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Earth's layers
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Crust | the outermost layer of rock of which a planet consists, especially the part of the earth above the mantle. |
Mantle | the region of the earth's interior between the crust and the core, believed to consist of hot, dense silicate rocks |
Convection | the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat. |
Core | the dense central region of a planet, especially the nickel–iron inner part of the earth. |
Lithosphere | the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. |
Asthenosphere | the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur. |
Mesosphere | the region of the earth's atmosphere above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere, between about 30 and 50 miles (50 and 80 km) in altitude. |