The Earth’s Layers
The Core---- This is the center of the earth and made up of solid iron or nickel *Inner Core - This portion of the core is solid
*Outer Core - This portion is liquidMantle----- This part has several layers. It contains most of the earth’s mass.
The magma in the mantel is molten rock. Crust----- The thin layer of rock at the earth’s surface. It is 19 – 37 miles thick.
The earth is about 24,900 miles in circumference.
4 layers make up this portion of the earth.
Continental Drift Theory• This theory maintains the earth was once a
super-continent that divided/slowly drifted apart over millions of years.
The super-continent was known as
PANGEA.
Surrounding the earth is a thin layer of gas called the ATMOSPHERE The Atmosphere contains the oxygen that we breath, protects us from radiation , and space debris.
The solid rock portion of the earth’s surface is known as the LITHOSPHERE This includes the upper mantle and the crust portion of the earth. Both the continents and the sea floor are part of the lithosphere.
HYDROSPHERE is made up of all the water elements on the earth. It includes the oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, and water in the atmosphere.
Together the atmosphere, the lithosphere, and the hydrosphere form the BIOSPHERE This is the pert of the earth where the plants and animals live.
ON / ABOVE the EARTH
When tectonic plates come into contact, changes in the earth’s surface occur. Three types of boundaries mark plate movement.
--Plates move apart, spreading horizontally
--Plates collide, causing either one plate to dive under the other or the edges of both plates crumple
--Plates slide past one another
Tectonic plates move in one of four ways:
*spreading or moving apart*subduction or diving under one another*collision or crashing into one another*sliding past one another in a shearing motion
Divergent Plates• This happens when two plates are pulling
away from each other. This gives room for magma (molted rock) to come up from the mantle. When the rock cools it forms land.
MAGMA LAVA
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/teachers/t_tectonics/p_seafloorspreading.html
Convergent This is when two continental plates collide.
*Neither of them will sink. • This type of plate movement has created some
of the largest mountain ranges in the world. * ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Subduction* subduction, or diving under one another
http://SUBDUCTION
The ocean plate will slide under the continental plate
Faulting• When plates slip along the
sides of each other. This will create faults.
San Andreas Fault
Ring of Fire On the Pacific Plate : Most of the live volcano activity is around the world is located here.
Hot Spots:
Holes in the middle of the tectonic plate that release the molten rock to create land.
