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EARTH AND ATMOSPHERE

• The Earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago.
• In 1929, German Scientist Wegner gave the Tectonic Theory which says that all the
continents on this earth have been formed due to the divergence of Pangea an its other
forms.
• Pangea was the super continent that was present on earth.
• Due to the presence of endogenic forces, Pangea was divided into two parts:
➢ Angara – North America, Europe and Asia.
➢ Gondwana – South America, Australia, Africa and Antarctica.
STRUCTURE OF EARTH:
• There are three basic layers of Earth:
➢ Crust – The Crust is about 100 Km thick and it consists of Lithosphere and
Hydrosphere. The tectonic plates are present around 80 Km below the crust. It also
contains
➢ Mantle – The Mantle is present just below the Crust. It consists of Outer Mantle and
Inner Mantle. A very thin layer over which continental tectonic plates float, is present
just above the Outer Mantle which is known as Asthenosphere.
➢ Core – The Core of the Earth consists of Inner Core and Outer Core. The inner core
is solid in nature because of extremely high pressure and density but the outer core is in
liquid form.

• COMPOSITION OF EARTH:
ELEMENTS COMPOSITION
➢ Oxygen 46.5%
➢ Silicon 27.72%
➢ Aluminium 8.13%
➢ Iron 5.01%
➢ Calcium 3.63%
➢ Sodium 2.85%
➢ Potassium 2.62%
➢ Magnesium 2.09%

MOVEMENT OF TECTONIC PLATES:

• There are two types of tectonic movements:
➢ Convergence: A convergent movement of tectonic plates is where two or more
tectonic plates collide.

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➢ Divergence: A Divergent movement of tectonic plates is a linear feature that exists

between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.

ATMOSPHERE:
• The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%)
that surrounds Earth.
• The atmosphere acts like the blanket for the earth.
• Due to the gravity of the earth the atmosphere is inseparable from the earth.
• The atmosphere contains the life-giving gases like the Oxygen for the human being and
the animals and carbon di oxide for the plants.
• Around 99% of the total mass of atmosphere is confined up to 32 Km.
• The atmosphere basically composed of various gases such as Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon,
Carbon-di-Oxide and Neon.
• It also consists of Water vapour, Dust particles and Ozone.
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE:
• The atmosphere consists of five layers:
➢ Troposphere:
▪ It is the lower-most layer of the atmosphere.
▪ The height of this layer is about 18 Km at the equator and 8 Km at the poles.
▪ All kinds of weather changes take place in this layer.
▪ The zone separating troposphere and stratosphere is known as Tropopause.
➢ Stratosphere:
▪ This layer extends to the height of 50 Km.
▪ The temperature ceases to fall with the increase of height in this layer.
▪ Large airplanes prefer travelling in the stratosphere because no weather change takes
place in this layer and there are also no vertical winds.
▪ The ozone layer is present in this layer.
▪ It protects us from the harmful Ultra Violet Rays.
▪ The relative thickness of ozone layer is measured in Dobson Units.
▪ The Upper limit of stratosphere is known as Stratosphere.

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➢ THERMOSPHERE:
▪ It is located between 80 and 400 Km above the mesopause.
▪ This layer contains electrically charged particles known as Ions, hence, it is also known
as the Ionosphere.
▪ This layer is used for the purpose of radio transmission.
➢ EXOSPHERE:
▪ It is the uppermost layer of atmosphere.
▪ The gravitational force is very weak here hence the gases are very sparse in this layer.
▪ Density of this layer is very less.
Previous year asked important questions:
Q1) Which of the following layer of atmosphere is closest to the surface of Earth?
ANS – Troposphere
Q2) India was part of which of the following?
ANS – Gondwana
Q3) Which of the following is the most abundant element on the Earth’s surface?
ANS – Oxygen
Q4) Which of the following layer of atmosphere has the least density?
ANS – Exosphere
Q5) What is the boundary between troposphere and stratosphere called?
ANS - Troposphere