Introduction

Find out about the Earth's structure and oceans!

Imagine that we can cut a "slice" of the Earth out. This is a simplified version of what we would see! The planet is divided into four layers.

You're already familiar with the Earth's crust - the building you're in right now is built on it! That's what we call "Continental Crust" because it's what the continents are made of. As you may have guessed, "Oceanic Crust" is underwater. The crust of the Earth is very thin compared to the other layers - and the oceanic crust is even thinner than continental crust.

The next layer under the crust is the "Mantle." The mantle extends nearly halfway down to the center of the Earth and is made of hot rocks.

The core of the earth consists of two parts - the "Inner Core" and "Outer Core." The inner core is solid, but the outer core is made of molten rock - or lava!

Now that you know what the planet looks like on the inside...

Check out the outside!!!

There are four major water bodies we call oceans... do you know what they are?

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean - it holds more water than the other 3 oceans combined!

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest ocean - it covers about half as much surface area as the Pacific.

The Indian Ocean is much smaller than the Pacific, but it's just as deep as the Atlantic!

The Arctic Ocean is very small compared to the other 3 oceans - and it's very cold too!

There are many bodies of water not listed on this map (the map just isn't big enough to list them all)- you may have heard of the Gulf Of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea, or the Arabian Sea. The Gulf of Mexico is south of the United States. The Mediterranean Sea is south of Europe. The Caribbean Sea is just north of South America. The Arabian Sea is in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and includes the Persian Gulf.

DID YOU KNOW?

71% of the surface of the planet (more than two-thirds) is covered with water!

The deepest point in all the oceans is in the Pacific - it's called the Mariana Trench and is 11 km deep at it's deepest point!

If you have questions, send mail to Mat!

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Mat Gunshor

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Space Science and Engineering Center