six months' consumption. Spirits were the only liquid, and of water we took none; but we had flasks, and my uncle depended on springs from which to fill them. Whatever objections I hazarded as to their quality, temperature, and even absence, remained ineffectual.

To complete the exact inventory of all our travelling accompaniments, I must not forget a pocket medicine chest, containing blunt scissors, splints for broken limbs, a piece of tape of unbleached linen, bandages and compresses, lint, a lancet for bleeding, all dreadful articles to take with one. Then there was a row of phials containing dextrine, alcoholic ether, liquid acetate of lead, vinegar, and ammonia drugs which afforded me no comfort. Finally, all the articles needful to supply Ruhmkorff's apparatus.

My uncle did not forget– a supply of tobacco, coarse grained powder, and amadou, nor a leathern belt in which he carried a sufficient quantity of gold, silver, and paper money. Six pairs of boots and shoes, made waterproof with a composition of indiarubber and naphtha, were packed amongst the tools.

"Clothed, shod, and equipped like this," said my uncle, "there is no telling how far we may go."

The 14th was wholly spent in arranging all our different articles. In the evening we dined with Baron Tramps; the mayor of Rejkiavik, and Dr. Hyaltalin, the first medical man of the place, being of the party. M. Fridrikssen was not there. I learned afterwards that he and the Governor disagreed upon some question of administration, and did not speak to each other. I therefore knew not a single word of all that was said at this semi–official dinner; but I could not help noticing that my uncle talked the whole time.

On the 15th our preparations were all made. Our host gave the Professor very great pleasure by presenting him with a map of Iceland far more complete than that of Hendersen. It was the map of M. Olaf Nikolas Olsen, in the proportion of 1 to 480,000 of the actual size of the island, and published by the Icelandic Literary Society. It was a precious document for a mineralogist.

Our last evening was spent in intimate conversation with M. Fridrikssen, with whom I felt the liveliest sympathy; then, after the talk, succeeded, for me, at any rate, a disturbed and restless night.

At five in the morning I was awoke by the neighing and pawing of four horses under my window. I dressed hastily and came down into the street. Hans was finishing our packing, almost as it were without moving a limb; and yet he did his work cleverly. My uncle made more noise than execution, and the guide seemed to pay very little attention to his energetic directions.

At six o'clock our preparations were over. M. Fridrikssen shook hands with us. My uncle thanked him heartily for his extreme kindness. I constructed a few fine Latin sentences to express my cordial farewell. Then we bestrode our steeds and with his last adieu M. Fridrikssen treated me to a line of Virgil eminently applicable to such uncertain wanderers as we were likely to be:

"Et quacumque viam dedent fortuna sequamur."

"Therever fortune clears a way,

Thither our ready footsteps stray."

Journey to the Center of the Earth

By jules verne, journey to the center of the earth quiz 4.

• 1 What is notable about the plants of the Tertiary period? Texture Lack of color Size Smell
• 2 What creatures do the adventurers see among the plants? Saber-toothed tigers Mastodons Giant crustaceans Huge reptiles

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Journey to the Center of the Earth Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Journey to the Center of the Earth is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

trevor and his brother researched the possiblity of volcanic tubes passing thorugh what layer of the earth

Volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth.

Trevor and his brother researched the possibility of volcanic tubes passing through what layer of the Earth?

Is this a question or a statement?

What were the objections that Axel raised against the document of Arne Saknusemm? How did his uncle reply?

• Axel tried to convince his uncle that the document was likely a forgery or joke.

• Axel argued that no tunnel would be able reach the center of the earth without being crushed.

Please post your questions separately.

Study Guide for Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth study guide contains a biography of Jules Verne, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Journey to the Center of the Earth Summary
• Character List

Lesson Plan for Journey to the Center of the Earth

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Journey to the Center of the Earth Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Journey to the Center of the Earth

• Introduction
• Main characters
• Publication notes
• Adaptations

• The Magazine
• Stay Curious
• The Sciences
• Environment
• Planet Earth

The Core of Truth in Journey to the Center of the Earth

The latest cinematic version of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth opens this Friday, staring the ever-likeable Brendan Frasier. Frasier's character, (Professor Trever Anderson), his nephew and local Icelandic guide find themselves having hair-raising adventures as they voyage through underground seas and landscapes populated with all manner of bizzare plants and animals. Verne's original book was published in 1864, a time when quite a few people took very seriously the idea that the Earth was hollow--and inhabited. In this they were inspired by a scientific proposal by Edmund Halley (of Halley's comet fame) that turned out to be not completely off the mark.

As described by David Standish in his entertaining book Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth’s Surface , before Halley, most people assumed that the Earth underfoot was pretty much solid rock all the way through, with some lava and water thrown for good measure. In the late 17th century, Halley was interesed in observations that showed that the Earth's magnetic poles wandered around. To explain this motion, Halley suggested that the Earth wasn't solid, but instead composed of a series of concentric shells. One or more of these shells produced the Earth's magnetic field, and its movement relative to our, outermost, shell resulted in the changes to the position of the magentic poles. Halley further went on to suggest that each of these shells could be inhabited.

The "inhabited" notion went on to provoke quite a bit of science fiction, as well as some real attempts to find an entrance to these inner worlds and get at their postulated wealth, but otherwise turned out to be a dud. But Halley's basic idea that the Earth wasn't a homogenous block of rock, but instead had a structure in the form of moving concentric spherical shells, ultimately did find expression in our modern understanding of Earth.

