Unlocking our Earth’s Mysteries

Our Shifting World

Our Earth

• Below our feet, the earth is made up of different layers:

– The Crust

– The Mantle (sometimes split into upper and lower)

– The Outer Core

– The Inner Core

Our Earth

The Earth’s Geo-Zones

The Earth is composed of 4 zones.They include:

• The Crust• The Mantle• The Outer Core • The Inner Core

The Earth’s Crust• The Crust makes up

the top layer of the earth.

• It ranges from 90 km thick near mountains to only 6 km thick on the ocean floor.

• The total distance from the crust to the earth’s center is about 6400 km.

The Mantle• The upper portion of the

mantle is quite solid.

• The inner mantle is much softer as high pressure & temperature cause the rock to melt.

• This region is about 2900 km thick.

The Inner & Outer Core

• The outer core experiences temperatures so high that all rock is molten.

• This layer is very thick – 2200 km thick!

• The inner core is NOT liquid. It is solid due to the extreme weight of the outer layers.

Now it’s your turn…

• Draw a diagram of the earth’s geo-zones.• Be sure that the layers are drawn to “scale” (e.g. 1 cm = 500 m

etc.)• You should use a compass and coloured pencils or markers.• Label each “geo-zone” and state some characteristics of each

zone.

Let’s Recap:

Th e C ru s t Th e u p p er an d low erM an tle

Th e O u te r an d In n erC ore

Th e E arth 's G eo-zon es

The Crust is Cracked!

The Crust is Cracked!

• The pieces of the crust are floating around on a mass of gooey, molten magma.

• They began moving millions of years ago and they continue to move today!

• Do you need proof?

Our Earth

The Earth’s Internal Furnace