The planet earth shape, structure, atmosphere, age and more. That current creates the magnetic field that surrounds the planet. Both layers of the core are made of iron and nickel. Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. The crust is broken into pieces called tectonic plates. Earth and planetary physics epp is a new english language journal, cosponsored by the chinese geophysical societycgs. It is very thin in comparison to the other three layers. A brief desciption about the structure and composition of earths lithosphere.
Earth as an evolving planetary system is based on kent condies classic text, plate tectonics and crustal evolution, which has been revamped and renamed in order to reflect a new emphasis on the evolving interactions of the earths systems. Evidence on the structure and composition of the earths interior comes from 1. The mantle is to divide into the inner mantle and the outer mantle. The largescale features of the earths internal structure are shown in fig.
Introduction and origin of the earth tulane university. Physics of the earth and planetary interiors 32, 193202. Symmetrical peculiarities of planetary relief structure may allow us to suppose that the main process of the earths development during the postgondwanian epoc middlejurassiccenozoic period was anisotropic expansion, mainly in the south hemisphere. Its single most outstanding feature is that its nearsurface environments are the only places in the universe known to harbor life. One might think that the composition of earth can be easily inferred. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website.
Characteristics of the earth by ron kurtus succeed in. Core, mantle, and crust are divisions based on composition. Earths crust is divided into plates that move like bricks over freshly laid mortar. The inner core is in the centre and is the hottest part of the earth. Crystal structure of graphite under roomtemperature compression and. When earth was a young planet, a large chunk of rock smashed into it, displacing a portion of earths interior. Radial structure, chemical composition, and phase transformations inferring earths composition is a prerequisite to understanding its evolution and dynamics as well as those of planets like it. This idea includes the overall structure, composition, and history of the universe, the forces and processes by which the solar system operates, and earths planetary history. It is solid and made up of iron and nickel with temperatures of up to 5500c.
But the small vertical displacements of air have an important impact on the state of the atmosphere. Made mainly of iron, the temperature of the ball is 5,000c to 6,000c thats up to 6,000 times hotter than our atmosphere and scorching enough to make metal melt. We propose an orbital planetary defense system capable of heating the surface of potentially hazardous objects to the vaporization point as a feasible approach to impact risk mitigation. The earths axis of rotation is at a constant tilt with respect to its orbit around the sun, resulting in the change of seasons. The earths structure can be approximated by a series of concentric spherical shells. The earth works in mysterious ways but geophysicists are up to the challenge. It is mostly made of the lighter elements, silicon, oxygen, aluminium. The structure of the earth the earth is made up of four distinct layers. Find materials for this course in the pages linked along the left.
The structure of the earth the earth consists of four concentric layers. Because of the shallowness of the atmosphere, its motions over large areas are primarily horizontal. Earth as an evolving planetary system sciencedirect. The lithosphere is the outermost mechanical layer, which behaves as a brittle, rigid solid. The magnetic field created in the center of the planet makes your compass point north and protects the earth from solar winds. Data from mineral physics, petrology, geochemistry, geophysics, and geodynamics. Key concepts of earths structure the activities in this topic are designed to explore the following key concepts. With a radius of 1,080 miles 1,738 kilometers, the moon is the fifth largest moon in our solar system after ganymede, titan, callisto and io. Between the earths crust and the mantle is a boundary called the moho. Nissenmeyer, threedimensional scattering of elastic waves by smallscale heterogeneities in the earths mantle, in revision. Find out information about the planet earth, the planet of all life in the solar system. Yet, if the earth were closer to the sun, the water would have vaporized. Scientists know that the core is metal for a few reasons.
From its shape, its mass and density, its gravity and magnetism, its atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere to its age, rotation, revolution and precession. Cores of specific planets may be entirely solid or entirely liquid, or may be a mixture of solid and liquid layers as is the case in the earth. When filled with water, these basins form the planets oceans. Deciphering the planets history and processes could improve the ability to predict catastrophes like earthquakes and volcanoes, to manage earths resources, and. Institute of geology and geophysics, chinese academy of sciences.
The book focuses on the structure, composition, and characteristics of the earths crust. Earths composition, evolution and structure are in part a legacy of provenance where it happened to form and chance the stochastics of that formation. Earth structure, materials, systems, and cycles tulane university. The core, constituted by the two innermost regions, has the greatest average density, exceeding 10 4 kg m 3. Pdf the inner structure of the earth is described by the authors on the basis of. It begins about 10 km below the oceanic crust and about 30 km below the continental crust see the crust. This layering can be viewed in two different ways 1. Science planetary science is a grand human enterprise that seeks to discover the nature and origin of the celestial bodies among which we live, and to explore whether life exists beyond earth. Earth, third planet from the sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in terms of size and mass. The origin of earth in its present form has long been the subject of intellectual interest, but since the mid20th century scientists have made particularly significant advances both in concepts and in measurements. The structure and material construction of the earths crust as sketched above can be considered reliable based on the analysis of the seismic waves and of the results of geo chemical investigations. Kirschner, allegre, orgel, etc pdfs available upon request. The earths inner core is a huge metal ball, 2,500km wide.
