The Earth’s Layers and Discontinuities

BIOSPHERE
- The term biosphere was first thought of by a geologist named Eduard Suess in 1875
- This layer of the earth is occupied by living organisms such as plants, animals, human
beings, and others that has life.
- Abundant elements in the biosphere: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Sulfur,
Argon
o Remember the acronym for these elements: CHONS + Ar
- Composed of the Atmosphere and the Hydrosphere
o Atmosphere is made up of layers of gases that surrounds the Earth and helps life
thrive on Earth.
o Hydrosphere is where water can be found. Water can be on the surface, or even
subsurface (You will tackle this on your lesson of “Groundwater”). Hydrosphere
can take the form of liquid, ice, or water vapor.
- Generally, Lithosphere is part of the Biosphere since it also contains life. However, due
to the difference in abundant elements, Lithosphere is separated for geology studies.

Figure 1: The Biosphere

LITHOSPHERE
- It is the solid and outer part of the Earth.
- Bounded by the Atmosphere and the Asthenosphere.
- Abundant elements in the Lithosphere: Sulfur and Aluminum.
- Composed of the crust and the rigid upper mantle.
o The crust is the shell of the Earth.
o Divided into continental and oceanic crust.
§ Continental crust is older and thicker.
§ Oceanic crust is younger and denser.
- If the Lithosphere is fragmented, you will have plates.
 - Since the Lithosphere can be fragmented, it means that this layer deforms in a brittle
manner.
- Since the Lithosphere is not flexible, then this layer is a rigid layer.

Figure 2: The Lithosphere

ASTHENOSPHERE
- This layer is denser and weaker than the Lithosphere.
- The Asthenosphere is composed of the Low Velocity Zone (LVZ) and the part of the
upper mantle below the LVZ.
o In the LVZ, seismic shear waves are recorded to have low velocity in comparison
to the other layers.
o Located near the boundary of the Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere.
o Plastic deformation occurs in this layer.

Figure 3: The Lithosphere and the Asthenosphere. Note that the Upper Mantle is at the Asthenosphere and the Lithosphere. The
difference is that in the Lithosphere, upper mantle is rigid and in the Asthenosphere, the upper mantle is ductile.
MESOSPHERE
- Composed of the lower mantle.
- This layer is rigid.
- High pressure and temperature are observed in this layer.

Figure 4: The Mesosphere together with the layers discussed above. (Note: Depths vary depending on the source)

MANTLE
- As a whole, the mantle is abundant in Magnesium, Iron, and Silicon
- There are 2 models for convection that occurs in the mantle:
o Layered convection model – Convection occurs in the upper mantle, and
convection also occurs in the lower mantle.
o Whole mantle convection – Convection occurs at the entire mantle.
o It is said that plates would go down to the D’’ layer and will go back up as
plumes. Note that D’’ layer is located at the boundary of mantle and outer core
(More discussion about this in the next pages).

Figure 5: Left: Layered Mantle Convection; Right: Whole Mantle Convection

OUTER AND INNER CORE
- Outer core is liquid, and as you know from the discussions of earthquakes, Shear or S-
waves can only pass thru solid material. The result is a zone called “S-Shadow Zone.”
- Inner core is rigid.
- Overall, the core is abundant in Fe+Ni and Fe+Co.

Figure 6: The Core

The Entire Layer of the Earth

Figure 7: Different Layers of the Earth

Discontinuities
- In here, I will not only discuss what you have already learned in Principles of Geology. I
will introduce some more discontinuities that will be of help when you go to other
courses in geology in the future.

CONRAD DISCONTINUITY
- Located between the lower and upper crust.
- Velocity of seismic waves would increase in a discontinuous way.
- Found in continental regions (depth of around 15-20km), not in oceanic.
-
MOHOROVICIC DISCONTINUITY
- Located between the crust and the mantle.
- In continental regions, it is located at depth of around 35km. In oceanic, it has a depth
of around 8km.
- In Principles of Geology, the Mohorovicic Discontinuity is a geophysical moho where it is
characterized as an increase in seismic velocity at the boundary of the crust and mantle.
- We also have petrologic moho where you will see the difference in composition in rocks.
For example, the boundary where you will see ultramafic rocks and mafic rocks. These
rocks have different compositions, then the boundary between the two will be your
petrologic moho. But for Principles of Geology, focus on the geophysical moho.

REPITI DISCONTINUITY
- Located between the upper and lower mantle.

GUTTENBERG DISCONTINUITY
- Located between mantle and outer core.
- P-wave velocity decreases.
- S-waves disappear. This would make sense as S-waves cannot travel through the outer
core because outer core is liquid.

LEHMANN DISCONTINUITY
- Located between the outer and inner core.
- There is an increase in both P- and S-wave velocities.

NOTE: The discontinuities have an acronym: CoMoReGuLe. This will be important in your
Petrology class.

OTHER TYPES OF DISCONTINUITIES

410KM DISCONTUINUITY
- 410 km from the surface

660KM DISCONTINUITY
- 660km from the surface
- Located between the lower boundary of the upper mantle and the asthenosphere.
D’’ LAYER
- Located between the mantle and the outer core.
- There is a steep increase in the temperature when crystallization happens at the outer
core)

Figure 8: Diagram Showing the Major Discontinuities

Hi Batch 22 kids, to be a good and successful geologists in the future, embrace the principle of
Geology – that is, to take time. Geological formations do not happen overnight. Learning and
excelling do not happen overnight. Both takes time. Don’t force yourselves to excel in a short
period of time.

-Julius