Unit 6 Part 1: The Structure of Earth

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Unit 6 Section 1: The Structure of Earth

Lesson Objectives

• Describe the basic chemical composition of the Earth's Compositional Layers

  • Crust

  • Mantle

  • Core

• Name and Describe the Earth's Functional layers

Word Cloud

What do you Know about the Earth's Structure?

Introduction-The Main layers of the Earth

• Earth can be divided up into three concentric layers based on their chemical composition

  • Concentric: two or more circles with a common center

• As you go deeper into the Earth, the temperature and the pressure increase

The Crust

• The Crust: Earth's Surface Layer

• The Thinnest layer

  • Ranges between 7 and 50 km thick

  • Only about 0.3% of the planet's volume

• Made of rocks that contain minerals rich in silicon and Oxygen

• Over time, shifts and move positions of rocks

• Divided into two parts

  • Continental Crust

  • Oceanic Crust

Continental Crust

• Continental Crust: Crust that makes up landmasses

  • About 40 km thick

• Made up of mostly light, low-density rock called granite

• It can be eroded over time and wind up in the ocean

Oceanic Crust

• Oceanic Crust: Crust that sits under the ocean

  • About 7 km thick on average

• Made of mostly a dense dark gray rock called Basalt

• Contains more iron and magnesium than the continental crust

Multiple Choice

How many layers of the Earth are there if when we look at chemical composition?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Drag and Drop

​

Placeholder

circles have a common center.​

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

Concentric

Parallel

Intersecting

Coexisting

Drag and Drop

The crust is the ​

Placeholder

layer of the Earth, and makes up only ​

Placeholder

% of the planet's Volume.​

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

thinnest

0.3

thickest

oldest

weakest

1

10

3

30

Multiple Select

What are the two most abundant elements in the Earth's Crust

• Oxygen

• Silicon

• Nitrogen

• Iron

• Magnesium

Categorize

Options (7)

Granite

basalt

more iron

more magnesium

thinner

is eroded

thicker

Organize these options into the right categories

Continental Crust

Oceanic Crust

The Mantle

• The Mantle is a thick layer of hot rock

  • Exists in a semi-solid state

• The Largest layer of the Earth, ~82% of its mass

  • 2900 Km Thick

How Do Geologists Learn about Earth's Interior?

• Scientists don't know much about the Mantle

  • It is hard to see

  • We can't drill into it

• Geologist: A scientist who specializes in studying the Earth, Rocks, and Minerals

  • ​Practice two methods to study the Earth

    • Looking at Rock Samples

    • Studying the behavior of seismic waves

Evidence from Rock Samples

• Geologists drill holes into the Earth to Collect Samples

  • Some as deep as 12.3 Kilometers ​

  • The plugs show the different layers of rocks

• Rocks are also blasted to the surface by volcanoes

• Scientists attempt to recreate the conditions inside the Earth to test how rocks behave

  • Shoot the rocks with lasers​

Evidence from Seismic Waves

• Seismic Waves: an elastic wave in the Earth produced by an earthquake or other means

• Geologists record and study how seismic waves ​travel throughout the Earth

  • The speed and direction can indicate how waves move around different masses​

Properties of The Mantle

• Rock Samples show that the mantle is made up of mainly silicon and oxygen, just like the crust

• The Mantle has larger amounts of Magnesium, iron, and calcium

  • These denser elements make the mantle denser than the crust

The Core

• The Center of the Earth

  • Has a radius of about 3500 km

• Mainly made up of iron with smaller amounts of nickel

• Mainly studied through Seismic Waves

Multiple Choice

What sort of scientist studies the rocks and minerals that make up the Earth?

• astronomer
• botanist
• geologist
• zoologist

Multiple Choice

True or False: The Mantle is the thickest later of the Earth

• True

• False

Multiple Select

How have scientists learned about the Mantle of the Earth?

• Drilling a Hole to it

• Looking at Rock Samples

• Asking a Magic 8-Ball
• Studying Seismic waves

• Shining a light into the ground

Multiple Select

Which elements are more prominent in the mantle than in the crust

• Magnesium

• Iron

• Calcium

• Copper

• Nitrogen

The Structural Layers

• The three main layers of the Earth only focus on the chemical composition in the layers and not their properties

• When we look at the physical properties of the different parts of the Earth, we can divide it into 5 layers.

  • Physical properties studied:

    • temperature

    • pressure

    • strength

    • ability to flow

The Lithosphere

• Made up of the crust and the upper portion of the mantle

  • Also known as the "rock sphere."

• A shell of cool, rigid rock that ranges from 15 km to 300 km deep

  • Thicker below the continents than the oceans

• Broken up into pieces called tectonic plates

The Asthenosphere

• Lies under the lithosphere

• Made up of mantle rock that is soft and flows extremely slowly

  • Caries the pieces of the lithosphere on top of it

The Lower Mantle

• Sits between the aesthenosphere and outer core

• Hotter than the Aesthenosphere, but more solid and rigid

The Outer Core

• A shell of hot, liquid, metal

  • Mostly iron, but also some nickel

    • Creates The Earth's Magnetic Field that shields the Earth from solar wind particles

• Spins and flows as the Earth rotates

The Inner Core

• A solid sphere of hot metal

• Almost pure iron

• Temperature of 7000°C

  • High Pressure from all other layers keeps it solid.

Multiple Select

What does the iron in the outer core do for the Earth?

• Create the Earth's Magnetic Field

• Keep the Layers from collapsing in

• Protect the Earth from Solar Winds

• Attract the other layers together

Multiple Select

Which structural layer(s) of the Earth flow and move?

• Lithosphere

• Asthenosphere

• Lower Mantle

• Outer Core

• Inner Core

Multiple Choice

How are the five structural layers of the Earth categorized?

• By Chemical Properties

• By Size

• By Physical Properties

• By Age

Multiple Choice

Which layer of the Earth do we live on?

• Lithosphere

• Asthenosphere

• Lower Mantle

• Outer Core

• Inner Core

Labelling

Label the structural layers of the Earth

Drag labels to their correct position on the image

Outer Core

Lower Mantle

Inner Core

Lithosphere

Asthenosphere