LITHOSPHERE The Earth’s Layers

Objective: The learner will be able to identify characteristics of the Earth's layers.

The Earth is divided into three layers.

Crust The crust is the layer that you live on so it is the most widely studied and understood.

Crust The crust is made of the lightest matter and the core consists of heavy metals

Outer layer 5-100 km thick 2 types of crust Oceanic (very dense, made of basalt) Continental (less dense, made of granite)

Crust The Earth's Crust is like the skin of an apple. It is very thin in comparison to the other three layers.

Crust The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called plates. The plates move along the soft mantle which is the layer located located below the crust.

Earth’s crust is broken into about 19 pieces

Crust The plates move along smoothly but sometimes they get stuck and pressure builds up.

The pressure builds and causes an Earthquake as rocks break and crack. Crust                                                                                   San Francisco City Hall after the 1906 Earthquake. (from Steinbrugge Collection of the UC Berkeley Earthquake Engineering Research Center) The pressure builds and causes an Earthquake as rocks break and crack.

Mantle The mantle is the largest layer of the Earth. It is made of hot, dense rock. The rock in the mantle flows like asphalt because of the temperature differences found in the mantle.

Mantle The movement of the mantle create the movement of the Earth’s plates.

Core The core of the Earth is much like a ball of very hot metals. The inner core is surrounded by a fluid iron outer core.

Core

How are the earth’s layers similar to an egg? Shell=crust Egg white=mantle Yolk=core

Resources Enchanted Learning’s Earth The Earth’s Layers