The Geosphere

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The Geosphere
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Changes occur on the Earth constantly

• Molten rock flows from volcanoes
• Hurricanes batter beaches and change coastline
• Earthquakes shake the ground

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The Earth is a system that consists of air,
water, rock and living things

• All of the parts interact with each other

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Scientists use special terms to describe the
different parts of the Earth

• Geosphere consists of all the rock, soils and
  sediments on the Earth
• Atmosphere consists of the air that surrounds
  the Earth
• Hydrosphere consists of all water, fresh or
  saltwater
• Biosphere all living things on the planet

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Most of the geosphere is located in the Earths
interior

• The average diameter of the Earth is 12,756km

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Discovering the Earths Interior
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The earth is like an onion

• Its made of layers

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The information we have concerning the interior
of the Earth comes to us from studying seismic
waves

• Seismic waves travel through different material
  at different rates. When seismic waves change
  direction or speed, it means they have moved
  through different layers

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Scientists divide the Earth into three layers
based on composition

• Crust the thinnest layer of the Earth (5-20km
  thick) made entirely of light elements
• Mantle makes up 64 of the earths mass,
  (2900km thick) made of rocks of medium density
• Core has a radius of 3400km and composed of the
  densest elements

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The Earth can also be divided into 5 layers based
on physical properties

• Lithosphere
• Asthenosphere
• Mesosphere (mantle)
• Outer core
• Inner core

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The lithosphere is the Earths outer layer

• It contains the crust and uppermost part of the
  mantle and is divided into moving sections called
  Tectonic Plates

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The asthenosphere is the layer beneath the
lithosphere

• The asthenosphere is the plastic solid layer of
  the Earth that the plates move on top of

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The mesosphere consists of the lower mantle
between the asthenosphere and outer core

• The mesosphere contains molten rock which is
  called magma

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The outer core is 2200km thick and made of nickel
and iron

• The outer core is mostly liquid

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The inner core is a solid sphere of iron, nickel
and cobalt (radioactive)

• The temperature of the inner core is thought to
  be between 4000 and 5000 degrees Celsius

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Scientists believe that cobalt in the core decays
producing heat

• The heat from the core produces energy that makes
  the magma move producing earthquakes, volcanoes
  and plate movement