EARTH SCIENCE
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
[1]
Crust
➔
the outside layer of the earth
➔
made of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite
➔
Two Types of Crust
1.
Oceanic crust
–
denser and thinner; mainly composed of basalt 2.
Continental crust
–
less dense and thicker; mainly composed of granite
Mohorovi
č
i
ć
discontinuity[2]
➔
usually referred to as the Moho
➔
the boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle
Mantle
➔
lies below the crust
➔
up to 2900 km thick
➔
consists of hot, dense, iron and magnesium-rich solid rock
➔
The crust and the upper part of the mantle make up the lithosphere, which is broken into plates, both large and small.
Gutenberg Discontinuity
–
the boundary between the mantle and the core.[3]
Core
➔
the centre of the earth
➔
Two Parts of the Core: 1.
Liquid outer core
–
made of nickel, iron and molten rock 2.
Solid inner core
–
Temperatures here can reach up to 50,000 Co.
Theory of Continental Drift
[4]
•
Proponent: Wegener
–
German meteorologist, geophysicist and polar researcher
In 1915,
he published ‘
The Origin of Continents and
Oceans
’, which outlined his theory
, which was met with skepticism by many scientists. Although he had a lot of evidence to support the theory, he could not explain how the plates moved simply.
•
Wegener’s
5 Lines of Evidence of the Continental Drift Theory: 1.
Jigsaw Fit
The similarity in outline of the coastlines of eastern South America and West Africa had been noted for some time. The best fit is obtained if the coastlines are matched at a depth of 1,000 metres below current sea level.
Any areas where there are gaps or overlaps may be explained by :
•
Coastal erosion since continental separation
•
Coastal deposition since continental separation
•
Rises in sea level (eustatic change) since continental separation
•
Changes in land level (isostatic change) since continental separation 2.
Tectonic Fit
Fragments of an old fold mountain belt between 450 and 400 million years ago are found on widely separated continents today. Pieces of the Caledonian fold mountain belt are found in Greenland, Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and Scandinavia. When these land masses are re-assembled the mountain belt forms a continuous linear feature. 3.
Geological Fit
When the geology of eastern South America and West Africa was mapped it revealed that ancient rock outcrops (cratons) over 2,000 million years old were continuous from one continent to the other.
4.
Glacial Deposits
Today, glacial deposits formed during the Permo-Carboniferous glaciation (about 300 million years ago) are found in Antarctica, Africa, South America, India and Australia. If the
continents haven’t moved,
then this would suggest an ice sheet extended from the south pole to the equator at this time - which is unlikely as the UK at this time was also close to the equator and has extensive coal and limestone deposits. If the continents of the southern hemisphere are re-assembled near the south pole, then the Permo-Carboniferous ice sheet assumes a much more reasonable size.
More evidence comes from glacial striations
–
scratches on the bedrock made by blocks of rock embedded in the ice as the glacier moves. These show the direction of the glacier, and suggest the ice flowed from a single central point. 5.
Fossil Deposits
Fossils of the same species are found on different continents suggesting continental drift occurred.
•
Evidence after Wegener’s Death
❖
Magnetic Polarity
Scientists used
magnetometers
, devices capable of measuring the magnetic field intensity, to look at the magnetic properties of rocks in many locations.
They found out that rocks of different ages on the same continent point at different poles but the rocks of the same age concur with each other. The rocks of the same age worldwide point at different poles. This suggest that the continents moved.
SEAFLOOR SPREADING
[5]
Sea-floor spreading is what happens at the mid-oceanic ridge where a divergent boundary is causing two plates to move away from one another resulting in spreading of the sea floor. As the plates move apart, new material wells up and cools onto the edge of the plates.
PLATE TECTONICS
[6]