Download Structure of Earth Student Notes

Structure of the Earth
Earth’s Interior is divided into _________________ that have very different properties:
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
Our knowledge of these layers has come mainly
from the study of _________________ waves.
The Crust
The crust is the __________________ layer of the Earth. It is between ____ and _____
kilometers thick. It is the _________________ of the Earth’s layers. It is where we
_______.
The crust is made up mostly of ______________, ________________ and aluminum.
There are two types of crust:
__________________ crust
__________________ crust
Oceanic crust is the crust that lies _________________________________________.
It consists mostly of ___________ – a dark, dense ________________ rock with a finegrained texture.
Continental crust forms the ________________ and consists mostly of ____________ a less dense igneous rock with larger ____________ that is usually _________in color.
Structure of the Earth Notes created 31 March 2009 by B. Ferri
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The Mantle
The next layer after the crust is the __________________. It lies from about ______ to
_________ kilometers below the surface. It is much ______________ than the crust. It
contains about _____ of the Earth’s ___________. It is a layer of _________________.
The mantle is _____________ than the crust. It consists of a number of zones.
The ______________ and the _________________ part of the mantle are very similar.
They are both _______________.
Together they are called the
______________________________.
Litho means “stone.” The lithosphere
is about _________ kilometers thick.
As you go deeper into the mantle, __________ and ____________________ increase.
This makes the rock ________ rigid. It has the consistency of _________ and can bend
much like plastic (_______________________). This plastic-like layer of the mantle is
called the _____________________________. The lithosphere floats on top of the
asthenosphere. Beneath the asthenosphere solid mantle material extends all the way to
Earth’s _______. This lower solid part of the mantle is called the __________________.
The Core
The layer of the Earth that extends below the mantle to the center of the Earth is the
_________. The core makes up about 1/3 of the Earth’s ___________.
It has two layers:
A _______________ outer core
A _______________ inner core
Both are made of ___________ and ____________.
Structure of the Earth Notes created 31 March 2009 by B. Ferri
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Despite enormous pressure, the molten metal of the outer core behaves like a thick
____________________. The inner core is a dense ball of ______________________.
The ____________________ is so great that the iron atoms cannot ______________
________ and become a ___________________.
Earth’s Magnetic Field
_______________ in the liquid outer core cause the solid inner core to ____________.
The inner core spins at a slightly __________________ rate than the rest of the planet.
This movement creates the Earth’s _____________________________, which causes
the entire Earth to act like a giant ___________________________.
The Earth is made of 3 basic layers.
The crust and the top, rigid part of the mantle
make up the lithosphere.
The plastic-like layer of the mantle is called the
asthenosphere.
The innermost rigid part of the mantle is called the
mesosphere.
The core has two parts.
The outer core is liquid.
The inner core is solid.
Structure of the Earth Notes created 31 March 2009 by B. Ferri
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