Earth’s Interior

Earth SciencePowerPoint

By Mr. Whitmyer

Exploring Inside Earth

Scientists can not get a clear picture of the center of the earth due to the extreme conditions, both heat and pressure, below the crust of the earth.

Exploring Inside Earth

Geologists have used two main types of evidence to learn about the earth’s interior: Direct evidence from rock samples and indirect evidence from seismic waves

Exploring Inside Earth

Scientists have drilled as much as 12km into the earths crust. This is about 5 miles. This allows samples of rocks from deep in the earth to be studied

Exploring Inside Earth

Seismic wavesVibrations that

travel through the earth released during earthquakes

We use the speed and the path of the seismic waves

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

The three main layers of the earth are the crust, the mantle and the core These areas are different in the areas of:SizeCompositionPressure

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

Temperature Change

The temperature gets warmer the further you go into the earth

This is a result of the formation of earth and radioactivity

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

PressureResults form a force

pressing on an area

The deeper you go the higher the pressure gets much like a swimming pool

The Crust

Crust The layer of rock that forms earths outer skinIncludes:Rocks ·SoilMountains ·Water

The CrustThe crust is thickest

under high mountains and thinnest under the oceans

The crust is typically 5 to 40 km thick but can be up to 70 km thick under mountains

The Crust

The oceanic crust is mostly Basalt which is a dark igneous rock with a fine texture

The Crust

Continental crust is mostly granite which is light colored and has a coarse texture

The Mantle

MantleA layer of solid

material made of very hot rock

The MantleEarths mantle is made up of rock that is very hot but solid. Scientists divide the mantle into layers based on characteristics of those layers. The mantle is about 3000 km thick.

The mantle

LithosphereThe upper most

part of the mantle and the crust together

The Mantle

AsthenosphereThis layer is soft

like road tar and can bend like plastic but is still a solid. Asthenes Means Weak

The Mantle

The lower MantleA solid layer that

extends to the earths core

The Core

The core is made mostly of the metals Iron and nickel. It consists of two parts a liquid outer core and a solid inner core

The Core

Outer CoreA layer of molten

metal that surrounds the inner core. It is liquid even though it is under great pressure. It is mostly made of Iron and Nickel.

The Core

Inner CoreA dense ball of solid

metal, mostly Iron and nickel. It is solid due to extreme pressure pushing the metal atoms together. Extremely dense