EESA06H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Peridotite, Ultramafic Rock, Himalayas
Document Summary
Only rocks geoscientists can study directly in place are earth"s crust: earth"s crust is a think skin of rock, making less than 1% of the earth"s total volume. Mantle rocks brought to earth"s surface in basalt flows. Diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes and by tectonic attachment of lower parts of the oceanic lithosphere to the continental crust give geoscientist a glimpse of what underlying mantle might look like. Evidence of geophysics suggest that the earth is divided into three major layers: crust on the surface, rocky mantle beneath the crust, metallic core at the centre. The crust and the uppermost mantle can be conveniently divided into the brittle lithosphere and the plastic asthenosphere. Earth has a radius of about 6 370 km. Geophysics- the application of physical laws and principles to a study of the earth: includes the study of seismic waves and earth"s magnetic field, gravity and heat.
