SCIENCE REVIEWER  OUTER CORE
 External part of the core.
EARTH’S INTERIOR
 Earth has been in existence for 4.543 billion years.
 Earth is divided into four distinct layers. There are other
ways to classify the layers of the Earth. One is based on
its material composition; the other is based on mechanical
characteristics such as temperature and the ability of
seismic waves to penetrate across Earth’s interior.
The Compositional Layers of the Earth
 CRUST
 Thinnest and the outermost layer of the Earth.
 Thickness in Kilometers is 40 – 70.
 Temperature is about 900OC
 Solid
 Elements present are alumina (Al2O2) and silica
(SiO2) rocks.
 Divided into two sublayers:
Continental Crust, Oceanic Crust
 Continental Crust Thicker and lighter than
oceanic crust. “Floats” over Oceanic Crust. Made
up of Granite and Andesite rocks.
 Oceanic Crust Dense and thin layer that lies
under ocean basins. Made up of Basalt rocks.
 MANTLE
 Thickest layer of the Earth.
 Thickness in Kilo meters is 2,900.
 Mass of 4.01x1024 (67% of Earth)
 Hotter and Denser than Crust.
 Solid
 Made up of Ultramafic rock called peridotite.
 Peridotite Made up of iron and magnesium.
 Heat flows through the process of convection
and conduction.
 Conduction
– The heat coming from the from the core
travels through the atoms by rapid collision with
one another.
 Convection
– Cause by heat currents that allow materials to
flow and move freely.
 CORE
 The densest layer of the Earth.
 Made up of Iron and Nickel alloy.
 31% of the Earth
 Source of planet internal heat due to radioactive
decay inside it.
 Divided into two sub-layers: the outer and the
inner core.
The Mechanical Layers of the Earth
 LITHOSPHERE
 Composed of the crust and the upper mantle.
 It is solid and rigid, and brittle, extending to
about 100 km in depth.
 Has a tendency to break under pressure.
 Divided into different tectonic plates that move
above the asthenosphere.
 ASTHENOSPHERE
 Region that is partially molten mantle materials
that can flow.
 Not solid (Plastic consistency)
 Responsible for motion of tectonic plates.
 200 km depth below the surface of earth.
 MESOSPHERE
 It is the lowest part of the mantle.
 Increase in pressure causes the flow beneath the
asthenosphere cease.
 This region is liquid in form.
 Composed of Liquid iron and nickel alloy.
 4000-5000°C
 Earth Magnetic Field is a magnetic field that
emanates from Earth's core and encircles the
Earth.
 INNER CORE
 This region is solid in form.
 Composed of very dense and heavy iron and
nickel alloy, which does not melts easily at very
high temperature .
 4000-5000°C
Boundaries
 MOHOROVICIC DISCONTINUITY (MOHO)
 Boundary between crust and mantle
 GUTENBERG DISCONTINUITY
 Boundary between mantle and outer core
 LEHMAN DISCONTINUITY
 Boundary between outer core and inner core
SEISMIC WAVES
The study of Earth’s interior, its composition and
structure were analysed using seismic waves. It helps
geologist to provide information about layers of the earth,
the crust, mantle and core. A seismic wave is wave of
energy within the earth that is released when plates move.
Seismic waves are a wave of energy that travels through
earth.
TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES
1. BODY WAVE
 Can travel through the earth’s interior.
 Body waves travels faster than Surface
waves.
 There are two types of body the P-wave and
S-wave
TWO TYPES OF BODY WAVE
a. P- WAVES (PRIMARY WAVES)
 Compressional wave (Back and Forth)
 Can propagate through solid but refracted
when passing through liquid
 Travel faster than S waves
b. S- WAVES (SECONDARY WAVE)
 Transverse wave (Up and Down)
 Do not travel through liquid
 60% to 70% slower that P-waves
2. SURFACE WAVE
 Can travel only on the Earth’s surface or
crust.
 Slower than body waves.
 There are two types of Surface wave the
Rayleigh wave and Love wave
TWO TYPES OF SURFACE WAVE
a. LOVE WAVES
 Named after Augustus Edward H. Love
 Fastest type of Surface waves
 Side to side movement
b. RAYLEIGH WAVES
 Named after John Scrutt also known as Lord
Rayleigh .
 Circular motion
 Slower type of Surface wave
CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
 Alfred Wegener
 Hypothesized and suggested that the landmasses of
Earth were once merged into a supercontinent known
as Pangaea.
