OUR LADY OF GRACE SCHOOL
Manzon, San Carlos City, Pangasinan
S.Y. 2021-2022
“EVERY LEARNER MATTERS, EVERY MOMENT COUNTS”
QUARTER 1: LEARNING MODULE 4
SCIENCE 10
Lesson 4: INTERNAL STRUCTURE
Focus Point:
- Gain conceptual understanding of the internal structure and processes of Earth
- Illustrate the composition of Earth using various materials
- Summarize how the magnetic field is produced inside Earth
- Prove the theory that Earth is composed of different layers using other geological events
The structure of the earth is divided into four major components: the crust, the mantle, the
outer core, and the inner core. Each layer has a unique chemical composition, physical state, and
can impact life on Earth's surface. Movement in the mantle caused by variations in heat from the
core, cause the plates to shift, which can cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. These natural
hazards then change our landscape, and in some cases, threaten lives and property.
Lithosphere – is composed of both the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves as a
brittle, rigid solid.
Asthenosphere – partially molten upper mantle material that behaves plastically and can flow.
CRUST
- Earth’s outer surface
- a cold, thin, brittle outer shell made of rock
- very thin, relative to the radius of the planet
- like the skin of an apple. It is very thin compared to the other three layers.
- The crust makes up 1% of the Earth.
- broken into many pieces called plates.
- There are two very different types of crust, each with its own distinctive physical and
chemical properties.
1
1. Oceanic crust – composed of magma that erupts on the seafloor to create basalt lava
flows or cools deeper down to create the intrusive igneous rock gabbro. Sediments,
primarily muds and the shells of tiny sea creatures, coat the seafloor.
2. Continental crust – made up of many different types of igneous, metamorphic, and
sedimentary rocks. The average composition is granite, which is much less dense than
the mafic igneous rocks of the oceanic crust.
MANTLE
- it is made of solid rock
- it is hot
- made of rock based on evidence from seismic waves, heat flow, and meteorites
- extremely hot because of the heat flowing outward from it and because of its physical
properties
- The volume of this region is about 84% of the Earth’s total volume
CORE
- At the planet’s center lies a dense metallic core
- Metal
- scientists know that the outer core is liquid and the inner core is solid because S-waves
stop at the inner core. The strong magnetic field is caused by convection in the liquid outer
core.
- The inner core is 1 216 km thick, has a temperature of up to 4 000°C and is made
of solid iron with some nickel.
- The outer core is 2 270 km thick, has a temperature of up to 3 600°C and is made
of liquid iron with some nickel. Between these two layers is the liquid-solid boundary.
The outer core is liquid because there is less pressure pushing on it than on the inner
core. The solid inner core rotates within the liquid outer core. This giant ball of rotating
solid iron and nickel generates the Earth’s magnetic field. The core is also the Earth's
source of internal heat because it contains radioactive materials that release heat as
they break down into more stable substances.
Earth’s Structure Worksheet
1.
2.
3.
4.
2. _____________ – Divided into two sub regions,
upper and lower, this dense layer made of hot semi
rock is located directly below the ________ and is
about 1800 miles thick.
Lithosphere – made up of the crust and tiny bit of the
1. ____________ – hard and rigid, the Earth’s mantle, this layer is divided into several constantly
outermost and ____________ layer. Only a few (very slowly) moving plates of ___________
miles (5 km) thick under the oceans and ________ that hold the continents and oceans
averaging 20 miles thick under the continents.
Asthenosphere – The plates of the lithosphere move
(_____________) on this hot, malleable semi liquid
2 zone in the upper mantle, directly below the
lithosphere.
3. _________ _________ – The only
__________layer of the Earth – a sea of mostly
iron and nickel. It is roughly 1800 – 3200 miles
below the surface and about 1400 miles thick.
Temperatures reach __________° C.
4. __________ ________ – An extremely hot,
solid sphere of mostly ________ and __________
at the center of the Earth. It is 3200 to 2to 3960
miles below the surface and about 750 miles in
diameter.
Essay :
1.How are the asthenosphere and the lithosphere different?
2.Explain why scientists believe the Earth's outer core to be molten, or liquid metal?
Lesson 5: MECHANISM OF PLATE TECTONICS
Focus Point:
- Evaluate the different theories explaining the possible cause of plate tectonics
- Demonstrate a convection current
- Understand the importance of plate tectonics to the survival of Earth and its inhabitants
Plate Tectonic Theory – regarded as the most important theory ever developed in the field of geology.
Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Global Positioning System – geodetic techniques
Seismic Tomography – technique of inverting seismological data to retrieve a three-dimensional image
of the anomalies in seismic wave velocity within the media they cross.
Two major thoughts that were raised to explain the mechanism of tectonic plates:
1. Mantle Convection Theory - Mantle convection involves competition between diffusion of heat
(thermal conductivity), resistance to motion (viscosity), and buoyancy forces (thermal expansivity).
Convection - is the process by which heat travels through air, water, and other gases and
liquids.
Proposed by Arthur Holmes in 1929
2. Slab Pull Theory – states that gravity and the plates themselves are the ones responsible for the plate
tectonics through subduction process.
Indications of Tectonic Activity
Among the classes of evidence for continental drift and the
underlying plate tectonics we may list
3
1. The shapes of many continents are such that they look like they are separated pieces of a jig-saw puzzle.
For example, look in the adjacent map at the shape of the east coast of North and South America relative
to the shape of the west coast of Africa and Europe.
2. Many fossil comparisons along the edges of continents that look like they fit together suggest species
similarities that would only make sense if the two continents were joined at some point in the past.
3. There is a large amount of seismic, volcanic, and geothermal activity along the conjectured plate
boundaries. This is shown clearly below in the figure labeled "Crustal plate boundaries" where the
epicenters of earthquakes above Richter magnitude 5.0 are plotted for a 10-year period. The
concentration is striking, and indeed this plot serves to define the plate boundaries extremely well.
Plate tectonic motion, which may be only centimeters per century, is now being studied by careful laser ranging
techniques that are capable of detecting such small motions.
Activity time !!!
