What is Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho)?

The Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho, is like a hidden border deep underground that separates Earth’s crust from its mantle.

Imagine you’re playing with building blocks, the top layer, which is the crust, feels soft and easy to move around. But below it, there's another layer called the mantle, which is much harder and deeper. The Moho is like the line between these two layers, it’s not a wall you can see, but scientists know it's there because things change suddenly when they pass from one layer to the other.

Think of walking up a staircase, each step feels smooth, but when you reach the end of one floor, you feel a sudden change as you move to the next. The Moho is like that hidden step between Earth’s crust and mantle, it's not visible, but scientists can tell it’s there by how seismic waves behave when they pass through.

Scientists use special tools called seismometers to measure these changes in waves. It’s a bit like listening carefully to see if the sound of your footsteps changes when you walk from one floor to another, and that helps them find the Moho deep underground!