Planet Earth: Facts and Figures

Shape:
-not exact sphere; spinning motion produces a shift flattening
at the poles and a slight bulging at the equator

*diameter of the equator: 12, 757km

*diameter at the poles: 12, 714 km

Mean distance from the sun: 150 millions of km

Density: 5.5g/cm3
 Surface of the Earth:

Land Area: 148 million km (29% of surface)

Sea Area: 362 million km (71% of surface)

Largest Continent: Asia
Largest Ocean: Pacific Ocean
Highest Mountain Peak: Mount Everest (Himalayas)
Deepest Ocean Floor: Mariana Trench (Pacific)
 The Mobile Geosphere

Early 20th century

-Continental Drift Theory

-idea that the continents move about the face of

the Earth

-contradicted the established view that the

continents and ocean basins are
permanent and stationary features on the
face of the Earth
50 years later- Plate Tectonics Theory

 theory that provided geologists with the 1st

comprehensive model of Earth’s interior workings

 Earth’s rigid outer shell (lithosphere) is broken into

numerous slabs called lithospheric plates, which are
in continual motion
Plate motion- plates move relative to each
other at a very slow but continuous rate
that averages about 5cm/year

since plates move as a coherent units

relative to all other plates, they interact
along their margins
Plate boundaries- a point where all interaction among
individual plates occurs

3 Types of Plate Boundaries

Convergent Plate Boundaries- 2 plates move toward one

another, where one of the plates sinks beneath the other
plate along what is known as subduction zone

Divergent Plate Boundaries- plates move apart leaving a

gap between them

Transform Plate Boundaries- sites where plates slide

sideways past each other, scraping and deforming as
they pass
 Rock Cycle
-a means of viewing many of the
interrelationships in geology

-illustrates the origin of the 3 basic rock

types and the role of various geologic
processes in transforming one rock
type into another
 3 Basic Rock Types

Igneous Rock- forms from magma that cools and

solidifies in a process called crystallization

Sedimentary Rock- forms when the products of

weathering, called sediment, undergo
Lithification

Metamorphic Rock- forms from rock that has

been subjected to great pressure and heat in a
process called metamorphism
 ISOSTASY

Greek words “isos” – equal and “stasis”- standstill

Isostasy
-state of gravitational equilibrium between Earth’s
crust and mantle such that the crust “floats” at
an elevation that depends on its thickness
and density

-isostatic equilibrium

-not a process that upsets equilibrium, but is one that

restores it (negative feedback)
Airy Hypothesis

- Earth’s crust is a more rigid shell floating on

a more liquid substratum of greater
density

-Sir George Biddell Airy, an English

mathematician and astronomer, assumed
that the crust has a uniform density
throughout
Airy Hypothesis

*the thickness of the crustal layer is not uniform- the

thicker parts of the crust sink deeper into the
substratum, while the thinner parts are buoyed
up by it

-according to this hypothesis: *Mountains have roots

below the surface that are much larger than
their surface expression

-analogy: Iceberg floating on water, in which the

greater part of the iceberg is underwater
Pratt Hypothesis

-John Henry Pratt (English mathematician and

Anglican missionary)

-supposes that the Earth’s crust has a uniform

thickness below sea level with its base
everywhere supporting an equal weight per
unit area at a depth of compensation
Pratt Hypothesis

-says that the areas of the earth of lesser

density, such as mountain ranges,
project higher above sea level than
those of greater density

-the explanation for this was that the

mountains resulted from the upward
expansion of locally heated crustal
material, which had a larger volume but
a lower density after it has cooled