Download Layers of the Earth

Layers of the Earth
Mesosphere
Crust pg. 52
• Thin, but rigid top layer
• Made up primarily of basalt rock (ocean) and
granite rock (continents)
– The oceanic crust is denser then the continental
rock!
• Thickness: 0-100 km
Mantle
• Partially molten rock that can flow
• Makes up 68% of the mass of the Earth
• Thickness: 3000 km thick
• Divided into layers:
– Lithosphere: Acts like a rigid, but still brittle solid.
– Asthenosphere: Plastically (not liquid!) layer.
Core
• Made up of nickel and iron, which makes this
layer magnetic and very dense
• Thickness: 3500 km
• Divided into layers
– Outer Core: liquid
– Inner Core: solid
But wait, there’s more. . .
• The Earth has layers due to density
differences, above the crust, though, what do
we encounter?
• Gas has mass and can be confined to a
volume, so is there layers to our air?
– Yes, yes there is
Layers of the Atmosphere pg. 55
• Troposphere: only layer that has weather,
contains 90% of the mass
• Stratosphere: where airplanes fly, contains the
ozone layer, warm layer
• Mesosphere: coldest layer (0 C to -90 C)
Layers of the Atmosphere (cont)
• Thermosphere: technically hot but it would
feel cold to us
• Exosphere: blends into space
• REMEMBER: The atmosphere has layers
because of density differences, just like our
Earth!