Earth's Interior

 

Terms to learn:

continental crust     core                                           isostasy

oceanic crust             lithosphere                            MOHO                       

asthenosphere         geothermal gradient        S-wave shadow zone

mantle                                    

                       

Topic outline:

1. Earth's internal structure
   1. Chemical division
   2. Physical division
2. Isostasy
3. Earth's magnetism
   1. Magnetic reversals
4. Internal heat and pressure
   1. geothermal gradient
   2. pressure

 

Fun places to visit:

Earth's interior and plate tectonics: http://library.thinkquest.org/17457/platetectonics/1.php

Rock Doctor view of the earth's interior: http://www.cobweb.net/~bug2/rock7.htm

 

When you are finished with this topic, you should be able to answer these study questions:

1. What are the internal layers of the earth?
2. What causes the internal layered structure of the earth?
3. What do seismic-wave shadow zones tell us about the earth's interior?
4. What is the temperature distribution with depth in the earth?