There are four different layers of the Earth. The Crust, the Mantle,the outer core and the inner core. This page will give you an overview on each of them.
Crust:
There are two parts to the crust, there is the continental and the oceanic crust. The continental crust is the part that we live on. The oceanic crust is covered by water.
The Crust is approximately 2 kilometres thick, and covers all of the Earths surface.
There are two parts to the crust, there is the continental and the oceanic crust. The continental crust is the part that we live on. The oceanic crust is covered by water.
The Crust is approximately 2 kilometres thick, and covers all of the Earths surface.
Mantle:
The mantle is the layer between the crust and the outer core. The mantle is approximately 2900 kilometres thick and the pressure at the bottom is 136 GPa. The mantle is the thickest of all the layers. The mantle is mainly made up of Basalt.
The mantle is the layer between the crust and the outer core. The mantle is approximately 2900 kilometres thick and the pressure at the bottom is 136 GPa. The mantle is the thickest of all the layers. The mantle is mainly made up of Basalt.
Outer Core:
The outer core is composed mainly of Iron and Nickle, it is also completly liquid. It is 2300 kilometres thick and is located just above the inner core. The tempreture at the boundary of the outer an inner core is estimated to be 6000 degrees Celsius ( hot as the surface of the sun).
The outer core is composed mainly of Iron and Nickle, it is also completly liquid. It is 2300 kilometres thick and is located just above the inner core. The tempreture at the boundary of the outer an inner core is estimated to be 6000 degrees Celsius ( hot as the surface of the sun).
Inner core:
At the heart of the Earth is the inner core, unlike the outer core the inner core is solid. The inner core is cooler that the outer core resting at 5400 degrees Celsius while the pressure is between 330-360GPa.
At the heart of the Earth is the inner core, unlike the outer core the inner core is solid. The inner core is cooler that the outer core resting at 5400 degrees Celsius while the pressure is between 330-360GPa.
A trip like no other
It was 9 o'clock when Alex arrived at his home room, usually he would have dredded coming to school on a Monday morning. But today was different, today his year 9 science class were gong on a trip into the very bowels of the earth.
He arrived at his science class with 3 of his friends who he shared a table with, they were called Nick,James and Peter. 'Hey Pete did you catch the latest episode of walking dead?' Asked Nick,
'Nah man don't spoil it for me ok?' Replied Peter. They stopped talking as the teacher shooshed the class.
'Now as I told you last lesson we are going to learn about the layers of the earth, so everyone be quiet and let's begin'. The class found themselves looking at a bus that just a moment ago pulled up when a female attendant emerged. 'Alex found himself fascinated at what was going on. Then she ordered everyone on the bus.
Once inside the bus Alex took in a number of things, like the depth, temperature and pressure gauges and unfortunately the seatbelts. The attendant took 2 miniuts to explain where they were going, the told the driver they were ready and they were off. 5 meters ahead of them the ground opened up into a downwards sloping tunnel.
They had entered the crust. 'The nurse started to explain that the Crust is 2 kilometres thick and is mostly made of granite, when Nick spoke, 'how long do you think until we reach the mantle?'.
'The crust is the thinnest Layer and this trip will only last 1 lesson, so it can't be that long' replied Alex.
As it turned out Alex was right,mother got to the end of the crust in just 5 miniuts. By then the whole class knew everything that there is to know about the crust, like that it is the thinnest layer, that it is mostly made of granite, that there are 2 parts to the crust ECT....
As the bus passed into the Mantle everyone could instantly see the difference, the colours of the rock around them changed to a darker colour. The attendant quickly started filling them in on facts about the mantle. 'Hey check out the magma over there' announced one of the boys on the bus, everybody looked to the right and saw liquid magma stopped by a glass barrier. 'How does the glass not melt?' wondered James.
The temperature gauge informed them that the temperature was 768 degrees Celsius, and the pressure gauge was reading 112GPa. As they continued there decent they learned that the mantle is the thickest layer, that it is mainly made up of basalt and that it is about 2900 kilometres thick.
