Earths Structure & Formation

H2O makes up much of surface, d=1000kg/m^3Rock on continents and sea floor, d=2-4000kg/m^3

Interior:Thick mantle (hot, dense silicate rock) predominantly solid but behaves like a viscous liquid.-Surrounds a smaller 2-part core

                   Surface:Crust - relatively thin, comprising solid continents and sea floorHydrosphere - contains liquid oceans & accounts for 70% of planets total surface areaAtmosphere - air within 50km of surfaceMagnetosphere - zone of charged particles trapped by magnetosphere (extending 1000's km into space)

What evidence do we have that Earth was partially or wholly molten by the time it reached it's present size? Earth formed by capturing material from it's surroundings and growing in mass as it grew it's gravitational field strengthened and speed increased This process generated a lot of heat so Earth would have been partially/wholly molten by the time it reached it's present size.

What sources of heat were important in formation of the Earth? Question above is 1st source of heat After this, higher density matter sank to the core and even more gravitational energy was released --> increase in interior temperature Radioactivity - release of energy by certain rare, heavy elements eg. Uranium as they decay into lighter elements - heat built up in interior adding to energy left by Earths formation.

New Page