EARTH STRUCTURE AND

COMPOSITION
 Earth Layers
• The Earth is divided into four
main layers.

*Inner Core
*Outer Core
*Mantle
*Crust
 The Crust
* The Earth’s crust is
like the skin of an
apple. It is very thin
compared to the
other three layers.
*The crust makes up
1% of the Earth’s
volume.
* The crust of the
Earth is broken into
many pieces called
plates.
 The Crust
• thinnest of all layers.
• the Earth’s crust is made up of different
types of rock; igneous, sedimentary, and
metamorphic
 The Crust
The crust has the
most complicated
and variation in
its composition.
The most
abundant element
in crust is oxygen
by weight and by
volume
 The Crust
• The rock crust is
approximately called
lithosphere
• Discontinous body of
water called hydrosphere
• on land of masses of the
lithosphere and
hydrosphere, all living
creatures exist, this
described the biosphere
• Enveloped by a layer of
air which is called
atmosphere
 The Crust
The crust is only about 8 kilometers thick
under the oceans(oceanic crust) and
about 32 kilometers thick under the
continents (continental crust).
 The Crust
• Outer layer
• 2 types of crust
– Oceanic (very
dense, made of
basalt)
– Continental (less
dense, made of
granite)
Oceanic and Continental
Crust
• Granite/older Basalt/Younger
 The Mantle
• The mantle is the
layer below the
crust.
• The mantle is the
largest layer of the
Earth (84% of the
Earth’s volume)
• The mantle is
divided into two
regions: the upper
and lower sections.
 The Mantle
• The Mantle is the
second layer of the
Earth.
• composed of silicates
of iron and
magnesium, sulfide
and oxides of silicon
and magnesium.
• The temperature at
the top of the upper
mantle ranges from
500 to 900 degrees
Celsius and it
increases with depth
 The Core
• The core is believed to
have two parts: a solid
inner core, with a radius
of 1,220 km, and then a
liquid outer core that
extends to a radius of
3,400 km.
• The temperature of the
outer core ranges
from 4400 °C in the
outer core to 6100
°C near the inner core
 Outer Core
* The core of the
Earth is like a ball
of very hot metals.
* The outer core is
liquid.
• The outer core is
made up of iron and
nickel are very
dense.
 Inner Core
* The inner core of
the Earth has
temperatures and
pressures so great
that the metals are
squeezed together
and are not able to
move.
 Earth’s Layers
• How are the earth’s
layers similar to an
egg?
• Shell=crust
• Egg white=mantle
• Yolk=core
 Physical Structure of the Earth
• Lithosphere- rigid outer layer
(crust)
• Asthenosphere- solid rock that
flows slowly (like hot asphalt)
 Lithosphere
• The lithosphere (geosphere) is the "solid" part
of Earth. It has two parts, the crust and the
upper mantle
• The lithosphere “ sits on the” asthenosphere.
• The Earths Plates are the lithosphere.
• It is the rocky, solid portion of the crust.
Remember that it is made up of mostly Silicon(
Si) and Oxygen (O).
 Asthenosphere
• This is the layer below the lithosphere.
This layer is “ plastic –like”.
• It is somewhat solid/liquid.
• You can say that it is malleable.
 Tectonic Plates
• Earth’s crust is broken into about 19
pieces
• These plates move on top of the
asthenosphere