Download Layers of the Earth

Inside the Earth
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At earth’s center is
the inner core.
The inner core is
composed of nickel
and iron in solid form.
The depth from the
surface is 6371 km
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Surrounding the
inner core is an outer
core.
The outer core is
composed of nickel
and iron in a liquid
state.
The depth from the
surface is 5150 km
Around the core is the
thickest of Earth’s layers,
called the mantle.
 The mantle is composed
mostly of compounds rich in
iron, silicon, and
magnesium.
 Although the mantle is
solid, high pressure and
temperature cause it to
behave as a liquid in some
ways.
 The depth from the surface
is 2890 km
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Surrounding the
mantle is the crust, a
thin, rigid layer of
lighter rocks that
cover earth’s surface.
The depth from the
surface is 0-65 km
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The crust covers earth’s entire surface; there
is oceanic crust and continental crust.
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Continental
crust: composed
of granite at
thicknesses of 35
km (60 km over
mountain
ranges)
 Oceanic crust:
composed of
basalt at
thicknesses of
about 5 km
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Suppose you could drive a car at 100 km/hr
(62 mi/hr) from Earth’s surface to the center
of the core. At that speed, the car would take
about half an hour to drive through most
continental crust, about another 29 hours to
drive through the mantle, and about an
additional 35 hours to drive to the center of
the core.
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Earth’s near surface
layers are further
classified by their
material properties.
Lithosphere: The
crust and the upper
most portion of the
mantle together.
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The thin, slush
like layer of the
mantle to which
the lithosphere
floats upon.
YouTube - The Solid Earth - Environmental Science
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Wells drilled into Earth are mostly in the
upper 7 km of the crust.
Deepest well is in Russia- took 20 years to
drill a 12 km hole, cost more then $100
million.
Drilling stopped in 1989 after getting stuck at
12 km.
Materials from earth’s
interior are brought
to the surface during
volcanic activity.
 Only useful to depths
of about 200 km
below the surface.
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Seismic earthquake
waves travel time
depends on properties
of rock material that
they pass through.
 Certain waves cannot
travel through liquid
states.
 Seismic waves allow
travel faster in denser
rock material.
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Earthquakes for Kids