The Earth is composed of four main layers - the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core. The crust is the top layer that humans live on, and it varies in thickness between continents and oceans. Below the crust is the mantle, which is hotter and able to flow. Deeper still are the outer core, composed of liquid nickel and iron, and the inner core, where extreme heat and pressure force metals to vibrate in place as solids. Convection currents in the mantle cause the movement of tectonic plates at the crust.