Parts of the Earth

The interior structure of the Earth is

layered in spherical shells, like an onion.
These layers can be defined by
their chemical and
their rheological properties. Earth has an
outer silicate solid crust, a
highly viscousmantle, a liquid outer
core that is much less viscous than the
mantle, and a solid inner core. Scientific
understanding of the internal structure of
the Earth is based on observations of topography and bathymetry, observations
of rock in outcrop, samples brought to the surface from greater depths
by volcanoes or volcanic activity, analysis of the seismic waves that pass through
the Earth, measurements of the gravitational andmagnetic fields of the Earth, and
experiments with crystalline solids at pressures and temperatures characteristic
of the Earth's deep interior.

4 Different Spheres of the Earth

1. Hydrosphere (Water)

The hydrosphere includes all the gaseous, liquid, and solid water of the planet
earth. The hydrosphere stretches all the way from the Earths surface downward
numerous miles into the lithosphere and high above the crust into the
atmosphere. Most of the water in the atmosphere is in gaseous form and as it
rises higher into the atmosphere it condenses to form clouds which fall back on
earth as precipitation.

All the water in the hydrosphere is always in motion just like the atmospheric
gases. The natural earth features depicting the hydrosphere are the rivers,
streams, lakes, seas, oceans and the water vapor. Glaciers, which are the slowly
moving masses of ice, are also part of the hydrosphere. 97% of all earths water
is salty. Oceans carry most of the salty water while the majority of lakes and
rivers carry fresh water. The earths temperature is highly influenced by the
hydrosphere.

Very low temperatures are associated with icebergs, glaciers or icecaps; low to
moderate temperatures are associated with the common types of precipitation
like snow, rain, drizzle, sleet or hails; and high temperatures are tied to dry and
hot conditions and evaporation. The glaciers, icebergs, and icecaps are also
categorically called the cryosphere.

2. Biosphere (Living Things)

All the living things in the planet are categorized under the biosphere. In this
view, the biosphere includes all of the animals, plants, and microorganisms of
earth. Humans as well belong to this group. The entire ecological communities
within the physical surrounding of the earth are within the umbrella of living things
(biosphere). These ecological communities interact together with the physical
aspects of the earth including the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and the atmosphere.

Collectively, these ecological communities are made reference to as biomes.

Deserts, forests, grasslands, aquatic, tundra, and chaparral are the six main
biomes that are present in the biosphere. The living things on earth interact with
each other in various ways, which is well elaborated under the trophic levels of
food chain how energy is transferred in ecological systems.

3. Lithosphere (Land)

The lithosphere is made up of all the hard and solid land mass on the earths
surface, the semi-solid rocks (molten materials) underneath the earth crust, and
the liquid rocks in the inner core of the earth. The surface of the lithosphere is
uneven as it is characterized by various landform features. Some of the
landforms include mountains like the Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Vesuvius in
Italy, deep valleys within the mountain ranges, huge plains like the ones in Texas
and Brazil, extensive plateaus like Bolivian plateau in South America and the
Colorado plateau of the United States, and hills like the black hills.

The liquid, semi-solid, and solid land components of the lithosphere form layers
that are chemically and physically different. This is why the lithosphere is further
divided into sub-spheres namely the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the
inner core. The crust is made of loose soil and rocks. The mantle is made of
dense rock made up of nickel and iron in the form of silicate rocks and its lower
part is semi-solid (partially molten) rocks.

The outer core is made up of liquid (purely molten) rock materials. The inner core
is the centre of the earth which is purely made of very hot and liquid iron and
nickel. The rock materials are divided into three primary categories based on how
they are formed namely igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic
rocks.

The Four Layers of the Earth

The Earth is composed of four different layers. Many geologists believe that as
the Earth cooled the heavier, denser materials sank to the center and the lighter
materials rose to the top. Because of this, the crust is made of the lightest
materials (rock- basalts and granites) and the core consists of heavy metals
(nickel and iron). The crust is the layer that you live on, and it is the most widely
studied and understood. The mantle is much hotter and has the ability to flow.
The Outer and Inner Cores are hotter still with pressures so great that you would
be squeezed into a ball smaller than a marble if you were able to go to the center
of the Earth!!!!!!
THE CRUST
The Earth's Crust is like the skin of an apple. It is
very thin in comparison to the other three layers. The
crust is only about 3-5 miles (8 kilometers) thick
under the oceans(oceanic crust) and about 25 miles
(32 kilometers) thick under the continents
(continental crust). The temperatures of the crust
vary from air temperature on top to about 1600
degrees Fahrenheit (870 degrees Celcius) in the
deepest parts of the crust. You can bake a loaf of
bread in your oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit , at
1600 degrees F. rocks begin to melt.

