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Zoom Astronomy THE EARTH |
Back to the Planets |
The Earth is made of many different and distinct layers. The deeper layers are composed of heavier materials; they are hotter, denser and under much greater pressure than the outer layers.
Mantle: Under the crust is the rocky mantle, which is composed of silicon, oxygen, magnesium, iron, aluminum, and calcium. The upper mantle is rigid and is part of the lithosphere (together with the crust). The lower mantle flows slowly, at a rate of a few centimeters per year. The asthenosphere is a part of the upper mantle that exhibits plastic properties. It is located below the lithosphere (the crust and upper mantle), between about 100 and 250 kilometers deep.
Convection (heat) currents carry heat from the hot inner mantle to the cooler outer mantle. The mantle is about 1,700 miles (2,750 km) thick. The mantle gets warmer with depth; the top of the mantle is about 1,600° F (870° C); towards the bottom of the mantle, the temperature is about 4,000-6,700° F (2,200-3,700° C). The mantle contains most of the mass of the Earth. The Gutenberg discontinuity separates the outer core and the mantle.
The crust is divided into continental plates which drift slowly (only a few centimeters each year) atop the less rigid mantle. The crust is thinner under the oceans (6-11 km thick); this is where new crust is formed. Continental crust is about 25-90 km thick. The lithosphere is defined as the crust and the upper mantle, a rigid layer about 100-200 km thick. The Mohorovicic discontinuity is the separation between the crust and the upper mantle.
 Earth Diagram Label Me! Printout Label the inside of the Earth. Answers |
 Outer Layers of the Earth Label Me! Printout Label the parts of the mantle and crust. Answers |
 Seafloor Spreading (Plate Divergence) Label the growth of new oceanic crust as two plates diverge. Answers |
 Soil Layers Page Read about soil layers. |
 Soil Layers Diagram Label Me! Printout Label the layers of soil. Answers |
 Subduction (Plate Divergence) Label the subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental plate (plate convergence). Answers |
 Volcanos Read about volcanoes. |
 Volcano Diagram Label Me! Printout Label the lava, vent, conduit, crater, magma chamber, ash cloud and crust. Answers |
 Water Cycle Diagram Label Me! Printout Label the diagram of the hydrologic cycle - how water circulates on earth. Answers |
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