The internal structure of earth is layered in spherical shells. With its immense heat energy, the inner core is like the engine room of the earth. The crust is only about 35 miles 8 kilometers thick under the oceans oceanic crust and about 25 miles 32 kilometers thick under the continents continental crust. Earth development of earths structure and composition.
The third planet in the solar system and the only one with life. The mantle is hot and represents about 68 percent of earths mass. In the solar system, core size can range from about 20% to 85% of a planets radius gas giants also have cores, though the composition of these are still a matter of debate and. The composition and structure of earth physical geography. Because it is eroded, many of the target lithologies deep in the. This revised volume synthesizes data from the fields of geophysics, oceanography, planetology, and geochemistry. The inner core is a giant furnace at superhigh temperatures and pressures. Lecture notes and slides introduction to geology earth. Printable worksheets to label and colour on earth structure, volcanoes etc. Learn more about development and composition of earth in this article.
Origin and evolution of earth national academies press. The planetary core consists of the innermost layers of a planet. Symmetry of the earths planetary relief springerlink. The earths structure the mantle the layer above the core is the mantle. Composition of earth density of the bulk earth uncompressed 5.
The earth has a radius of about 6371 km, although it is about 22 km larger at equator than at poles. The metal at the inner core stays solid because of the incredible. Earth earth development of earths structure and composition. Pdf on jan 1, 2011, jeanpaul montagner and others published earths structure, global find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. The density of earths surface layers is much less than the overall density of the planet, as calculated from the planet s rotation. So much nasa planetary science activity occurred between october 2010 and august 2012 that the planetary science division refers to this period as the year of the solar system, although it is a martian year rather than an earth year. Models depend strongly on the assumptions of the amount of internal heating and the viscosity profile. Earths place in the universe, describes the universe as a whole and addresses its grand scale in both space and time. Scientific basis of knowledge on earths composition pdf. Carbon in earths interior geophysical monograph series.
The planet earth interior structure of earth zthe earth has a radius of about 6371 km, although it is about 22 km larger at equator than at poles. The structure of the earths crust based on seismic data covers the papers presented at an international upper mantle committee lumc symposium called crustal structure based on seismic data, held on july 3031, 1971. The release of gases from rock through volcanic eruption socalled. Shellcrust egg whitemantle yolkcore physical structure of the earth lithosphere rigid outer layer crust asthenosphere solid rock that flows slowly like hot asphalt lithosphere the lithosphere geosphere is the solid part of earth.
Earth and planetary science earths orbit pose a credible risk of impact, with potentially severe disturbances to earth and society. This third edition includes 30% new material and, for the first time, includes full color images in both the print and electronic. Although the deepest well ever drilled, the kola well in russia, only penetrated 0. Although the temperature at the top of the lower mantle is well constrained by phase equilibrium data for the transformation of transition zone minerals to the denser perovskite polymorphs, the temperature distribution in the lower mantle is poorly known. In spite of differing views on the details of the composition of the core, it is now fairly well accepted that iron. There is a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. Earths layers how are the earths layers similar to an egg.
Earth as an evolving planetary system, third edition, examines the various subsystems that play a role in the evolution of the earth, including subsystems in the crust, mantle, core, atmosphere, oceans, and life. Earth may be the only planet where this type of crust exists. Analysis of the isotopes in meteorites and, in particular, of rocks brought back from the moon by u. The earths equatorial belt has a system of sinistral oroclines. Density, massvolume, temperature, and pressure increase with depth. The crust makes up less than 1 percent of earth by mass, consisting of oceanic crust and continental crust is often more felsic rock. Approximately how many of earths moon would fit inside earth assuming no void space, i. Origin and evolution of earth research questions for a changing planet questions about the origins and nature of earth have long preoccupied human thought and the scientific endeavor. The crust is made up of tectonic plates, which are in constant motion.
Lecture 5 notes pdf slides are not available for this lecture. Kring another large impact site is the sudbury structure, which is the eroded remnants of a 250 km impact crater 9 that was produced 1. The resulting chunks clumped together and formed our moon. Earth and mars and transiting exoplanets magenta dots, from the extrasolar planet. The flowing metal of the outer core helps create a dynamo effect. The albedo of earth georgia institute of technology. Equations of state of the highpressure phases of a natural peridotite and implications for the earths. If the surface layers are less dense than average, then the interior must be denser than average.
It is about 2,900 km thick and makes up nearly 80 percent of the earths total volume. Please email me if you want the pdf of any of these papers. The average distance of earth from the sun is 150 million kilometres, but the earth comes closer to. It was the first discovery of a major change in the earths structure as one goes deeper. Scientific understanding of the internal structure of earth is based on observations of topography and bathymetry, observations of rock in outcrop, samples brought to the.
867 243 1082 1323 784 205 1321 1155 304 897 1481 1208 8 1033 1516 268 1131 310 515 1481 1413 1322 569 163 261 74 1052 250 1492 699 132 526 381