The Earth has the following layers - the crust, mantle and core.

The crust is the outermost layer. It is the thinnest layer which is about 5 to 100
kilometers thick. It is composed of the continental crust and oceanic crust.

The continental crust consists of continents. Continents are large masses of land. It is
made up of largely hard and coarse crystalline granite rocks. The upper part of the
continental crust is composed of igneous and sedimentary rocks. These have not been
changed by heat and pressure. The lower part of the continental crust is denser since
the rocks have already been changed by heat and pressure. The elevations are the
mountains and hills.
The depressions are the valleys, canyons, gorges and deeps. Mt. Everest is the most elevated
part which is 9.5 km above sea level.

The oceanic crust is covered by seas and oceans. Like the continental crust, it has
mountains, plateaus and low-lying areas. The deep has a depth of more than 5,490 meters.
The most depressed part in the oceanic crust is in the Marianas Trench which measures
almost 10.9 kilometers below sea level.

The mantle is located under the earth's crust. It extends to about 3,000 km. down under the
crust. It is divided into upper mantle and lower mantle . The upper mantle is about 1,000 km.
thick having 1,480C temperature. It is composed of mostly magnesium and iron. It is made of
hot molten rocks called magma The lower mantle has a temperature reaching 2,600C. It is
hotter than the upper mantle. The boundary between the crust and the mantle is called
mohorovicic discontinuity or the Moho. The mantle is the thickest layer of the earth that is
partly solid and partly melted.
The core is found in the center of the earth. It
consists of the outer core and inner core . It is the
innermost layer. It is the hottest layer and most
dense.

The inner core is made up of dense iron and nickel It

is about 1170 km thick. Its temperature is about
6,600C.

The outer core consists of liquid, iron and nickel. Its

temperature ranges from 4,400C in the upper part to
6,100C in the lower portion. The high temperature
makes the outer core a hot liquid which is believed to
influence the earth's magnetic field.

The Gutenberg discontinuity is the boundary that

separates the outer core from the layer above it.
According to scientists, the earth's crust is believed to be divided into tectonic
plates.

A tectonic plate is a rigid block of Earth crust. It is about 50-150 km thick. There
are some tectonic plates that contain both continental and oceanic crusts.
Others are with only oceanic crust. Others too, contain only continental crust.

There have been seven (7) identified major plates. These are Pacific plates,
North American plate, South American plate, African plate, Australian plate,
Eurasian plate, and Antarctic plate.
There are three kinds of plate boundaries - Divergent
Boundary, Convergent Boundary and Transform Fault
Boundary. These are the areas where the tectonic plates
meet.

In divergent boundary, a space is left between the plates

when two plates move apart. this space is usually filled with
magma that comes from the asthenosphere. The
asthenosphere is the weak sphere or a soft layer of the
mantle. When this molten magma cools, it forms an
additional section of the sea floor. An example of divergent
boundary is the Mid-Oceanic Ridge.
In a convergent zone, two plates meet and collide. The two plates that meet may be both
continental plate and oceanic plate. Mountain ranges may be formed where two continental
plates have collided.
The area where one plate is pushed below another due to collision is called subduction zone.
In a transform fault, two plates slide slowly past each other. San Andres Fault located in
California is an example of transform fault.