Earth interior
The Earth is composed of how many different layers?
4
Which layer do you live on, and which is the most widely studied and understood?
crust
How many layers make up the mechanical layers
5
a German meteorologist, proposed the hypothesis of continental drift in the early 1900's.
Alfred Wegener
who proposed the hypothesis of seafloor spreading
Princeton geologist Harry Hess
The pressure ____________as you get deeper within earth Interior
increases
How many layers are the compositional layers
3
The solid, outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle is called the
lithosphere
what is Pangaea
supercontinent where all continents were once joined together
This crust is not a solid shell; it is broken up into huge, thick_________
plates
What happens to temperatures as you move from the outermost to the innermost layer
increases
Why are they called compositional layers
They are based on the distinct chemical materials (composition) that make up each layer.
The plates "float” on, or move along, the soft, semi-rigid______________
asthenosphere
give one piece of evidence to support the theory
The similarity in shape of the continents, as if they once fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle;
Plates drift atop the soft, underlying ________
mantle
Humans have reached a maximum depth of
a. 12,262 meters (40,230 feet or about 7.6 miles) into the Earth's interior
b. 10,262 meters (38,430 feet or about 5.6 miles) into the Earth's interior
c. 15,662 meters (43,230 feet or about 9.6 miles) into the Earth's interior
a. 12,262 meters (40,230 feet or about 7.6 miles) into the Earth's interior
Name 3 elements that mainly make up the crust
Aluminum, oxygen, silicon
How does the asthenosphere and mesosphere behave
asthenosphere plastic
mesosphere-hard/stiff palstic
Give 2 pieces of evidence to support the theory
The similarity in shape of the continents, as if they once fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle;
Fossils of the same plants and animals are found on different continents
The presence of glacial deposits on continents now found near the equator; and
The similarity of rock sequences on different continents.
Pangaea is a Greek word. What does it mean?
all land
What is the Deepest Hole into the Earth's interior?
The Kola Superdeep Borehole (SG-3) in Russia reached 12.2 km (7.6 miles)
Name two elements mainly making up the mantle and two elements mainly making up the core
mantle- magnesium, silicon
core-iron, nickel
Is the inner core solid or liquid and explain why
The inner core of the Earth has temperatures and pressures so great that the metals are squeezed together and are not able to move.
why was Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift was not widely accepted
he had no mechanism to explain how the continents move.
Most of Earth’s volume (82.5%) is its
mantle