Structure of the Earth

Structure of the Earth

Earth’s Interior is divided into ______that have very different properties:

______

______

______

Our knowledge of these layers has come mainly from the study of ______waves.

The Crust

The crust is the ______layer of the Earth.It is between ____ and _____ kilometers thick. It is the ______of the Earth’s layers. It is where we ______.

The crust is made up mostly of ______, ______and aluminum.

There are two types of crust:

______crust

______crust

Oceanic crust is the crust that lies ______. It consists mostly of ______– a dark, dense ______rock with a fine-grained texture.

Continental crust forms the ______and consists mostly of ______- a less dense igneous rock with larger ______that is usually ______in color.

The Mantle

The next layer after the crust is the ______.It lies from about ______to ______kilometers below the surface.It is much ______than the crust.It contains about _____ of the Earth’s ______.It is a layer of ______.The mantle is ______than the crust. It consists of a number of zones.

The ______and the ______part of the mantle are very similar. They are both ______.

Together they are called the ______.

Litho means “stone.” The lithosphere is about ______kilometers thick.

As you go deeper into the mantle, ______and ______increase.This makes the rock ______rigid. It has the consistency of ______and can bend much like plastic (______).This plastic-like layer of the mantle is called the ______. The lithosphere floats on top of the asthenosphere. Beneath the asthenosphere solid mantle material extends all the way to Earth’s ______.This lower solid part of the mantle is called the ______.

The Core

The layer of the Earth that extends below the mantle to the center of the Earth is the ______.The core makes up about 1/3 of the Earth’s ______.

It has two layers:

A ______outer core

A ______inner core

Both are made of ______and ______.

Despite enormous pressure, the molten metal of the outer core behaves like a thick ______.The inner core is a dense ball of ______.The ______is so great that the iron atoms cannot ______and become a ______.

Earth’s Magnetic Field

______in the liquid outer core cause the solid inner core to ______.The inner core spins at a slightly ______rate than the rest of the planet.This movement creates the Earth’s ______, which causes the entire Earth to act like a giant ______.

The Earth is made of 3 basic layers.

The crust and the top, rigid part of the mantle make up the lithosphere.

The plastic-like layer of the mantle is called the asthenosphere.

The innermost rigid part of the mantle is called the mesosphere.

The core has two parts.

The outer core is liquid.

The inner core is solid.

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Structure of the Earth Notes created 31 March 2009 by B. Ferri