Download Earth Structure Foldable Notes

Geology and Earth’s Structure
• On your foldable underneath each picture
of the layer please write the following titles
for your notes:
– Composition
– Thickness
– Temperature
– State of Matter
– Other facts
• Leave enough space between each title to
write notes!!!
A Cross Section of the Earth
• Earth is divided into
four main layers
1.
2.
3.
4.
• …
Crust
Mantle
Outer Core
Inner core
Similar to the cross section of a hard boiled egg
The Crust
• State of Matter: SOLID
• Outermost layer on which life exists
– Composition: Covered in soil, rock (silicates), and
water
• Thinnest layer
– The Earth's Crust is like the skin of an apple
– The crust is thickest under the continents and thinnest
under the oceans
• Thickness: 5 to 64 kilometers (thinner in the oceans)
• Temperature
– Varies from air temp on the surface to 870° C in
the deepest part of the crust
The Crust
• OTHER FACTS:
• The crust “floats” on the mantle
because it is less dense
– Think of oil and water
• It is broken into sections called
tectonic plates
– These plates move very slowly
• Results in the physical features found on the
surface
– These plates move because of convection
currents
The Mantle
• State of Matter: Hot but SOLID rock that
flows (plastic)
– Thickness: Approximately 2850 km thick
• Thickest of all Earths layers approximately ~85% of the
Earth's volume
• Composition:
– Composed of minerals rich in Fe, Mg, Si, and O
(silicates)
• Considered solid but has plasticity
– Rock can flow like a thick liquid
• Temperature
– Varies from 870°Cto 2200 °C
The Outer Core
• State of Matter: LIQUID
• Thickness: Approximately 2270 km thick
– Composition: Consists mostly of the liquid metals
iron and nickel
– 16% of the Earth's total volume
• Temperature
– Ranges from 2200° C to 4982°C
• Flowing iron of outer core produces electric
current and creates the Earth’s magnetic
field
The Inner Core
• State of Matter: SOLID
• Thickness: Approximately 1216 km thick
– Composition: Consists of solid nickel-iron alloy
• Temperature
– Stays around 4982° C
• Pressures are 45,000,000 pounds per square
inch
– This is 3,000,000 times the air pressure on you at sea
level!!!
– If you were to make it to the center of the Earth you
would be squished into the size of a marble
How the Earth is Represented Visually