Earth

By Dylan Rolls
 Atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere is 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent other gases like argon, carbon
dioxide, and neon. It surrounds the planet, making breathable air for species on our planet, like us, to thrive and
survive. It’s thought that the atmosphere that surrounds the Earth has been there since its formation 4.5 billion
years ago. However, our atmosphere has developed and changed a lot through time. Earth’s atmosphere is
estimated to weight around 5.5 quadrillion tons as of now. Most of this weight is held in the Troposphere,
which is the level closest to Earth. The activity of humans, like burning fossil fuels, has a big effect on the
atmosphere that surrounds us. The named atmosphere comes from the Ancient Greek word atmos, meaning
vapor, and sphaira, meaning sphere. Our wind and clouds are all a result of our atmosphere – the wind is
caused by differences in atmospheric pressure. The atmosphere extends out from the surface to a distance of
around 10,000km. 420 million years ago, the change in atmosphere caused the first major extinction, which
wiped out 23% of all marine animals. There used to be a lot more oxygen in our air, and the level is declining
according to scientists. The mesosphere has the coldest temperature of the atmosphere that surrounds our entire
planet, where the temperatures decrease to as low as -173°. We refer to the gases that help Earth maintain a
temperature that’s habitable for humans as greenhouse gases. They retain enough heat from the Sun that helps
to make our coldest temperatures actually not that cold.
 Surface
Most of the Earth surface, about 70%, is covered with water. The remaining 30% is made up of the seven
continental landmasses. Underneath the water that fills the oceans, and the dirt and plants that cover the
continents, the Earth’s surface layer is made of rock. This outer layer formed a hard, rocky crust as lava cooled
about 4.5 billion years ago. This crust is broken into many large plates(tectonic plates) that move slowly
relative to each other. The mountain ranges around the world formed when two plates collided and their edges
are forced up. Many other surface features are the result of the movement of these tectonic plates. The plates
move anywhere from 25 to 100 mm per year. About 250 million years ago most of the land was connected
together. Earth has volcanoes, mountains, and valleys. Earth's lithosphere, which includes the crust (both
continental and oceanic) and the upper mantle, is divided into huge plates that are constantly moving.
 Crust
In geological studies, the term ‘crust’ refers to the outermost layer of the planet or other celestial bodies such as
natural satellites. In case of the Earth, it is the layer on which we live, typically characterized by the presence
of gelogical landforms such as mountains, plateaus, seabed, etc. The Earth’s crust is made of three types of
rocks; igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks. It is the thinnest layer of the Earth, and
typically forms mere 1 percent of the total volume of the planet. As you go through more of such Earth’s crust
facts given below, you will come across some of the most amazing attributes of our planet that you must have
never heard before. In a broad sense, the Earth’s crust is divided into two types – continental crust, which
forms continents and continental shelves, and oceanic crust, which forms the surface of the oceans basins on
the planet. While the continental crust is made up of felsic rocks or sial (rich in silicon and aluminum), oceanic
crust is made up of mafic rocks or sima (rich in iron and magnesium). In terms of volume, the continental
crust-oceanic crust ratio stands at 70:30, with the former constituting for 70 percent of the crust. The thickness
of the Earth’s crust varies from one region to another; with the thickness of continental crust ranging between
20-30 miles, and oceanic crust ranging between 3-6 miles on an average, and that explains the 70:30 ratio
between the two.
 Upper and Lower Mantle
The upper mantle starts at the Moho boundary. This boundary was discovered by the Croatian seismologist,
Andrija Mohorovicic. Earthquake waves travel at a slower speed prior to reaching this boundary. The average
depth of the crust is 32 kilometers and 8 kilometers beneath ocean basins. The irregular layer's maximum
thickness is approximately 200 km. It was discovered in 1909. This boundary is the crust-mantle boundary.The
upper mantle and the crust are both part of the lithosphere. The lithosphere is made of rigid rocks. Beneath the
Moho boundary the rocks in the upper mantle flow more like glass when it is heated. The rocks in this part of
the mantle will also break apart creating deep earthquakes. Rocks in the mantle are rich in iron and magnesium
minerals compared to continental rocks. The mantle rocks are typically peridotite and dunite in the upper
mantle down to a depth of about 410 kilometers. The transition zone between the upper and lower mantle is at
a depth of about 220 km. Inge Lehmann was the first to observe evidence of this boundary. The lower mantle
reaches a depth of 2,890 km. where it transitions into the Earth's outer core.
 Inner and Outer Core
The outer core, one of the many layers of the Earth, is approximately 1,430 miles (2,300 kilometers) thick and
between 7,200 and 9,000 F. According to National Geographic, the outer core is mostly composed of iron and
nickel in a liquid alloy form. The outer core is one of the most central layers, and is located about 1,800 miles
below the Earth’s surface, the top-most surface of the Earth. The inner core is the hottest region and the
innermost region of the Earth. The outer core surrounds the inner core and borders the mantle, which is the
fourth region and the closest region to the Earth’s crust. Both the outer and inner cores are made almost entirely
of nickel and iron. The inner core is solid, whereas the outer core is liquid. Unlike the inner core, the outer core
is not under enough pressure to condense it into solid metal. Instead, it remains in a liquid form surrounding the
inner core. However, the liquid metal form of the outer core is also caused by its extremely hot temperature,
which is about four times hotter than lava. The outer core was also measured to be about 50 times stronger than
the Earth’s magnetic field at the surface. The inner core is the innermost layer of the Earth. It helps generate the
Earth's magnetic field through interactions with the outer core. It is also slowly growing (1 mm/yr.) as the
Earth cools.