Earth is the planet we live on, one of eight planets in our solar system and the only known

place in the universe to support life.

Earth is the third planet from the sun, after Mercury and Venus and before Mars. It is
about 150 million kilometers (about 93 million miles) from the sun. This distance, called
an astronomical unit (AU), is a standard unit of measurement in astronomy. Earth is one
AU from the sun. The planet Jupiter is about 5.2 AU from the sun—about 778 million
kilometers (483.5 million miles).

Earth is the largest and most massive of the rocky inner planets, although it is dwarfed by
the gas giants beyond the Asteroid Belt. Its diameter is about 12,700 kilometers (7,900
miles), and its mass is about 5.97×1024 kilograms (6.58×1021 tons). In contrast, Jupiter,
the largest planet in the solar system, has a diameter of 143,000 kilometers (88,850
miles), and its mass is about 1,898×1024 kilograms (2093×1021 tons).

Earth is an oblate spheroid. This means it is spherical in shape, but not perfectly round.
It has a slightly greater radius at the Equator, the imaginary line running horizontally
around the middle of the planet. In addition to bulging in the middle, Earth’s poles are
slightly flattened. The geoid describes the model shape of Earth, and is used to calculate
precise surface locations.

Earth has one natural satellite, the Moon. Earth is the only planet in the solar system to
have one moon. Venus and Mercury do not have any moons, for example, while Jupiter
and Saturn each have more than a dozen.

Planet Earth

Interior
Earth’s interior is a complex structure of superheated rocks. Most geologists recognize
three major layers: the dense core, the bulky mantle, and the brittle crust. No one has
ever ventured below Earth’s crust.

Earth’s core is mostly made of iron and nickel. It consists of a solid center surrounded by
an outer layer of liquid. The core is found about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) below
Earth’s surface, and has a radius of about 3,485 kilometers (2,165 miles).

A mantle of heavy rock (mostly silicates) surrounds the core. The mantle is about 2,900
kilometers (1,802 miles) thick, and makes up a whopping 84% of Earth’s total volume.
Parts of the mantle are molten, meaning they are composed of partly melted rock. The
mantle’s molten rock is constantly in motion. It is forced to the surface during volcanic
eruptions and at mid-ocean ridges.

Earth’s crust is the planet’s thinnest layer, accounting for just 1% of Earth’s mass. There
are two kinds of crust: thin, dense oceanic crust and thick, less-dense continental crust.
Oceanic crust extends about 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles) beneath the ocean floor.
Continental crust is about 35 to 70 kilometers (22 to 44 miles) thick.
Exterior: Tectonic Activity
The crust is covered by a series of constantly moving tectonic plates. New crust is created
along mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys, where plates pull apart from each other in a
process called rifting. Plates slide above and below each other in a process
called subduction. They crash against each other in a process called faulting.

Tectonic activity such as subduction and faulting has shaped the crust into a variety
of landscapes. Earth’s highest point is Mount Everest, Nepal, which soars 8,850
kilometers (29,035 feet) in the Himalaya Mountains in Asia. Mount Everest continues to
grow every year, as subduction drives the Indo-Australian tectonic plate below the
Eurasian tectonic plate. Subduction also creates Earth’s deepest point, the Mariana
Trench, about 11 kilometers (6.9 miles) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The heavy
Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the small Mariana plate.

Plate tectonics are also responsible for landforms such as geysers, earthquakes,
and volcanoes. Tectonic activity around the Pacific plate, for instance, creates “Ring of
Fire.” This tectonically active area includes volcanoes such as Mount Fuji, Japan, and
earthquake-prone fault zones such as the west coast of the United States.

Revolution and Rotation

Each journey around the sun, a trip of about 940 million kilometers (584 million miles), is
called a revolution. A year on Earth is the time it takes to complete one revolution, about
365.25 days. Earth orbits the sun at a speedy rate of about 30 kilometers per second
(18.5 miles per second).

At the same time that it revolves around the sun, the Earth rotates on its own
axis. Rotation is when an object, such as a planet, turns around an invisible line running
down its center. Earth’s axis is vertical, running from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Earth makes one complete rotation about every 24 hours.

Earth rotates unevenly, spinning faster at the Equator than at the poles. At the Equator,
the Earth rotates at about 1,670 kilometers per hour (1,040 miles per hour), while at 45°
north, for example, (the approximate latitude of Green Bay, Wisconsin) the Earth rotates
at 1,180 kilometers per hour (733 miles per hour).

