Planet Earth
The Earth’s interior and
Plate Tectonics
Chapter 17
17.1 – pages 558 through 566
The History of the Earth
Earth is thought to have begun as a ball of small particles
pulled together by gravity
As this material accumulated heat began to build up in
the interior
Possible explanations for the heat:
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The Earth began to cool and the heavier (more dense)
elements ________while the lighter (less dense) materials
__________ to the surface
Earth’s Interior
The Earth is divided
into four basic layers
________ (175˚c or 347˚f)
_________ (x7 hotter than
the crust)
________________
(x5 hotter than the mantle)
________________
The Earth’s Crust
Outermost and thinnest
layer of the Earth
Made of hard, solid rock
Divided into the
__________________
(thicker) and the
__________________
(thinner)
Divided into large plates
Thickness of the Crust in km
The Mantle
__________________________________
The thickest layer -- 2900 km
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Scientists have never drilled to the mantle so
they can only guess what it is made of
__________ – made of mostly
solid rock
___________ – made of hot
and melting rock
The Core
________________________________
____________ – made of solid metal
____________ – Surrounds the inner core
with liquid metal
The iron and nickel boil
under pressure
Plate Tectonics
Alfred Wegener’s Pangaea
Evidence Supporting
Continental Drift
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South America fits with Africa like puzzle pieces
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identical fossils along the coastal parts of Africa and South America
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The same type of broad belts of rocks in Africa and South America
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Glacial striations on rocks show that glaciers moved from Africa onto
South America without drifting away in the Atlantic ocean
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coal that is mined in Pennsylvania was actually formed from tropical
plant life near the Equator
The Lithosphere
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_________________
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_________
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_________________
_________
Plate Movement
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_______________
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Basic Types of Plate Movement
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Divergent Plate Boundaries
Picture two giant conveyor belts
slowly moving in
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The best known example of a
divergent plate boundary
A submerged mountain range,
which extends from the Arctic
Ocean to beyond the southern tip of
Africa
Convergent Plate Boundaries
A very slow collision
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Transform Fault Boundaries
Faults –
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A major example is the San
Andreas fault zone in
California