DEBRE BIRHAN UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND

HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES

Course Title: Geomorphology

Course Code: GeES 2014
Credit hours: 3

Instructor’s Name: Ashenafi Z. (MA)

February, 2021
 UNIT TWO
STRUCTURE & COMPOSITION OF THE EARTH

THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

The term Earth’s structure refers to the
arrangement of the materials of the Earth.
Earth’s structure can be divided into
TWO:
A. External structure and
B. Internal structures

2
 A. The Earth’s External Structure
Externally, the Earth is surrounded by atmosphere,
biosphere, hydrosphere and anthroposphere.
Atmosphere is the composition of air that serve as a
blanket of the earth.
The hydrosphere, which refers to the entire amount
of water present on the surface of the Earth.
Biosphere is parts of the earth's surface that
supports all sorts of life. It includes fauna, flora and
microorganisms.
Anthroposphere is all the earths landscape that
created by human beings. It includes settlements,
technological innovations and socio-economic and
political institutions. 3
 B. The Earth’s Internal Structure
The interior of the Earth is powered by
tremendous amount of heat because of the decay
of radioactive elements.
Both temperature and pressure increase steadily
from the surface to the center of the Earth.
However, heat and pressure have opposing
effects on materials.
Increasing heat tends to cause substances to melt
whereas increasing pressure prevents melting. At
different depths into the Earth’s interior, the
influence of one and the other tends to dominate.
4
 …CONT’D
 For example, at the core, in spite of the great
temperature, the tremendous pressure at the center of
the Earth prevents the iron metal from melting.
However, in the outer core the pressure drops
sufficiently to allow the temperature to dominate and
the iron melts. Thus, the outer core is consisted of
molten rocks.
 Generally, the internal structure of the earth is mainly
consists of rocks and minerals.
 According to Geologist, mineral is naturally occurring,
inorganic, solid element or compound with a definite
chemical composition which can be represented by a
chemical formula and regular/specific internal
structure. 5
 …CONT’D
Conditions that must be satisfied for a substance
to be a mineral are:-
It must occur naturally as an inorganic substance, i.e.
it is not manufactured by man or it is not synthetic.
It must be a crystalline solid, i.e. it must have an
orderly internal structure. Minerals are crystalline at
least on the microscopic scale.
It must have a definite chemical composition. Its
composition must be such that it can be represented
by a definite chemical formula
Mineral is solid. Liquids or gases cannot be minerals.
The only exception is mercury. For example, ice of
glacier is a mineral but liquid water is not.
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 Major Layers of the Earth
 Human lives on the surface of the earth that has a radius
of nearly 6500 km, yet no one has ever penetrated more
than a few km below the solid earth.
 Geophysicists have inferred that the earth is composed
from 3 layers; crust, mantle, and core.

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 1. The Crust
The crust is the outermost and thinnest layer
of the earth with an average of 16-24km
depth.
It is relatively cool, consists of hard and strong
rock, accounts approximately about 0.01%
Earth’s volume.
Crust can be continental and oceanic crust.
Continental crust (SiAl Layer), and
Oceanic crust (SiMa Layer)
 …CONT’D
CONTINENTAL CRUST
Also known as SiAl Layer or the Upper layer.
Is the layer that forms continental rocks which
extend above sea level to the continents’
mountain, and it covers about 45% of Earth’s
surface.
The average thickness of continental crust is
about 20 to 40km, although under mountain
ranges it can be as much as 70km thick.
Continents are composed primarily of light-
coloured, less dense granite.
 …CONT’D
OCEANIC CRUST
Also known as SiMa Layer or the Lower Layer.
It accounts 55% of Earth’s surface and made up
of dark, dense basaltic rock consisting mainly of
silicates which is rich in magnesium and iron.
The average thickness of oceanic crust is between
4 and 7km.
The discontinuity between the continental crust
and oceanic crust is called Conard Discontinuity.

10
…CONT’D

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 2. The Mantle
The mantle lies directly below the crust and above
the core.
It is almost 2900km thick and makes up 80 – 84%
of the earth’s volume.
It is separated from the core by a discontinuity
called Gutenberg Discontinuity.
Even though the chemical composition may be
similar throughout the mantle, Earth temperature
and pressure increase with depth.
The change causes the strength of mantle rock to
vary with depth, and thus they create layering
within the mantle.
 …CONT’D
The three major layers of the mantle are:
A. Lithosphere
B. Asthenosphere, and
C. Mesosphere
Lithosphere - the upper most part of mantle and
it is relatively cool and consequently hard &
strong.
The outer part of the Earth which includes both
the upper most part of mantle and the crust
make up the lithosphere.
It varies from about 75Km thick beneath ocean
basin to about 125Km under the continents. 13
 …CONT’D
Asthenosphere - extends from the base of lithosphere
to depth about 350Km.
The Asthenosphere is a very hot layer where rocks
are changed into soft form (plastic form) which
allows the crust above it to move freely on it.
It has low rigidity because of the presence of basaltic
magma mixed with the solid rocks due to the
presence of increased heat from radioactive decay.
Mesosphere - found below the Asthenosphere. It is
the thickest part of the mantle.
It is made up of a much stronger and more rigid
rocks because it is within the zone where high
pressure balances the effect of high temperature. 14
 3. The Core
The core is the innermost layer of the earth.
It is a sphere with a radius of about 3470
kilometres, and is composed mainly of iron and
nickel.
The core make up about 15% of Earth’s volume.
It is the hottest layer of the earth. The core’s
temperature is about 6000, which is as hot as the
sun’s surface.
The pressure in the core is probably 3-4 million
times the pressure at sea level.
 …CONT’D
 The core is made up of two sub-layers,
A. Outer core, and
B. Inner core
The outer core is found below the mesosphere in
liquid state because of high temperature and low
pressure.
It is composed of mainly iron-nickel alloy with
large amount of oxygen and sulphur.
The inner core is composed of mainly iron and
nickel.
Inner core is solid although the temperature in this
region is very high, the high pressure balances it.