Earth’s rotation causes the periods of light and darkness we call day and night. The part
of the Earth facing the sun is in daylight; the part facing away from the sun is in darkness.
If the Earth did not rotate, one-half of the Earth would always be too hot to support life,
and the other half would be frozen. Earth rotates from west to east, so the sun appears
to rise in the east and set in the west.

In addition to Earth’s revolution and rotation periods, we experience light and darkness
due to Earth’s axis not being straight up-and-down. Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted 23.5°.
This tilt influences temperature changes and other weather patterns from season to
season.

The Spheres

Earth’s physical environment is often described in terms of spheres: the magnetosphere,

Magnetosphere
Earth’s magnetosphere describes the pocket of space surrounding our planet
where charged particles are controlled by Earth’s magnetic field.

The charged particles that interact with Earth’s magnetosphere are called the solar wind.
The pressure of the solar wind compresses the magnetosphere on the “dayside” of Earth
to about 10 Earth radii. The long tail of the magnetosphere on the “nightside” of Earth
stretches to hundreds of Earth radii. The most well-known aspect of the magnetosphere
are the charged particles that sometimes interact over its poles—the auroras, or Northern
and Southern Lights.

Atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere is a blanket of gases enveloping the Earth and retained by our
planet’s gravity. Atmospheric gases include nitrogen, water vapor, oxygen, and carbon
dioxide.

The atmosphere is responsible for temperature and other weather patterns on Earth. It
blocks most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation (UV), conducts solar
radiation and precipitation through constantly moving air masses, and keeps our planet’s
average surface temperature to about 15° Celsius (59° Fahrenheit).

The atmosphere has a layered structure. From the ground toward the sky, the layers are
the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Up to 75%
of the total mass of the atmosphere is in the troposphere, where most weather occurs.
The boundaries between the layers are not clearly defined, and change depending
on latitude and season.

Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere is composed of all the water on Earth. Nearly three-fourths of the Earth
is covered in water, most of it in the ocean. Less 3% of the hydrosphere is made up
of freshwater. Most freshwater is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica, the North
American island of Greenland, and the Arctic. Freshwater can also be found
underground, in chambers called aquifers, as well as rivers, lakes, and springs.

Water also circulates around the world as vapor. Water vapor can condense into clouds
and fall back to Earth as precipitation.
The hydrosphere helps regulate the Earth’s temperature and climate. The ocean absorbs
heat from the sun and interacts with the atmosphere to move it around the Earth in air
currents.

Lithosphere
The lithosphere is Earth’s solid shell. The crust and the upper portion of the mantle form
the lithosphere. It extends from Earth’s surface to between 50 and 280 kilometers (31 to
174 miles) below it. The difference in thickness accounts for both thin oceanic and thicker
continental crust.

The rocks and minerals in Earth’s lithosphere are made of many elements. Rocks with
oxygen and silicon, the most abundant elements in the lithosphere, are called
silicates. Quartz is the most common silicate in the lithosphere—and the most common
type of rock on Earth.

Cycles on Earth

Almost all materials on Earth are constantly being recycled. The three most common
cycles are the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and the rock cycle.

Water Cycle
The water cycle involves three main phases, related to the three states of water: solid,
liquid, and gas. Ice, or solid water, is most common near the poles and at high altitudes.
Ice sheets and glaciers hold the most solid water.

Ice sheets and glaciers melt, transforming into liquid water. The most abundant liquid
water on the planet is in the ocean, although lakes, rivers, and underground aquifers also
hold liquid water. Life on Earth is dependent on a supply of liquid water. Most organisms,
in fact, are made up mostly of liquid water, called body water. The human body is about
50% to 60% body water. In addition to survival and hygiene, people use liquid water
for energy and transportation.

The third phase of the water cycle occurs as liquid water evaporates. Evaporation is the
process of a liquid turning into a gas, or vapor. Water vapor is invisible and makes up part
of the atmosphere. As water vapor condenses, or turns back into liquid, pockets of vapor
become visible as clouds and fog. Eventually, clouds and fog become saturated, or full of
liquid water. This liquid water falls to Earth as precipitation. It can then enter a body of
water, such as an ocean or lake, or freeze and become part of a glacier or ice sheet. The
water cycle starts again.

Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle involves the exchange of the element carbon through the Earth’s
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Carbon, essential for all life on Earth, enters
the biosphere many ways. Carbon is one of the gases that make up the atmosphere. It is
also ejected during the eruption of volcanoes and ocean vents.
All living or once-living materials contain carbon. These materials are organic. Plants and
other autotrophs depend on carbon dioxide to create nutrients in a process
called photosynthesis. These nutrients contain carbon. Animals and other organisms that
consume autotrophs obtain carbon. Fossil fuels, the remains of ancient plants and
animals, contain very high amounts of carbon.

