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CHP 02 - Structure of The Earth

The document provides information about the structure and layers of the Earth. It discusses: 1) The Earth formed over 5 billion years ago from the continental plate Pangaea splitting apart. The Indian subcontinent separated from Gondwanaland and drifted north to join Asia. 2) The Earth consists of concentric layers - the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. The crust makes up only 1% of the Earth's mass and varies in thickness from 5-60km below oceans and mountains. 3) Below the crust lies the mantle which extends to a depth of 2,900km and is divided into the upper and lower mantle. The core lies at the center of the

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Kartavya Jhunjhunwala 9A
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42 views

CHP 02 - Structure of The Earth

The document provides information about the structure and layers of the Earth. It discusses: 1) The Earth formed over 5 billion years ago from the continental plate Pangaea splitting apart. The Indian subcontinent separated from Gondwanaland and drifted north to join Asia. 2) The Earth consists of concentric layers - the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core. The crust makes up only 1% of the Earth's mass and varies in thickness from 5-60km below oceans and mountains. 3) Below the crust lies the mantle which extends to a depth of 2,900km and is divided into the upper and lower mantle. The core lies at the center of the

Uploaded by

Kartavya Jhunjhunwala 9A
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PURWANCHAL VIDYAMANDIR

Session : 2021 -2022

Class : IX

Subject : GEOGRAPHY

Study Material : 2

Structure of the Earth


Origin of the Earth :-

Our Earth is more than 5000 million years old and is still in the process of changing.
Continental drift never stops and all the land drifted together to form one supercontinent,
called Pangaea meaning all land surrounded by a single vast sea called Panthalassa. Alfred
Wegener through his theory of continental drift provided evidence that the Pangaea kept
splitting apart and the continents have drifted to their present positions. The Indian
subcontinent, after separating from Gondwanaland, the southern part of the Pangaea,
moved northwards and eventually joined Asia on its southern side.

Click on this link to watch a video on formation of the Earth

Layers of the Earth :-

Our knowledge about the earth’s interior is very limited. Most of the information about
earth’s interior is gathered through indirect sources like study of seismic waves, materials
thrown up by volcanoes and evidence from theories of the origin of the earth.

The earth is made up of several concentric layers. The outer layer is the earth’s crust – the
lithosphere. Parts of the earth’s crust that are immersed under the oceans and seas form
the hydrosphere. Extending upwards, the earth is enveloped by a blanket of gases which
make up the atmosphere. The composite zone inhabited by most living creatures is called
Biosphere.

The Earth’s Crust – It is the outermost layer of the earth which is very thin as compared to
other layers with an average thickness of 33kms. It is a solid layer of the earth composed of
rocks. This layer is separated from the mantle by Mohorovicic discontinuity.

 The crust is called lithosphere because it is a sphere of solid rocks. Crust is only 1% of
earth’s mass .
 It is a relatively thin layer of rocks with a thickness of 60kms. below the mountains
and just 5 – 10 kms. below the oceans.
 The temperature of the upper part of the oceanic crust has been estimated at 0 oC
but it gradually starts rising towards the interior.
 The density and pressure of rocks also starts increasing with depth.
 Mohorovicic Discontinuity , the boundary between the crust and the mantle does not
exist at a uniform depth. It is found at about 8km. beneath the oceans and about
32km. beneath the continents.

Mantle or the Mesosphere – This layer lies below the crust of the earth. Its major
components are ferro- magnesium metals along with silicates and olivine.

 Its average thickness is 2900 kms.


 This layer is divided into two parts: upper mantle and lower mantle. The upper
mantle is cooler and made of solid rocks extending from the Moho’s Discontinuity to
a depth of 700 kms. The lower mantle is hotter and denser extending from 700 kms.
to 2900 kms.
 At a depth of around 100 – 410 km., the mantle is partially molten and is known as
asthenosphere. Lower mantle is solid due to high pressure.
 Pressure and density increases towards the interior of the earth .
 The temperature varies between about 1000oC to around 1900oC.
 The boundary between the mantle and the core is known as the Gutenberg
Discontinuity which begins at the depth of 2900 km.

Core or the Barysphere – It is the most inaccessible part lying at the centre of the earth
extending from a depth of 2900 kms. to the centre of the earth. It is mainly composed of
nickel (Ni) and Ferrous (Fe) and is named as Nife (Ni+Fe). Its density is 13 – 15g/cm3.

 The core is the densest part of the earth with a diameter of 7000 kms.
 It is also divided into outer and inner core.
 The temperature ranges from about 4400oC to about 6000oC.s
 The core is composed of iron and nickel which is responsible for earth’s
magnetism.
 The solid state of the inner core is due to high density and pressure which has
compressed the molten rock material.
ASSIGNMENT

1. Differentiate between the following:-


i) Sial and Sima
ii) Mohorovicic and Gutenberg’s Discontinuity
iii) Upper and Lower Mantle

2. Write short notes on the following:-


i) Nife
ii) Seismic waves
iii) Wegner’s ‘Continental Drift Theory’

3. Give a reason for the following:-


i) The mineral skin is the most significant part of the Earth’s surface.
ii) Continents float on oceans.
iii) The composition of the crustal layer is of great importance to us.
iv) The Asthenosphere is referred to as the ‘lower velocity zones’.
v) The earth behaves like a magnet.

4. Answer the following in brief:-


i) Why is our knowledge of the earth’s interior based on indirect evidences?
ii) What is the most important source of information about the interior of
the earth?
iii) Into how many layers is the earth’s interior divided? Describe briefly the
crust of the earth.
iv) Draw a neat labelled diagram of the earth’s interior.

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