We now know our planet is composed of a thin outer crust wrapped around a thick mantle, which is in turn wrapped around a liquid outer core of molten rock, at the heart of which is the Earth's solid inner core. Circulating electrical currents within the outer core gives rise to the Earth's magnetic field and are responsible for the slow motion of the magnetic poles. It's also believed that Earth's inner core is "superrotating" -- that is, turning faster on the Earth's axis than the surface --and this rotation may also play a part in maintaining Earth's maganetic field. So while the movie may be pure fantasy, its worth remembering a time when even the suggestion that we could really know what the center of the Earth is like was a fantastic thought.

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Journey to the Center of the Earth

9th - 12th grade.

11 questions

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Who is NOT a character in the story?

Jules Verne

Professor Leidenbrock

• 2. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Why were they the first human eyes to ever look at these monsters? They were extinct. They were the first explorers to go to the center of the Earth. They live in the sea They are just magical
• 3. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What is the setting of Journey to the Center of the Earth to begin with? Germany France Korea China
• 4. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Is Journey to the Center of the Earth fiction or nonfiction? Non fiction Fiction
• 5. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What is the theme of Journey to the Center of the Earth? Love War Perseverance Fear
• 6. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt In Journey to the Center of the Earth, what country did they resurface on? United States Germany Italy China
• 7. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What type of creatures do they meet? Plants Fish Dinosaurs All of the above
• 8. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt What mixes together to form the stream needed to float upward? Magma and water Rock sand diamonds Gas and oil
• 9. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Which is the meaning of the word extinct ?  no longer existing  dinosaurs  very few left around the world  to dive deep into the sea
• 10. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Which is the meaning of the word hideous ?  Very beautiful, pretty, lovely  Covers completely  Very ugly, horrible, frightful  Soared
• 11. Multiple Choice Edit 30 seconds 1 pt Which is the meaning of the word plunged ?  fell or moved suddenly downward and forward.  no longer existing  a large snake  the center of attention 

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Journey to the Center of the Earth

An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center. An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center. An Edinburgh professor and assorted colleagues follow an explorer's trail down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the earth's center.

• Henry Levin
• Walter Reisch
• Charles Brackett
• Jules Verne
• James Mason
• Arlene Dahl
• 170 User reviews
• 72 Critic reviews
• 4 nominations total

• Sir Oliver S. Lindenbrook

• Alec McEwan

• Carla Göteborg

• Jenny Lindenbrook

• Count Saknussemm

• Hans Belker

• (uncredited)

• Prof. Bayle
• News Vendor

• Scots Newsman

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia James Mason reportedly had very little patience with Arlene Dahl 's "movie star" preening. Their relationship off-screen was very much like their relationship on- screen.
• Goofs (at around 21 mins) Early in the movie, Oliver Lindenbrook speaks of the "stars and galaxies of outer space." In the 1880s, however, our Milky Way galaxy was believed to constitute the entire universe. Knowledge that other galaxies exist beyond our own did not come about till the 1920s. Thus a man of the 1880s would not use the word "galaxy" in its plural form.

Sir Oliver Lindenbrook : Are we to be abducted every day in Iceland?

• Alternate versions In some European versions of the film, for example the Spanish dubbing, the "Prof of Geology's Song" was re-dubbed into the "Gaudeamus Igitur" song.
• Connections Edited into Attack of the 50 Foot Monster Mania (1999)
• Soundtracks My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose By Robert Burns Set to music by Jimmy Van Heusen (as James Van Heusen) Sung by Pat Boone

User reviews 170

• Mar 13, 2006
• How long is Journey to the Center of the Earth? Powered by Alexa
• December 1959 (United Kingdom)
• United States
• Put u srediste Zemlje
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park - 727 Carlsbad Caverns Highway, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA (the center of the earth)
• Twentieth Century Fox
• Joseph M. Schenck Enterprises
• Cooga Mooga
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $3,440,000 (estimated)

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• Runtime 2 hours 9 minutes

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Journey to the Center of the Earth

An original and unabridged edition (annotated), publisher description.

From one of the best storytellers of all time comes this wonderful Sci-Fi classic, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Professor Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel stumble across an ancient rune or map that shows the way into the Earths core via the North Pole. Travel with the Professor into the subterranean world in this fantastical voyage from the master that brought you 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne! About the Book Jules Verne wrote the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1864. It narrates the tale of a professor, his nephew, and their guide who go via an Icelandic volcano to reach the Earth's heart. The book delves into a number of scientific and imaginative ideas, such as the possibility of a hollow Earth, ancient animals, and geological structures. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, is a Classic Science Fiction Novel first published in France in 1867. A Look Inside “We are of opinion that instead of letting books grow moldy behind an iron grating, far from the vulgar gaze, it is better to let them wear out by being read.” “Science, my boy, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.” ― Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth A Stunning Reproduction At Last Chance Publishing, we take every step possible to ensure the original integrity of this book has been upheld to its highest standard. This means that the texts in this story are unedited and unchanged from the original authors publication, preserving its earliest form for your indulgence. This title is one of the best classic Sci-Fi books, of all time, words strung together with such romantic precision, a historical novel that you just do not see in the modern age. This title will make an excellent gift to the Jules Verne buff in your life or a fantastic addition to your current collection. We are ready to ship this book off to you today at lightning speed, so you will find yourself indulging in this title without delay. Books Specifics • 1867 Text • Classic Science Fiction Annotated Content • Historical Context • Detailed 19th Historical bullet pointed context

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