Earth, Our Environment - Class Notes

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Chapter 1, The Changing Planet - 02

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Elementary Earth Structure

To understand plate tectonics and to set up some common terminology for our discussions, we must review some basic facts about Earth.

Generally, we describe the "first-order" structure of Earth using two classifications:

• Chemical (Compositional) Stratification
  
• Strength (Rheologic) Stratification
  
  • Chemistry:

    • Crust (rocky)
    • Mantle (rocky)
    • Core (iron)

  • Strength:

    • Lithosphere
    • Asthenosphere
      

• Lithosphere is the "strong" outer part of Earth, about 100-200 km thick.
• Asthenosphere is a "weak" region beneath the lithosphere.

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