INTRODUCTION TO

EARTH
Mr. Lawrence Andrew Fronda
 SOME FACTS ABOUT THE EARTH
• Earth is the only planet to be
named in English. The word
‘Earth’ is Old English word for
"land“
• Earth belongs to the Milky
Way Galaxy, Local Group
Cluster and Virgo Super
Cluster
• Earth is the only planet to
sustain life
• Earth is believed to be exists
for 450 million years &
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE EARTH
• Earth is the third planet from the
sun
• Earth is the fifth largest planet in
the universe
• The distance of the earth from the sun
is 149,600,000 km
• The diameter of the sun is 100 times
the diameter of the earth
• The mass of the earth is 5.972 x 1024
kg
• The Surface area of earth is
510,072,000 km²
 SOME FACTS ABOUT THE EARTH
• Before 500 BC, people thought that earth was flat. But thanks to scientists like
Aristotle and Pythagoras, people know that the shape of the earth is
spherical. However, Sir Isaac Newton showed that the earth was not a perfect
sphere, but a compressed spheroid.

• The correct technical term to use will be oblate spheroid, a type of ellipsoid
solid formed when an ellipse is rotated about its minor axis.

• The study of size and shape of earth is called geodesy.

• The diameter of earth at poles is 12715 km (minor axis). The diameter of

earth at equator is 12763 km (major axis)
 Structure of Earth

• The structure of the Earth (also

referred as cross–section) is
divided into mainly four layers
namely Crust, Mantle, Inner
Core and Outer Core.
Structure of Earth
 Crust
• The outermost layer of the Earth is the crust. It is also the surface of the earth.
• This comprises the continents and ocean basins and therefore it has been classified into
continental crust and oceanic crust.
• The oceanic crust extends up to a distance of 0-10 kms, whereas the continental crust
would extend up to 0-75 kms.
• The oceanic crust is mainly composed of basaltic igneous rocks, mainly of silica and
magnesium and therefore also called SIMA layer.
• The continental crust is composed of crystalline and granitic rocks mainly of silica and
aluminum and therefore also called SIAL layer.
 Mantle
• The next layer is the mantle, which is composed mainly of iron and
magnesium silicates. It is been referred as FeMa layer.
• Mantle is also where most of the internal heat of the Earth is located. It is about
2900 km thick.
It can be subdivided into four layers namely
• Lithosphere (70 – 100 kms)
• Asthenosphere (100 - 350 kms)
• Upper Mantle (350 – 670 kms)
• Lower Mantle (670 – 2900 kms)

• Mohorovičić discontinuity, usually referred to as the Moho is the transition boundary

between the Earth's crust and the mantle.
 Mantle
• The lithosphere is the outermost part of the mantle immediately below the
Mohorovičić discontinuity. It has a part of the tectonic plates that cover surface of
Earth.

• Asthenosphere is a low seismic velocity zone where rocks are at or near melting
point. It also has a part of tectonic plates.

• The lower mantle is probably mostly silicon, magnesium and oxygen with some
iron, calcium and aluminum.

• The upper mantle is made up of mostly olivine and pyroxene (iron/magnesium

silicates), calcium and aluminum
 Outer Core
• The third layer is outer core. The outer core is a hot and liquid layer comprising
mainly of Nickel and (liquid) Iron. Therefore it is referred as NiFe Layer.

• The outer core may also contain lighter elements such as Si, S, C, or O.

• The outer core ranges from 2900 kms to 5150 kms and is 2300 km thick.

• The Earth's magnetic field is believed to be controlled by the liquid outer core. It is
also believed to be the responsible force of earth’s rotation and electric currents.

• The transition space between outer core and mantle is called Gutenberg
discontinuity
 Inner Core
• The fourth layer is inner core.

• This layer stretches from 5150km to 6370 km and is nearly 1200 km thick.

• The inner core is mostly made of solid iron and has little amounts of nickel.

• It is unattached to the mantle and is suspended in the molten outer core.

• The inner core is believed to have the extreme temperature and pressure
conditions.

• The transition region between outer core and inner core is called Lehmann
discontinuity
Structure Of Earth
 Composition Of Earth
As discussed earlier, the mass of the Percentage
S.No. Component
by Mass
Earth is approximately 5.98×1024 kg.
1 Iron 34.6%
When taken as a whole, the Earth's
2 Oxygen 29.5%
chemical composition (by mass) has
3 Silicon 15.2%
been approximated
as given in the table below. The 4 Magnesium 12.7%
students should remember the top 5 Sulfur 2.4%
three with their percentages 6 Nickel 1.9%
7 Calcium 1.5%
8 Aluminium 1.4%
9 Trace Elements 0.8%