8/25/13

What are the Crust & Mantle

made of?
Silicate Rock:
Rock made with the silicon-oxygen
tetrahedron.

Silicate rocks will also have

varying amounts of iron:

The Earths Interior

Felsic - Less than 31% Fe/Mg content.

Intermediate 32-47% Fe/Mg content.
Mac 48-54% Fe/Mg content.
Ultramac greater than 55% Fe/Mg content

As dened by its
chemical composi>on.

USGS

Mohorovii Discon>nuity
Note: Mojo for short

Boundary between the Earths crust

and the mantle.

Bri4le Mantle

Con>nental Crust Yosemite, CA (Half Dome)

Con7nental Crust
Thickness: 30-70 km
Thickest at mountains

Lightest of all layers

Density: 2.7 g /cm3
(Felsic)

Oldest of all layers

Up to 3.8 billion years
old

Best understanding
Its right underneath our
feet!

Note: Rocks behave

In a brifle manner
Above and below the
Mojo.

NOAA

USGS

Crustal
Thickness
and
Depth to
the Mojo

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Ocean Crust Juan de Fuca Ridge (Pacic)

Oceanic Crust
Thickness is 3-10 km
Denser
3.0 g /cm3 (Mac)

Very young
Less than 200 million
years old.

Primarily Igneous
Mid-ocean Ridge
Volcanism
~75% of all volcanism
happens here.
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South Pacic, 2009 (NOAA)

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Core

Mantle
Composi>on

Composi>on

Mostly iron and

nickel. (90%)

Ultramac

Very thick

Very thick!

2,883 km
or ~1791 miles

3,486 km
or ~2,160 miles

Density

Density
11 g /cm3

3.3 g /cm3

Physical Proper>es: How rocks respond to

stress.
Liquids
The state of mafer in which molecules ow
freely by one another and lack crystal
structure.

Solids

The Earths Interior

Brifle
Breaks under stress

As dened by its physical proper>es...

Duc>le
Flows under stress, but not freely
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Lithosphere

Flow in the solid state.

Before

Earths cool, rigid

brifle outer layer
Includes both:

Aper

Flow in the solid state for Earths layers is MUCH slower than clay!

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Con>nental and
oceanic crust
the uppermost
cool and brifle
part of the mantle

(also brifle)

Duc>le

Reminder: The dierence between the crust and the

uppermost mantle is composi>onal only. They
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behave the same when stressed (brifle).

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Mesosphere (aka Lower Mantle)

Asthenosphere
Hot, duc>le and
slowly owing solid.
Moves
independently of the
lithosphere.
Moves very very
slowly compared to
the clay example.

Chemical Composi>on is similar to the

asthenosphere
Why?
(also brifle)

Duc>le

Temperature is hofer, but it does not melt

Why?

Flows even more slowly than the asthenosphere.

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Outer Core

Inner Core

Dense viscous liquid

Why is the outer core liquid even at
these extreme pressures?

Behaves as a solid
Immense pressure
strengthens
metallic minerals at
this depth.

Generates the Earths magne>c eld due

to the movement of metallic iron.

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Some important notes from lecture:

The lithosphere does not equal the crust!
These two layers are dened dierently and occupy
dierent (but overlapping) spaces in Earths interior.

The base of the lithosphere, the asthenosphere and

mesosphere are all ultramac (and therefore are all a
part of the mantle).
Plates are made of the en>re lithosphere, not just
the crust.
The asthenosphere and mesosphere are considered
solid because atoms are s>ll bonded together in a
crystalline larce.
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Evidence for Earths

Layers
By Physical Proper>es
By Composi>on
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Evidence for Layering by Physical

Proper>es

Primary Waves (P-waves)

Seismicity
Body Waves

Compressional waves
Can travel through both liquid and solid
Move faster than S-waves
Travels at dierent speeds through dierent mediums

Primary Waves
Secondary
Waves

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Secondary Waves (S-waves)

Transverse waves
Only travels through solids
Travels at dierent speeds through dierent mediums

The Evidence for Layering by Composi>on

What waves can do?

Crust
Field observa>ons
Ocean oor drilling

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Ophiolite Sequence

The Evidence for Layering by Composi>on

Mantle
Volcanic Erup>ons
Ophiolite Sequences

Photos above: Marin Headlands

Golden Gate NRA, CA

Photo above: Oranheli, Turkey

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The Evidence for Layering by Composi>on

Core
Meteorite Composi>on

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