As organisms die and decompose, they release carbon into the ocean, soil, or
atmosphere. Plants and other autotrophs use this carbon for photosynthesis, starting the
carbon cycle again.

Rock Cycle
The rock cycle is a process that explains the relationship between the three main types
of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Unlike water in the water cycle and or
carbon in the carbon cycle, not all rocks are recycled in different forms. There are some
rocks that have been in their present form since soon after the Earth cooled. These stable
rock formations are called cratons.

Igneous rocks are formed as lava hardens. Lava is molten rock ejected by volcanoes
during eruptions. Granite and basalt are common types of igneous rocks. Igneous rocks
can be broken apart by the forces of erosion and weathering. Winds or ocean currents
may then transport these tiny rocks (sand and dust) to a different location.

Sedimentary rocks are created from millions of tiny particles slowly building up over time.
Igneous rocks can become sedimentary by collecting with other rocks into layers.
Sedimentary rocks include sandstone and limestone.

Metamorphic rocks are formed when rocks are subjected to intense heat and pressure.
The rocks change (undergo metamorphosis) to become a new type of rock. Marble, for
example, is a metamorphic rock created from rock that was once limestone, a
sedimentary rock.

Earth’s Evolution

Earth and the rest of the solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a huge,
spinning cloud of gas and dust.

Over a period of about 10 million years, the dense center of the cloud grew very hot. This
massive center became the sun. The rest of the particles and objects continued to revolve
around the sun, colliding with each other in clumps. Eventually, these clumps compressed
into planets, asteroids, and moons. This process generated a lot of heat.

Eventually, Earth began to cool and its materials began to separate. Lighter materials
floated upward and formed a thin crust. Heavier materials sank toward the Earth’s center.
Eventually, three main layers formed: the core, the mantle, and the crust.
As Earth’s internal structure developed, gases released from the interior mixed together,
forming a thick, steamy atmosphere around the planet. Water vapor condensed, and
was augmented by water from asteroids and comets that continued to crash to Earth.
Rain began to fall and liquid water slowly filled basins in Earth’s crust, forming
a primitive ocean that covered most of the planet. Today, ocean waters continue to cover
nearly three-quarters of our planet.

The end of the Earth will come with the end of the sun. In a few billion years, the sun will
no longer be able to sustain the nuclear reactions that keep its mass
and luminosity consistent. First, the sun will lose more than a quarter of its mass, which
will loosen its gravitational hold on Earth. Earth’s orbit will widen to about 1.7AU. But the
sun will also gain volume, expanding to about 250 times its current size. The sun in
this red giant phase will drag Earth into its own fiery atmosphere, destroying the planet.

Eras on Earth
Paleontologists, geologists, and other scientists divide the Earth’s history into time
periods. The largest time period is the supereon, and only applies to one unit of time, the
Precambrian. Eons, eras, and periods are smaller units of geologic time.

Most of Earth’s history took place in the Precambrian, which began when the Earth was
cooling and ended about 542 million years ago. Life began in the Precambrian, in the
forms of bacteria and other single-celled organisms. Fossils from the Precambrian are
rare and difficult to study. The Precambrian supereon is usually broken into three eons:
the Hadean, the Archaean, and the Proterozoic.

We are currently living in the Phanerozoic eon.

The first major era of the Phanerozoic is called the Paleozoic, and the Cambrian is the
first period of the Paleozoic era. “The Cambrian Explosion of Life” was
the rapid appearance of almost all forms of life. Paleontologists and geologists have
studied fossils of archaea, bacteria, algae, fungi, plants, and animals that lived during the
Cambrian period. The Cambrian was followed by the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian,
Carboniferous, and Permian periods.

The Mesozoic era began about 251 million years ago. This was the era when dinosaurs
flourished. The Mezozoic has three periods: the Triassic, the Jurassic, and the
Cretaceous.

We currently live in the Cenozoic era, which began about 65 million years ago. The
Cenozoic is generally marked by three periods: the Paleogene, the Neogene, and
the Quaternary. We live in the Quaternary period, which began about 2.5 million years
ago. All ancestors of Homo sapiens (modern humans) evolved during the Quaternary.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/earth/
National Geographic Science: Earth
NASA: Earth Fact Sheet
NASA: Earth Observatory