When you look at the Earth, you might think that it is one giant and solid planet but that isn’t true! The Earth is made up of many, many layers and the Earth’s crust is the part of the Earth that is the outermost layer. This is the layer of the Earth that people, animals, and insects live. This part of the Earth also has mountains, oceans, and more.
The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. This layer is thinner than the other layers and it is about 5 kilometers to 70 kilometers thick.
We live on what is called the continental crust which is part of the layer of the Earth. The continental crust is made up of different rocks but mostly of silica and alumina. The silica and alumina of the Earth’s Crust are called “sial.”
The crust is the layer of the Earth that people live on. The crust also has the sea, soil, mountains, oceans, and more. The crust is around 305 miles thick in the ocean.
It is important to understand that the lithosphere is the crust and part of the mantle. The lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates or plates that float on top of the mantle.
These plates move and hit into each other and the plates sometimes go underneath each other or slide on top of each other. These plates are called tectonic plates.
There are around 10-20 different plates that are all moving at different times and speeds on the Earth. When these plates move, it can cause different things to happen such as:
The fastest-moving plate is the Cocos plate and it moves around eight inches each year.
The slowest-moving plate is the Eurasian plate which only moves less than an inch each year.
The crust of the Earth is the outermost layer of the planet. The crust only makes up around 1% of the whole Earth. Each layer is different and has different types of rocks and that is what makes them different form each other.
The Continental Crust is part of the Earth’s crust. This area is part of the crust that is covered by the land that we walk on. The Continental Crust is the continents that make up our world.
The Continental Crust is made mostly of granite and that makes it a lighter color than other parts of the Earth. On top of the granite is more rock called sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock is rock that is made up of parts of dead plants and dead animals that have begun to decay.
The Continental Crust is also made up of:
The Continental Crust is less thick than the Oceanic Crust even though it is much thicker than the Oceanic Crust.
The Continental Crust is what forms our continents and the continental shelf.
The Continental Shelf is part of the continents that are found under the water. This was made when there were ice ages.
Each continent is part of the sea and is like an island. Most of the island is above the water and this is why most of the continent is land that we live and walk on. In the continental shelf part of the continent though, that part is underwater and can go very deep under the water.
Some areas of the continents have seas that are found inside of the continent. These seas that are found in the continental shelf have the most sea life and the most nutrients. Some of the sea life and nutrients in the continental seas include:
Part of the crust that is under the ocean is called the Oceanic Crust. This area is made up of lava that is made of basalt. This lava flows underneath the ocean and has happened because of all of the volcanoes that have erupted for years and years.
Oceanic crust is a very heavy material and is very dark or black in color.
It is made up of different metals such as:
The Oceanic Crust is around 8 kilometers thick.
The Earth’s Crust is made up of many different kinds of rocks and metals. Some of the rocks include: