Earth Structure and Composition

Layers of Earth's Atmosphere

• Troposphere
The troposphere starts at
the Earth's surface and
extends 8 to 14.5
kilometers high (5 to 9
miles). This part of the
atmosphere is the most
dense. Almost all weather
is in this region.
• Stratosphere
The stratosphere starts just
above the troposphere and
extends to 50 kilometers (31
miles) high. The ozone layer,
which absorbs and scatters the
solar ultraviolet radiation, is in
this layer.
• Mesosphere
The mesosphere starts just
above the stratosphere and
extends to 85 kilometers (53
miles) high. Meteors burn up in
this layer
• Thermosphere
The thermosphere starts just
above the mesosphere and
extends to 600 kilometers (372
miles) high. Aurora and
satellites occur in this layer.
Ionosphere
The ionosphere is an abundant layer of electrons and ionized atoms and molecules
that stretches from about 48 kilometers (30 miles) above the surface to the edge of
space at about 965 km (600 mi), overlapping into the mesosphere and
thermosphere. This dynamic region
grows and shrinks based on solar
conditions and divides further into the
sub-regions: D, E and F; based on
what wavelength of solar radiation is
absorbed. The ionosphere is a critical
link in the chain of Sun-Earth
interactions. This region is what
makes radio communications possible.
• Exosphere
This is the upper limit of our
atmosphere. It extends from
the top of the thermosphere up
to 10,000 km (6,200 mi).
Earth Atmospheric Composition
 Continental Drift
• Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth's continents
have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus
appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The
speculation that continents might have 'drifted' was first put
forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596. The concept was
independently and more fully developed by Alfred Wegener in
1912, but his hypothesis was rejected by many for lack of any
motive mechanism. Arthur Holmes later proposed mantle
convection for that mechanism. The idea of continental drift
has since been subsumed by the theory of plate tectonics,
which explains that the continents move by riding on plates of
the Earth's lithosphere.
• Continental drift describes one of the earliest ways
geologists thought continents moved over time. This
map displays an early "supercontinent," Gondwana,
which eventually moved to form the continents we
know today. Fossils of similar organisms across widely
disparate continents encouraged the revolutionary
theory of continental drift.
 Plate Tectonics

• In 1977, after decades of tediously collecting and

mapping ocean sonar data, scientists began to see a
fairly accurate picture of the seafloor emerge. The
Tharp-Heezen map illustrated the geological features
that characterize the seafloor and became a crucial
factor in the acceptance of the theories of plate
tectonics and continental drift. Today, these theories
serve as the foundation upon which we understand the
geologic processes that shape the Earth.
*(watch the video)
• In much the same way that geographic borders have
separated, collided, and been redrawn throughout
human history, tectonic plate boundaries have diverged,
converged, and reshaped the Earth throughout its
geologic history. Today, science has shown that the
surface of the Earth is in a constant state of change. We
are able to observe and measure mountains rising and
eroding, oceans expanding and shrinking, volcanoes
erupting and earthquakes striking.
Divergent: Along these boundaries,
earthquakes are common and magma
(molten rock) rises from the Earth’s mantle
to the surface, solidifying to create new
oceanic crust.
Convergent: The impact of the colliding
plates can cause the edges of one or both
plates to buckle up into a mountain ranges
or one of the plates may bend down into a
deep seafloor trench. A chain of volcanoes
often forms parallel to convergent plate
boundaries and powerful earthquakes are
common along these boundaries.
Transform: Rocks that line the boundary
are pulverized as the plates grind along,
creating a linear fault valley or undersea
canyon. Earthquakes are common along
these faults. In contrast to convergent and
divergent boundaries, crust is cracked and
broken at transform margins, but is not
created or destroyed.
• PLATE TECTONICS THEORY: The Earth's lithosphere (the crust and the
upper part of the mantle) is cracked into a number of large pieces called
tectonic plates, you can think of them as giant rock rafts floating on the
'plastic' mantle. These plates (like big rock rafts) are less dense than the
mantle and so float on it and constantly move at relative speeds of a few
centimetres per year as a result of convection currents within the Earth's
mantle. The convection currents are driven by heat released by natural
radioactive processes in the mantle. This is what is meant by
'Continental Drift'. Earthquakes and/or volcanic eruptions occur at the
plate boundaries between tectonic plates exemplified by the volcanic
'Ring of Fire' in the Pacific Ocean and the earthquake zone of the San
Andreas Fault on the west coast of North America. This geologically
violent activity happens when plates collide, move away from each other
and when one plates sub-ducts below another.