 Pangaea existed about 240 million years ago. By
about 200 million years ago,
this supercontinent began breaking up.
 When Pangaea broke up it divided into Laurasia and
Gondwanaland. Over millions of years, Pangaea
separated into pieces that moved away from one
another. These pieces slowly assumed their positions
as the continent we recognize today
 Evidences
 The Continental Jigsaw Puzzle
 Fossils match across the seas
 Rock types and Structure Match
 Ancient Climate
 Rejected
SEAFLOOR SPREADING THEORY
 Harry Hess
 In line with the advancement of technology, scientist were
able to make observations that led them to understand the
ocean floor better.
 Through SONARs and submersibles, they had pictured
out the bottom of the ocean.
 They found underwater features in the deep. They found
features such as the mountain ranges similar to the found
in the continents.
 This feature were called mid ocean ridges.
 This theory suggests that hot, less dense materials moving
out from the crust rise toward the surface through the
mid-ocean ridge. These materials cause the crust to move
sideways, carrying with them the seafloor that moves
away from the ridge and creating a crack in the crust. The
molten materials that flow out of the crack cool down and
become new seafloor, as time goes by, this new oceanic
crust pushed the old oceanic crust away from the ridge
 Evidences
o Ages of rocks
o Magnetic reversal
o Ocean Drilling
PLATE TECTONICS THEORY
 The Plate tectonics theory is a theory that explains the
different processes that cause the formation of different
geologic features and phenomena.
 Plate Tectonics Theory states that Earth’s lithosphere is
composed of fragments or plates that move around and
interact with one another.
 The lithosphere is the outermost layer of Earth composed
of the upper part of the mantle and the crust. It extends to
about 80km deep. It has a density of around 2.6g/cm3.
 These plates are divided into large plates and small plates.
 The seven major plates are North America, South
America, Eurasian, Pacific, Indo-Australian, Africa, and
Antarctic Plates.
 The intermediate plates include the Philippine,
Caribbean, Cocos, Nazca, Scotia. Juan de Fuca, and
Arabian plates.
 NOTE: Each of these plates moves in a slow and constant
motion. The Pacific Plate, for instance, move at a rate of
approximately 8 cm (3 inches) per year, whereas the
North America plate is moving approximately 3 cm (1
inch) per year.
PLATE BOUNDARIES
 The movement of each tectonic plate is slow and constant
relative to one another. This movement creates the
different crustal features, and all major interactions
happen along the plate margins.
 Plate margins, also known as plate boundaries, are of
three types, namely, convergent, divergent, and transform.
Each plate boundary forms different geological features.
Types of Plate Boundaries
 Divergent plate boundaries
 This are plate boundaries where the plates move
apart from each other.
 Stress of Tension
 Normal Fault – Rocks goes down
 Geological Features (Rift valley, Mid-ocean
ridges, Fissure Volcano)
 Convergent plate boundaries
 Convergent plate boundaries are plate boundaries
where the plates move toward each other.
 Stress of Compression
 Reverse Fault – Rocks goes up
 The collisions of two plates are of three types:
Oceanic-continental, oceanic-oceanic, and
continental-continental collision.
 Oceanic-continental convergence
 In this type of collision, the denser oceanic crust
moves beneath the lighter Continental crust.
 The process at which the oceanic crust sinks
down the continental crust and goes back to the
mantle is called subduction.
 Geological Features (Subduction, Volcano,
Volcanic arcs, Trench)
 Oceanic-oceanic convergence
 It is a type of collision between two Oceanic
crustal Plate causes one plate to subduct from the
other.
 Both oceanic crustal plates have the same
average density, the one that subducts is usually
the older plate.
 Geological Features (Subduction, Volcano,
Volcanic Island Arcs, Trench)
 Continental-Continental convergence
 In this type of collision, two continental crustal
plates move toward one another.
 In this case, the folding of parts of the
continental lithosphere happens.
 Transform plate boundaries
 This the last type of plate boundary where,
instead of moving toward or moving apart from
each other, the plates slide past horizontally to
each other without destroying the lithospheric
plate.
 Shearing Stress
 Strike Slip Fault
 Geological Event (Earthquake)
Mechanism of Movement
 Mantle Convection (Convection Current)
 Driving forces - either push tectonics plates toward each
other or pull them apart.
 Mantle Convection
 Slab pull
 Slab suction
 Ridge push
 Resisting forces - act against the driving forces of plate
tectonics.
 Slab Resistance
 Collisional resistance
 Transform fault resistance
 Drag force