LAYERS OF THE EARTH
iron and nickel
3 main layers: crust, mantle, core (lithosphere,
asthenosphere, convecting mantle, dense
metallic core)
5 mechanical layers: lithosphere,
asthenosphere, mantle, outer core, inner core
CRUST
- Ocean & Land = Oceanic Crust &
Continental Crust
Continental Crust = 20-90 km / 2.7g cm3 = less
dense
- made up of more rock types, more
pores (spaces)
Oceanic Crust = 5-10 km / 3.9g cm3 = more
dense
- the minerals have higher amounts of
iron & magnesium
- smaller pores have higher density
*Oxygen is the most common element in the
crust, but it’s not only oxygen though.
*cold = denser, hot = less dense
*depth is directly proportional
*more compressed = higher pressure
MANTLE – convecting mantle
- solid but capable of flow
- thickest layer, 70% of Earth’s mass
- solid rock, not liquid
- Convection Currents – it is the fluid or
magma that flows in the mantle, mostly
happens in the middle mantle when
cold then falls back down to heat up
- 3.5g/cm3 to 5.5g/cm3
CORE
Outer Core
- molten (liquid) metal
- composed of the melted metal that are
INNER CORE
- solid sphere composed mostly of iron
- heat in the core is probably generated
by the radioactive decay of uranium
and other elements
- it is solid because of the pressure from
the outer core, mantle, and crust
compressing it tremendously.
LITHOSPHERE – coolest part of the Earth
- consists of the solid upper mantle and
crust
- broken into plates that move over the
atmosphere
- 12 major plates
ASTHENOSPHERE
- part of upper mantle (entirely upper
mantle rock)
- behaves plastically and slowly flows
PLATE TECTONIC THEORIES
Continental Drift
- Alfred Wegener (in the early 1900’s, he
proposed the hypothesis that
continents were once joined together in
a single large land mass called
PANGAEA (meaning “all land” in
Greece.)
- He proposed that Pangaea was split
apart, and the continents had moved
gradually to their present positions – a
process that became known as
continental drift.
- Gondwana – southern part of the
Pangaea
- Laurasia – northern part of the Pangaea
- Panthalassa Ocean – the name of the
ocean surrounding the whole Pangaea
Wegener’s Evidence for Continental Drift
 Fossils of plants and animals of the
same species found on different
continents.
 Rock sequences, same rock sequences
have seen similarities in different
continents like India and Australia.
 Continents fit together like puzzle
pieces (ex: Atlantic coastlines of Africa
and South America)
 His ideas were rejected because there
was no mechanism for continents
motion that he proposed for this to
happen.
*Atlantic Ocean keeps on expanding – India &
Asia = Himalayan Mountains
Seafloor Spreading
- Harry Hess made a discovery that
would vindicate Wegener. He proposed
the seafloor spreading theory.
- Proposed that hot, less dense material
below Earth’s crust rises toward the
surface at the mid-ocean ridges.
- Scientists that the youngest rocks are
located at mid-ocean ridges.
Trench – a long, narrow, deep depression in the
ocean bed, typically one running parallel to a
plate boundary and marking a subduction zone.
RADAR (Radio Detecting & Ranging)
SONAR (Sound Navigating & Ranging) –
frequently used
Mid-Ocean Ridge – a central valley on an ocean
floor at the boundary between two diverging
tectonic plates where new crust forms from
upwelling magma.
Findings that support Seafloor Spreading
Theory:
- Rocks are younger at the mid-ocean
ridge
- Rocks far from the mid-ocean ridge are
older
- Sediments are thinner at the ridge
- Rocks at the ocean floor are younger
than those at the continents.
Mirror Copies – pattern of the seafloor
The rocks closest to the central ridge are the
youngest, the older rocks are found near the
coastline.
SCIENCE II
MECHANISM OF PLATE TECTONICS
Seafloor Spreading provided insight to the
mechanism for how the continents moved
- Magma gets pushed up at the mid
ocean ridges and creates new lands
while the subduction zones gobble up
the land on the other side of the plates.
Convection Current is the driving force of the
plate tectonics. They provide enough energy to
move the plates in the lithosphere.
PLATE BOUNDARIES & DISTRIBUTION
World Plates
- Earth’s crust is divided into 12 major
plates which moves in various
directions
- The plate motion makes them collide,
pull apart, and scrape against each
other
- Each type of interactions are the causes
of the Earth’s “tectonic” features
(ex: hills & mountains)
- Tectonic, refers to the deformation of
the crust as a consequence of plate
interaction.
The moving plates interact with each other Examples of DB
along their boundaries, these interactions
 Iceland's volcanoes are running through
produce volcanoes and earthquakes; volcanism
the middle of the country
and earthquakes occur along plate boundaries.
 Red Sea rift

Convergent Boundaries

- Boundaries where two plates are

converging, moving towards each other.

Three Types of Convergent Boundaries

1. Continent-Continent Collision
- Forms mountain ranges

Ex: European Alps, Himalayas

Three Different Plate Boundaries

1. Divergent Boundaries
2. Convergent Boundaries
3. Transform Boundaries

Divergent Boundaries

- Boundaries where two plates are 2. Continent-Oceanic Crust Collision

diverging, moving away from each - Called as subduction, where ocean
other lithosphere subducts underneath the
- As the plates move away, the rocks continental lithosphere
break and create earthquake. - Oceanic lithosphere heats and
- Molten rocks (magma) come up dehydrates as it subducts
through the cracked creating volcanoes - The melt forms volcanism
- Sometimes, in continental crust, when
Ex: Andes
the land is being pulled apart, it creates
a valley, water fills up the cracks and
creates linear lakes.
- Most DB are found on the seafloor.

Landforms from DB

 Volcanoes from continental rifting

 Linear Lakes
 Rift Valleys 3. Ocean-Ocean Plate Collision
 Mid-Ocean Ridges - When two oceanic plates collide, one
runs over the other which causes it to
sink creating a subduction zone.
 - The subducting plate is bent
downwards to form a very deep
depression called a trench.
- World’s deepest parts of the ocean are
found in trenches

Ex: Mariana’s Trench (11 km)

Transform Boundaries
- Are boundaries between two plates
that are horizontally past one another
- The volcanoes get younger from one
end to another
- Older and dead volcanoes turn into
volcanic islands or sea mounts

Ex: San Andreas Fault Line

Connection between Earthquakes and Plate

Tectonics

- At boundaries between plates, friction

causes them to stick together. The built-
up energy causes them to break,
earthquakes occur.

Connection between Volcanoes and Plate

Tectonics

- Volcanism is most found at plate

boundaries/margins

Ex: Pacific Ring of Fire

Volcanoes are formed by:

 Subduction
 Rifting
 Hotspot

Hotspot Volcanoes

- Hot mantle breaching the surface in the

middle of a tectonic plate

Ex: Hawaiian Islands

- The tectonic plates move over a hotspot

forming a chain of volcanoes