TRIVIAS:

LAYERS OF THE EARTH:

The CRUST is the outermost layer of the planet, the cooled and hardened part of

the Earth that ranges in depth from approximately 5-70 km (~3-44 miles)
The CRUST makes up only 1% of the entire volume of the Earth, though it

makes up the entire surface (the continents and the ocean floor).
The MANTLE, which makes up about 84% of Earth's volume, is predominantly

solid, but behaves as a very viscous fluid in geological time.

In the UPPER MANTLE, temperatures range between 500 to 900 C (932 to

1,652 F).
The OUTER CORE is believed to be composed of 80% iron, along with nickel

and some other lighter elements.

In the INNER CORE, the only reason why iron and other heavy metals can be
solid at such high temperatures of 5,400 C is because their melting
temperatures dramatically increase at the pressures present there, which
ranges from about 330 to 360 gigapascals.

PLATE TECTONICS:

Some 300 million years ago, plate movement drove Earths landmasses
together to form Pangaea (All-Earth). This was surrounded by the vast ocean

Panthalassa. About 100 million years later Pangaea began to break up.
Climate expert and geophysicist Alfred Wegener pioneered the theory of
continental drift in 1915. He became convinced that the continents were once

joined, and put forward the idea of Pangaea.

The edges of the plates that make up the lithosphere are called boundaries or
margins. New crust is mainly created at plate boundaries in mid-ocean, where

the sea floor is spreading.

At these mid-ocean ridges, where tectonic plates diverge, molten magma
erupts to bridge the gap. As the new rock forms, older rock is pushed aside,
and the sea floor widens, or spreads.

ROCK CYCLE

Rocks exposed on the Earths surface are slowly broken down into sediments by
water, ice, and wind. Meanwhile, new rocks are being created and recycled by

forces in the Earths crust and mantle, deep down under the surface.
Older rocks on the surface are destroyed by erosion, or by being pushed

down into the crust and melted.

Sedimentary rocks are made of particles of sediments such as sand and clay,

or the skeletons and shells of sea creatures.

When layers of loose sediment are buried and pressed down under more layers,

the particles slowly cement together and lithify (form rock).

Igneous rocks are created when magma (molten rock under the Earths crust)

cools and becomes solid.

Extrusive igneous rocks form when magma reaches the surface and cools
quickly. Fast cooling produces fine-grained rocks. Intrusive igneous rocks

form when magma cools slowly underground.

Contact metamorphic rocks are produced when rocks are heated by magma
rising through the crust. Rocks that are folded or crushed by immense
pressure deep in the crust are called regional metamorphic rocks.

VOLCANOES:

Volcanoes are vents (openings) in the ground from which magma (molten
rock), ash, gas, and rock fragments surge upwards, in an event called an

eruption.
Volcanoes are often found at boundaries between the plates in Earths crust.
Volcanic eruptions produce volcanoes of different shapes, depending on the

type of eruption and the regions geology.

Hydrothermal Activity occurs where underground water is heated by rising
magma. Hydrothermal activity on land produces hot springs, geyser, and pools
of bubbling mud.

WATER CYCLE:

The sun is the driving force of the water cycle.

Whenever water changes from one state to another and moves from one place to
another, it either gives off energy or absorbs energy.

Transpiration is the process by which water evaporates from plant leaves into

the atmosphere.
Aquifers are underground water reservoirs made of rocks and minerals that

store freshwater.
Really old groundwater is called fossil water.
Water is constantly being recycled so the water you drink today could be the
same water dinosaurs drank millions of years ago.