EARTHSC 1G03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Continental Crust, Oceanic Crust, Isostasy

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: EARTHSC 1G03
• Professor: Maureen Padden

Document Summary

Mantle is huge, makes up most of mass and volume of planet. Kind of upper mantle attaches to crust and acts different. Riding part of upper mantle that breaks (from earth quick waves) Makes up the lithosphere. ( rock) the rocky part of the planet. The asthenosphere is under it (still mantle) but behaves like plastic, kinda like a fluid. The composition of (whole) earth is about equal parts of oxygen and iron. The earth crust (all of it) if you sort out the elements. Earths crust is a lot lighter then the whole earth because whole earth is heavier from more metal. Heavy elements going down to the core, and lighter ones coming up and cooling and becoming solid. Continental crust is lighter then oceanic crust. Continental crust is thicker than oceanic crust. Ocean crust is mostly slabs (denser than continental because richer in iron and magnesium.