THE EARTH’S STRUCTURE

AND ATMOSPHERE
THE EARTH
 Earth is the third planet from the sun, after Mercury and Venus,
and before Mars.

It is about 150 million kilometers (about 93 million miles) from

the sun.

Earth is the largest and most massive of the rocky inner planets,

although it is dwarfed by the gas giants beyond the Asteroid
Belt.
PLANET EARTH
Earth is an oblate spheroid.

Earth has one natural satellite, the moon.

The Earth's interior is composed of four layers, three solid and

one liquid—not magma but molten metal, nearly as hot as the
surface of the sun.
THE EARTH’S STRUCTURE
AND ATMOSPHERE
 THE CRUST

“Crust” describes the Earth’s crust is rich

The crust is made of
outermost shell of in igneous rocks such
solid rocks and minerals
a terrestrial planet as granite and basalt

The transition
Earth’s crust is divided zone between these two
into two types: oceanic types of crust is
crust and continental sometimes called
crust. the Conrad
discontinuity.
• Oceanic crust, extending 5-10 kilometers
(3-6 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor, is
mostly composed of different types
of basalts. Geologists often refer to
the rocks of the oceanic crust as “sima.”
OCEANIC
• Oceanic crust is dense, almost 3 grams per CRUST
cubic centimeter (1.7 ounces per cubic
inch). Oceanic crust is constantly formed
at mid-ocean ridges, where tectonic
plates are tearing apart from each other. 
• Continental crust is mostly composed of
different types of granites. Geologists often
refer to the rocks of the continental crust as
“sial”.

C O N T I N E N TA L C R U S T
• Sial can be much thicker than sima (as thick
as 70 kilometers (44 miles)), but also
slightly less dense (about 2.7 grams per
cubic centimeter (1.6 ounces per cubic
inch).
The Mantle and the Core
Mantle
• The mantle extends from the
base of the crust to a depth of
about 2900 kilometers (1800mi)
and accounts for about 82% of
earth’s volume.
• The sharp boundary between the
crust and the mantle is called
Mohorovicic Discontinuity after
the Yugoslav seismologist who
discovered it in 1909.
Peridotite
The mantle is thought
to consist largely of
Peridotite, a rock that
contains high proportions
of the element;
• Iron
• Silicon
• Magnesium
Earth’s Core
 OUTER CORE
• The outer core is the only liquid layer of the earth – a
sea of mostly iron and nickel. It is roughly 1,800 to
3,200 miles (2,890 to 5,150 km) below the surface and
about 1,400 miles (2,300 km) thick.
Inner Core
• An extremely hot, solid sphere of
mostly iron and nickel at the center of
the earth. It is 3,200 to 3,960 miles
(5,150 to 6,378 km) below the surface
and about 750 miles (1,200 km) in
diameter.
• 17% of earth’s volume.
• Also contain some silicon, sulphur,
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
 THE MAGNETIC
FIELD OF THE
EARTH

@lemysquared
THE MAGNETIC
FIELD
The Earth has magnetic
field. Which is why a
compass needle points
approximately north most
places on the Earth’s
surface. But were and how,
is the field dipole generated?
THE MAGNETIC Is mainly that of a dipole – it has a same shaped as that of a
FIELD OF THE giant bar magnet in the center of the Earth (although the field
EARTH
is produced by motions of liquid iron within the Earth’s core).
THE
Most of it is that of a simple dipole. It is
MAGNETIC
as if a giant bar magnet were placed at
FIELD HAS the center of the Earth (although the
TWO PARTS.
N magnet directions slope at 110 to the
Earth's axis of rotation). But a small
proportion of it is much more
complicated and changes very on a
S rapidly. This is why a compass needle
points in a slightly different direction
each year.
The rapid changing indicates that the
magnetic field must be produced in a
part of the Earth that is fluid, for no
solid region could reorganize itself
rapidly enough without shaking the
planet to pieces. The only liquid zone
inside the Earth is the outer core.
This fits in with something else. The
only conceivable way in which a
magnetic field could be generated within
the Earth is by the flow of very large
electric currents, and electric currents
need a conductor.
The Earth's core is the most conductive
zone in the whole Earth because it
consists largely of Iron. The silicates of
the mantle would simply not conduct
well enough.
The lines emerging from the magnet are
lines of induction; they show the
direction in which magnetic compass
needles (the red arrow) would point if
placed in the field.
Most navigational compasses are
mounted on a vertical pin, and so can
move on horizontal plane. However, if a
compass needle is suspended on a thread.
It will point downwards towards the Earth
(in the Northern hemisphere) or upwards
(on the southern hemisphere), as well as
towards the magnetic north pole.