Science 1st Prelim Flashcards
The 4 major layers of the Earth
Crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core
Composed of lithosphere major and minor blocks
Tectonic Plates
The outermost layer of the Earth
Crust
5 - 70 km thick
Crust
A semisolid, rocky, and very hot layer
Mantle
2700 km thick
Mantle
Layer that is liquid, and is made of molten nickel and iron
Outer core
2270 km thick
Outer core
The center of Earth, and has the hottest temperature
Inner core
Diameter of 1220 km, and mostly composed of solid iron
Inner core
Interface between the layers of crust and the upper mantle
Mohorovicic discontinuity
Boundary between the lower mantle and the outer core
Gutenberg discontinuity
Located between the liquid outer core and solid inner core
Lehmann discontinuity
Only travels in the surface
Surface waves
Travels through the inner layers of the planet
Body waves
Two types of body waves
P and S waves
First to be felt, travels at speed 1.5 and 8 km per second
Primary (P) waves
Felt upside-down in motion, also called as transverse waves
Secondary (S) waves
Is a supercontinent
Pangaea
All of Earth or all lands
Pangaea
Is a superocean
Panthalassa
All seas
Panthalassa
Earth cooled after its formation, its surface wrinkled, these wrinkles being the mountains on Earth’s surface
Contraction theory
Who proposed the theory of continental drift in 1912
Alfred Wegener