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GEOL161-Earths Interior
GEOL161-Earths Interior
Greatly
simplified it
looks like
concentric
spheres
Crust- the rigid outer shell of the Earth,
composed of solid rock; very thin- averages only
20 km thick (the crust is part of the Lithosphere)
two kinds of crust
Oceanic- most abundant; consists of rocks formed
from mafic magma; very dense; very thin- 10 km
thick
Continental- underlies continents; consists of rock
formed from felsic and intermediate magma; less
dense than oceanic crust; thick-30 to 85 km thick
What will happen as different kinds of crust
interact with each other?
A) Oceanic and Continental - ?
B) Old Oceanic and Younger Oceanic - ?
C) Continental and continental - ?
Model of Lithosphere and Aesthenosphere showing
thickness of Oceanic vs Continental crust
Oceanic crust
Continental crust
Mohorovicic Discontinuity
“The Moho”
Isopach contour lines = lines of equal thickness of
the crust
The boundary zone between the crust and the
mantle is called the Mohorovicic Discontinuity or
the “Moho”
- a zone of low velocity transmission of seismic
waves
Mantle- the semi-solid (jello-like) material
underlying the crust. Extends down to about
3000 km depth
The uppermost part of the mantle is called the
Aesthenosphere.
mostly molten material
The mantle is heated closer to the core
Heated mantle material rises upward very slowly
millions of years to move upward
As it near the earth’s surface, the mantle
material liquefies
(due to pressure and temp relationships)
It also begins to cool, and slowly starts to sink
back into the core
This creates a Convection current
Two highly
schematic models
of
mantle convection
currents
3D models of mantle
convection currents
Heated rising
material
Cooled sinking
material
3D maps of the earth’s convection currents based
on seismic wave analysis-complicated looking!
Earth’s core
Divided into an inner and outer zone
Outer zone is liquid- doesn’t transmit s-waves
Probably composed of Nickel (Ni) and Iron (Fe),
some heavier radioactive elements, along with some
other elements (S or N- Sulfur or Nitrogen)
Inner core is solid- based on speed of P-wave travel
composed of same materials as outer core
Important for generating Earth’s magnetic field
Earth’s magnetic field is created by the rotation
of the outer fluid core around the solid inner core
This creates an
electrical current
Generates an
electromagnetic
Field.
Similar to a
bar magnet with
a positive and
negative end
Earth’s magnetic field fluctuates over time due to
the unsteady nature of the geodynamo that is the
the outer and inner core
QuickTime™ and a
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Earth’s magnetic field interacts with solar
particles, forcing them to the north or south pole,
creating the Aurora Borealis
Earth’s magnetic field plays a vital role in
the development of Plate tectonics theory
Identification of a process that
allows for Sea Floor Spreading.