The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called plates. The plates "float"
on the soft, plastic mantle which is located below the crust. These plates usually
move along smoothly but sometimes they stick and build up pressure. The
pressure builds and the rock bends until it snaps. When this occurs an
Earthquake is the result!

Notice how thin the crust of the Earth is in comparison to the other layers. The
seven continents and ocean plates basically float across the mantle which is
composed of much hotter and denser material.

The crust is composed of two basic rock types granite and basalt. The
continental crust is composed mostly of granite. The oceanic crust consists of a
volcanic lava rock called basalt.

Basaltic rocks of the ocean plates are much denser and heavier than the granitic
rock of the continental plates. Because of this the continents ride on the denser
oceanic plates. The crust and the upper layer of the mantle together make up a
zone of rigid, brittle rock called the Lithosphere. The layer below the rigid
lithosphere is a zone of asphalt-like consistancy called the Asthenosphere. The
asthenosphere is the part of the mantle that flows and moves the plates of the
Earth.

THE MANTLE
The mantle is the layer located directly under the sima.
It is the largest layer of the Earth, 1800 miles thick. The
mantle is composed of very hot, dense rock. This layer
of rock even flows like asphalt under a heavy weight.
This flow is due to great temperature differences from
the bottom to the top of the mantle. The movement of
the mantle is the reason that the plates of the Earth
move! The temperature of the mantle varies from 1600
degrees Fahrenheit at the top to about 4000 degrees
Fahrenheit near the bottom!
Convection Currents

The mantle is made of much denser, thicker material,

because of this the plates "float" on it like oil floats on
water.Many geologists believe that the mantle "flows"
because of convection currents.Convection currents are
caused by the very hot material at the deepest part of the
mantle rising, then cooling, sinking again and then heating, rising
and repeating the cycle over and over. The next time you
heat anything like soup or pudding in a pan you can watch the
convection currents move in the liquid. When the convection currents
flow in the mantle they also move the crust. The crust gets a free ride with these
currents. A conveyor belt in a factory moves boxes like the convection currents in
the mantle moves the plates of the Earth.

OUTER CORE
The core of the Earth is like a ball of very hot metals. (4000
degrees F. to 9000 degrees F.) The outer core is so hot that
the metals in it are all in the liquid state. The outer core is
located about 1800 milesbeneath the crust and is about 1400 miles
thick. The outer core is composed of the melted metals nickel and
iron.

INNER CORE
The inner core of the Earth has temperatures and
pressures so great that the metals are squeezed together
and are not able to move about like a liquid, but are
forced to vibrate in place as a solid. The inner core
begins about 4000 miles beneath the crust and is about
800 miles thick. The temperatures may reach 9000 dgrees
F. and the pressures are 45,000,000 pounds per square
inch. This is 3,000,000 times the air pressure on you at sea
level!!!

THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A VOLCANO

Magma - Molten rock beneath Earth's surface.

Parasitic Cone - A small cone-shaped volcano formed by an accumulation of

volcanic debris.

Sill - A flat piece of rock formed when magma hardens in a crack in a volcano.

Vent - An opening in Earth's surface through which volcanic materials escape.

Flank - The side of a volcano.

Lava - Molten rock that erupts from a volcano that solidifies as it cools.

Crater - Mouth of a volcano - surrounds a volcanic vent.

Conduit - An underground passage magma travels through.

Summit - Highest point; apex

Throat - Entrance of a volcano. The part of the conduit that ejects lava and
volcanic ash.

Ash - Fragments of lava or rock smaller than 2 mm in size that are blasted into
the air by volcanic explosions.

Ash Cloud - A cloud of ash formed by volcanic explosions.

TYPES OF VOLCANO
There are 3 different types of volcanoes:

1. Active - eruptions can be anytime and often.

2. Dormant - has been a while since it has erupted, but
could at anytime.
3. Extinct, meaning it hasn't erupted in a very long, long
time so it probably won't ever again.