'Hey guys there's the end of the mantle' announced Alex
'Yeah I can see it to' agreed Nick
'The bus must be going really fast to have covered 2900 kilometres in 6 minutes' added Peter.
They entered the liquid outer core. They were in a tunnel of glass, the glass was the only thing stopping the magma ensnaring them. It was very bright in the tunnel. The temperature gauge showed 6000 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the Suns surface. Once again the attendant
started to talk, a lot of useless facts that the class would soon forget. The outer core is liquid.... It is made of iron and....Nickel....hot as the sun ect..
Then the glass tunnel ended and they were at the earths heart! 'Hey look at the gauges the temperature had gone down from 6000 to 5700 degrees' said Alex. That surprised all the boys who were expecting it to go up.
They kept driving through the inner core for 2 more minutes. In that time they learned that the inner core is 1200 kilometres thick and is the last layer.
'I hope you enjoyed the trip and I know that you lernt something new, I really hope you will come again until next time.'
The film ended and the class started taking notes on what they lernt and saw.
He arrived at his science class with 3 of his friends who he shared a table with, they were called Nick,James and Peter. 'Hey Pete did you catch the latest episode of walking dead?' Asked Nick,
'Nah man don't spoil it for me ok?' Replied Peter. They stopped talking as the teacher shooshed the class.
'Now as I told you last lesson we are going to learn about the layers of the earth, so everyone be quiet and let's begin'. The class found themselves looking at a bus that just a moment ago pulled up when a female attendant emerged. 'Alex found himself fascinated at what was going on. Then she ordered everyone on the bus.
Once inside the bus Alex took in a number of things, like the depth, temperature and pressure gauges and unfortunately the seatbelts. The attendant took 2 miniuts to explain where they were going, the told the driver they were ready and they were off. 5 meters ahead of them the ground opened up into a downwards sloping tunnel.
They had entered the crust. 'The nurse started to explain that the Crust is 2 kilometres thick and is mostly made of granite, when Nick spoke, 'how long do you think until we reach the mantle?'.
'The crust is the thinnest Layer and this trip will only last 1 lesson, so it can't be that long' replied Alex.
As it turned out Alex was right,mother got to the end of the crust in just 5 miniuts. By then the whole class knew everything that there is to know about the crust, like that it is the thinnest layer, that it is mostly made of granite, that there are 2 parts to the crust ECT....
As the bus passed into the Mantle everyone could instantly see the difference, the colours of the rock around them changed to a darker colour. The attendant quickly started filling them in on facts about the mantle. 'Hey check out the magma over there' announced one of the boys on the bus, everybody looked to the right and saw liquid magma stopped by a glass barrier. 'How does the glass not melt?' wondered James.
The temperature gauge informed them that the temperature was 768 degrees Celsius, and the pressure gauge was reading 112GPa. As they continued there decent they learned that the mantle is the thickest layer, that it is mainly made up of basalt and that it is about 2900 kilometres thick.
'Hey guys there's the end of the mantle' announced Alex
'Yeah I can see it to' agreed Nick
'The bus must be going really fast to have covered 2900 kilometres in 6 minutes' added Peter.
They entered the liquid outer core. They were in a tunnel of glass, the glass was the only thing stopping the magma ensnaring them. It was very bright in the tunnel. The temperature gauge showed 6000 degrees Celsius, the temperature of the Suns surface. Once again the attendant
started to talk, a lot of useless facts that the class would soon forget. The outer core is liquid.... It is made of iron and....Nickel....hot as the sun ect..
Then the glass tunnel ended and they were at the earths heart! 'Hey look at the gauges the temperature had gone down from 6000 to 5700 degrees' said Alex. That surprised all the boys who were expecting it to go up.
They kept driving through the inner core for 2 more minutes. In that time they learned that the inner core is 1200 kilometres thick and is the last layer.
'I hope you enjoyed the trip and I know that you lernt something new, I really hope you will come again until next time.'
The film ended and the class started taking notes on what they lernt and saw.