The day the Earth didn’t stand still

By: Table 3

What is the Earth made of?

The Crust is the outermost layer of the Earth.It is where all of life lives.It is approximately 30 km thick.

The Crust

The Mantle is the second layer from the surface and the largest layer in Earth

It consists of molten rock.It is approximately 2900 km thick

The Mantle

The Outer Core is the third layer from the surfaceIt consists of a molten Nickel-Iron alloy.It is approximately 2300 km thick

The Outer Core

The Inner Core is the innermost layer of the EarthIt is solid IronIt is approximately 1200 km thick

The Inner Core

Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered an inner layer inside the Inner Core.

They used seismic activity to find an inner inner core that is approximately 940 km thick to the center.

It is an inner solid iron portion that spins the opposite way!

Inner Inner Core??

How does the interior affect us?

Convection Currents in the Earth cause Plate Tectonics, which creates:MountainsEarthquakesVolcanoesRift ValleysTsunamis

The effect of these natural disasters aren’t only negative, ore deposits, fossil fuels and geothermal energy all come from these natural occurrences which could benefit human life

There are 52 Tectonic Plates, 14 major plates and 38 minor, which all sit on the Lithosphere

Could all the continents in the world reform into a

supercontinent?

Continents today are slowly moving roughly 7cm per year away from and toward each other.The reason for this movement is the theory of continental drift. Continental drift occurs when movement of liquid hot magma moves the tectonic plates of crust on the mantle.

Could all the continents in the world reform into a supercontinent?

Tectonic plates are large chunks of crust that are constantly moving on top ofa layer of molten magma known as the mantle. The mantle is 2900

kilometersthick. The plates have three types of boundaries in between each other,convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.

-convergent boundaries are where the plates are running into each other-divergent boundaries are where the plates are separating-transform boundaries are where the plates are scraping past one another

Tectonic plates

A supercontinent is quite simple, it is the formation of two or more continents converged into the one. For instance, the European-Asian supercontinent is the combination of both Europe and Asian. The theorized past supercontinent was proclaimed Pangea by many, and is considered to be what our Earth looked like 50 million years ago.

So what is a supercontinent?

For one the continents will, by scientific standards, eventually collide and become the new pangea, Pangea Ultima. At the current rate of tectonic movement, it will be about 250 million years until the continents reform into one massive supercontinent.

What would happen if all continents converged again?

Continental drift theory was first created by Alfred Wegener, a german polar researcher, geophysicist, and meteorologist. He first thought of the theory when he noticed that most of the landmasses on Earth fit together almost like jigsaw puzzle pieces. His theory was not accepted by american scientists as the translation from german was poor.

Who came up with the continental drift theory?

Why do we have tectonic plates?

Why do we?Without plate tectonics our planet would be a very different place. The

constant recycling of the Earth's crust provides us with a stable climate, mineral and oil deposits and oceans with a life-sustaining balance of chemicals. It even gives evolution a kick every few hundred million years.

Does every planet have them?No. Earth is the only planet we know of that has plate tectonics. So what

went right? Models have shown that for plate tectonics to get going a planet has to be just the right size.

Perfect conditionsToo small and its lithosphere - the solid part of the crust and upper mantle -

will be too thick. Too big and its powerful gravitational field squeezes any plates together, holding them tightly in place. The conditions also have to be just right.

How do these massive slabs of solid rock float despite their tremendous weight?

The answer lies in the composition of the rocks. Continental crust is composed of granitic rocks which are made up of relatively lightweight minerals such as quartz and feldspar. The lateral movement of continents resulting from the motion of crustal plates is called continental drift.

Plate creations The juncture of these plates is also where there is the greatest geological activity, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and mountain formation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1-cES1Ekto http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=earth's+interior+video&FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&mid=

04F1CC9DF8474B4BEF6604F1CC9DF8474B4BEF66 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF9amNteUXc

^_^ Videos!!! ^_^

"Continents in Collision: Pangea Ultima." - NASA Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.

Gallant, Roy. "Plates: Restless Earth." tarrytown, New York: Benchmark Books, 2003. Print.

"What Is the Earth Made Of?" Universe Today RSS. Ed. Fraser Cain. Universe Today, 13 June 2008. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Rose, Susanna Van. Earth. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1994. Print

-_- Citations -_-