The three main kinds of volcanoes are:

A stratovolcano (or composite volcano) is a conical

volcano consisting of layers of solid lava flows mixed
with layers of other rock.
A cinder cone volcano doesnt have any horizontal
layers, and is instead a steep conical hill of tephra
(volcanic debris) that accumulates around and
downwind from the vent.
A shield volcano is a type of volcano built entirely or
mostly from fluid lava vents. They are named like this
because when viewed from above, you can see just how
massive and imposing they are like a warriors shield.

What is an Earthquake?

Simply, earthquakes are the rumblings, shaking or rolling of the earth's surface. It
is usually what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one
 another, or break apart from each other as a result of tension caused by
prolonged energy build up.

Earthquakes come in many forms. It can be felt as a shock under your feet, or
may be very powerful and destructive enough to flatten an entire city. They can
happen anywhere, land or sea.

Foreshocks, Mainshocks and Aftershocks:

Sometimes, there are smaller shocks that occur before (foreshock) and after
(aftershock) a main earthquake (mainshock). Sometimes foreshocks are so big
and scientists are unsure if it is the main shock. Foreshocks and aftershocks can
occur for days, weeks and months of a main earthquake.

Focus of an earthquake
The focus is also called the hypocenter of an earthquake. The vibrating
waves travel away from the focus of the earthquake in all directions. The
waves can be so powerful they will reach all parts of the Earth and cause it
to vibrate like a turning fork.

Epicenter of an earthquake
Directly above the focus on the Earth's surface is the earthquake epicenter.
Earthquake waves start at he focus and travel outward in all directions.
Earthquake waves do not originate at the epicenter.

Intensity: The severity of earthquake shaking is assessed using

a descriptive scale the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

Magnitude: Earthquake size is a quantitative measure of the size of the

earthquake at its source. The Richter Magnitude Scale measures the amount of
seismic energy released by an earthquake.

What are the types of earthquakes?

Earthquakes can come in three main forms, depending on the plate movements
that occur beneath the earth's surface. They could occur on a Convergent
 Boundary, Divergent Boundary or a Transform Fault.

Convergent boundary:
Here, one plate is forced over another plate during movement creating a thrust
fault.

Divergent boundary:
Here, plates are forced apart each other, usually forming a Rift Zone. This kind is
common in ocean floors where new floors are created. An example is the Mid
Atlantic Ridge.

Transform fault:
Unlike divergent and convergent, the plates here slip by each other. This is also
called Strike-Slip.

Kinds of earthquake
We have many kinds of earthquake
such as earthquake caused by
tectonic, volcanic and explosion.The
kind of earthquake depends on the
geological area where it happens.

Among them, tectonic earthquakes is

most common one. This happens while
earth's crust rocks break because of
the geological strength created by
moving of the earth's plates. Volcanic
earthquakes happen exactly with
volcanic activity. Explosion earthquakes are the result of the collapse
earthquakes that are small earthquakes occurring in underground mines and
caverns. We will measure movement from large tectonic earthquakes by using
GPS and due to rocks on either side of a fault are offset during this kind of
earthquake .
 What Is the Difference Between Weather and
Climate?
Its a sweltering midsummer day. It must be global
warming, mutters someone. But is it the Earths
changing climate that has made the day so warm? Or,
is it just the weather that is so unbearable?

Weather is the mix of events that happen each day in

our atmosphere including temperature, rainfall and
humidity. Weather is not the same everywhere. Perhaps
it is hot, dry and sunny today where you live, but in
other parts of the world it is cloudy, raining or even
snowing. Everyday, weather events are recorded and
predicted by meteorologists worldwide.

Climate in your place on the globe controls the weather where you live.
Climate is the average weather pattern in a place over many years. So, the
climate of Antarctica is quite different than the climate of a tropical island. Hot
summer days are quite typical of climates in many regions of the world, even
without the effects of global warming.

Climates are changing because our Earth is warming, according to the

research of scientists. Does this contribute to a warm summer day? It may,
however global climate change is actually much more complicated than that
because a change in the temperature can cause changes in other weather
elements such as clouds or precipitation.
Lopez West Elementary School Bldg. 1
Lopez, Quezon

Submitted by:
Christopher John Ablitas
Grade VI- SPED FL

Submitted to:
Mrs. Flores Capucion