Earth's Layers
What is the name of the outermost layer of the Earth, where we live?
the crust
What type of crust is found under the oceans?
What is oceanic crust?
What are the large pieces of Earth's lithosphere called?
What are tectonic plates?
What are the fastest type of seismic waves?
P-waves (Primary waves)
What is the most abundant element in Earth's core?
What is iron?
What is the layer beneath the crust called?
the mantle
Is oceanic crust generally thinner or thicker than continental crust?
What is thinner?
What is the process called when one plate slides under another plate?
What is subduction?
Can S-waves travel through liquids?
no
What is the most abundant element in Earth's crust?
What is oxygen?
What is the hottest layer of the Earth?
the core
What type of crust makes up the continents?
What is continental crust?
What type of boundary is formed when two plates move apart?
What is a divergent boundary?
Which type of seismic wave arrives first at a seismograph after an earthquake?
What are P-waves (Primary waves)?
What two metals make up most of Earth's core?
What are iron and nickel?
Is the outer core liquid or solid?
liquid
Is continental crust more or less dense than oceanic crust?
What is less dense?
What type of boundary is formed when two plates slide past each other?
What is a transform boundary?
What type of seismic wave cannot travel through the Earth's outer core?
S-waves (Secondary waves)
What is the name for the boundary between the crust and the mantle?
What is the Mohorovičić discontinuity?
What is the name for the solid, innermost part of the Earth?
What is the inner core?
Which type of crust is older, oceanic or continental?
What is continental crust?
What is the soft, partially molten layer under the lithosphere that the plates float on?
What is the asthenosphere?
What do scientists learn about Earth's interior by studying seismic waves?
the structure and composition of the Earth
What is the rigid outer layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and the upper mantle, called?