Earth’s Interior

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s

interior?

Vocabulary

• Geologists – scientists who study the forces that make and shape the planet Earth. – Study the chemical and physical

characteristics of rock.– Map where different types of rocks are found

on and beneath the surface– Describe landforms

• Geology – study of planet Earth

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s

interior?

Surface Changes

• Constructive Forces – shape the Earth’s surface by building up mountains and landmasses

• Destructive forces – slowly wear away mountains and every other feature on the surface

• Continents – 7 great landmasses surrounded by water

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics

of Earth’s interior?

Indirect Evidence• Geologist use

indirect evidence to study Earth’s interior– Seismic Waves

• Waves produced by earthquakes

• Record the waves and study how they travel

• Speed of waves and the paths they take reveal that our planet is made up of several layers

EQ: What are geologists? What are the

characteristics of Earth’s interior?

Center of the Earth

• Temperature– Outer layers cool– At 20 meters rocks

get warmer– Every 40 meters

after that the temperature rises 1 degree Celsius

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s interior?

Center of the Earth

• Pressure – The force pushing on a surface or area– Because of the weight of the rock above, the

pressure inside Earth increases as you go deeper

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s interior?

Earth’s Layers

• Three main layers make up the Earth’s interior– The crust– The mantle– The core

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of

Earth’s interior?

The Crust

• Layer of rock that forms the Earth’s outer skin

• Mountains, water, soil and rocks found on crust

• Thin layer, like an onion skin for the Earth

• Includes both dry land and the ocean floor

• Thinnest on the ocean floor, thickest under mountains

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s

interior?

The Crust• Oceanic Crust

– Beneath the ocean– Consists mostly of dense rocks like basalt

• Dark, fine rock with fine texture• Continental Crust

– Forms the continents– Consists of less dense rocks like granite

• Large crystals, not as dense as basalt, light color

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of

Earth’s interior?

The Crust

The Mantle

• A layer of hot rock

• Mantle is 3000 kilometers thick and extends to the core

• Between 5 and 40 kilometers beneath the surface, there is a boundary of basalt and granite

• Below the boundary is the solid material of the mantle

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s

interior?

The MantleMade of two layers

Lithosphere • uppermost part of the mantle

and the crust combined• About 100 kilometers thick• Material in this part of the

mantle is somewhat soft – it can bend like plastic

Asthenosphere • Soft material with the ability

to flow• Lithosphere floats on top of

the asthenoshpere

EQ: What are geologists? What are the

characteristics of Earth’s interior?

The Core

• Consists of two parts– Outer core - liquid– Inner core – solid

• Made of iron and nickel

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of

Earth’s interior?

The Core• Outer core

– Layer of molten metal that surrounds the inner core

– Behaves like a thick liquid

• Inner Core– Dense ball of solid metal– Extreme pressure

squeezes the atoms of iron and nickel so much they cannot spread out and become liquid

EQ: What are geologists? What

are the characteristics of Earth’s interior?

Earth’s Magnetic Field• Currents in the liquid

outer core force the solid inner core to spin

• Inner core spins slightly faster than the rest of the planet creating our magnetic field. This causes our planet to act like a giant bar magnet

EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of Earth’s interior?

Class Work and Homework

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EQ: What are geologists? What are the characteristics of

Earth’s interior?