The Earth's Interior

 

The Earth's Layers:

The layers are listed from the center of the earth outward:
Inner core: The central portion of the earth's core that is thought to be composed mostly of iron and nickel in the solid state.
Outer core: Outside portion of the earths' core that is thought to be mostly composed of iron and nickel in the liquid state.
Stiffer Mantle: Portion of the earth below the crust and above the core.
Plastic Mantle or Asthenosphere:
Lithosphere: Solid portion of the earth below the atmosphere and hydrosphere.  A solid layer that includes the crust and the upper portion of the earth's mantle.
Moho: boundary between the Lithosphere and the Oceanic crust.
Oceanic Crust: made up of basalt.
Continental Crust: made up of granite.
Earth's layers are most dense at the center and decrease in density as they move away from the center.  The most dense will gravitate towards the center.  Also, as you move towards the earth's center, density, temperature and pressure all increase.

 

Earth's Interior Questions:
(Remember to use your Earth Science Reference Table where needed.)
1.) What is the approximate density of the oceanic crust?
2.) Which part of the earth's crust is thickest?
3.) Name the rock that mainly makes up oceanic crust.
4.) Compare and contrast the oceanic and continental crusts in reference to density and thickness.  Include the rock type that each is mainly made up of.
5.) What are the temperature, pressure, and density range of the mantle at the depth of 3,000 km?

 

Earthquakes:
Focus: Where earthquake actually happens (within the earth).
Epicenter: Place on earth directly above the focus where the earthquake occurs.
Shadow Zone: Area between 106 and 143 degrees that receives no P or S waves because of the way the waves bend in the layers of the earth.
P Waves: Primary waves seismic stations receive from earthquakes, not all stations receive.
S Waves: Secondary waves seismic stations receive from earthquakes, not all stations receive.  Do not go through the outer core.
Fault: Fractures in the earth's crust that allow movement to take place.

 

Earthquake Questions:
(Use your ESRT where needed.)
1.) Can both P and S waves pass through all layers of the earth's interior?  Explain your answer.
2.) What is the area called that neither P nor S waves make it to?  Why don't they go there?
3.) What are the majority of earthquakes caused by?
4.) HOW MANY seismograph stations need to give information to one another in order to determine where an earthquake occurred?
5.)  WHAT information do seismograph stations need to give in order to determine where an earthquake occurred?
6.) Once you have the difference in time between when the P wave and S wave arrived from all 3 stations, how do you figure out where an earthquake occurred?
7.) If a P wave arrived at 2:33:00 and an S wave arrived at 2:35:35, how far away did the earthquake occur?
8.) If a P wave arrives at 2:33:00 CLOCK TIME and it took the P wave 3:20 to travel, what time did the earthquake occur? 

 

The Air:
Troposphere: Lowest layer earth's atmosphere from the surface of the earth up to about 12km.  It contains most of the mass of the atmosphere.
Tropopause: boundary separating the troposphere from the stratosphere.
Stratosphere: Layer of earth's atmosphere that extends from the troposphere to the mesosphere.  Concentrations of ozone cause temperature within the stratosphere to increase with altitude.
Stratopause: boundary between stratosphere and mesosphere.
Mesosphere: Layer of earth's atmosphere that extends from stratosphere to the thermosphere.  Characterized by decreasing temperatures.
Mesopause: boundary between mesosphere and thermosphere.
Thermosphere: Layer of earth's atmosphere above the mesosphere.  Characterized by increasing temperature with altitude.
Thermopause:

 

 

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