Earth's Internal Structure

Study Notes

Plate Tectonics: The movement of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, resulting in the creation of mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Convection Currents: The circulation of hot, viscous rock in the mantle, driving plate tectonics and heat transfer from the core to the surface.
Earthquakes: The release of energy as tectonic plates move past each other, causing seismic waves to propagate through the Earth.
Volcanic Activity: The eruption of molten rock (magma) from the Earth's interior to the surface, resulting in volcanic landforms and rocks.

Geothermal Energy: The heat generated by the Earth's interior, used to produce electricity and provide warmth.
Radioactive Decay: The process by which radioactive isotopes in the Earth's core and mantle release energy, contributing to the Earth's internal heat budget.
Primordial Heat: The residual heat from the Earth's formation, still present in the core and mantle.

The Earth's crust is the outermost solid layer, ranging in thickness from 5-70 km, and is broken into several large plates that float on the more fluid layers below.

The mantle is the layer beneath the crust, extending from about 35 km to 2,900 km in depth, and is divided into the upper mantle and lower mantle.
The upper mantle is composed of rock that can flow slowly over time, and is the upper part of the mantle, from 35 km to 410 km in depth.
The lower mantle is composed of hot, viscous rock, and is the lower part of the mantle, from 410 km to 2,900 km in depth.

The outer core is a liquid layer, about 2,250 km thick, composed of iron and nickel, and is responsible for generating the Earth's magnetic field.
The inner core is a solid, iron-nickel alloy at the center of the Earth, with a temperature of around 5,000°C to 6,000°C.

Plate tectonics is the movement of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, resulting in the creation of mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
Convection currents are the circulation of hot, viscous rock in the mantle, driving plate tectonics and heat transfer from the core to the surface.
Earthquakes are the release of energy as tectonic plates move past each other, causing seismic waves to propagate through the Earth.
Volcanic activity is the eruption of molten rock (magma) from the Earth's interior to the surface, resulting in volcanic landforms and rocks.

Geothermal energy is the heat generated by the Earth's interior, used to produce electricity and provide warmth.
Radioactive decay is the process by which radioactive isotopes in the Earth's core and mantle release energy, contributing to the Earth's internal heat budget.
Primordial heat is the residual heat from the Earth's formation, still present in the core and mantle.