ACTIVE PLANET

Active Planet

DOWN TO THE CORE

Earth formed from iron-rich asteroids that

smashed together to build the planet.
Early in its history it, melted, allowing
the heavy iron to sink and create
a metallic core. The core is
surrounded by lighter rock, with
the lightest forming Earths crust.
Most of the water on the planet
lies in huge oceans, and above
them is the layer of air that
forms the atmosphere.

Earth is a dynamic planet that is always

changing its form. Heat generated by nuclear

reactions deep below the surface creates hugely
powerful currents that keep Earths rocks on
the move, triggering earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions. Meanwhile, solar energy striking the
planet in different ways creates currents in the air,
driving the atmospheric turmoil of the weather.
This changes with the seasons and from place to
place, creating an enormous range of climates and
habitats for the most dynamic element of alllife.

Lower atmosphere,
10 miles (16 km) thick
Crust, 545 miles
(870 km) thick
Mantle, 1,800 miles
(2,900 km) thick

THE PLATES OF EARTHS CRUST

North
American Plate

North American Plate

Heat generated deep within the planet creates currents

in the mobile mantle rock beneath the crust. These
currents drag some sections of the cool, brittle crust apart
while pushing other parts together, fracturing the crust
into separate plates. The biggest of these span oceans
and continents, but there are many smaller plates. At
their boundaries the plates may be diverging (pulling
apart), converging (pushing together), or sliding past
each other at transform faults.

Eurasian Plate
Caribbean
Plate
Pacific
Plate

Cocos Plate
African Plate
Pacific
Plate

Indo-Australian
Plate

South American
Plate
Nazca
Plate

Key to map

Antarctic Plate

WHERE MOVING PLATES MEET

The boundaries between the plates are

volcanic earthquake zones. The plates
move very slowly, pulling apart at divergent
boundaries. This allows hot rock below to
melt, erupt, and cool to form new crust
especially at the spreading rifts that form
mid-ocean ridges. Meanwhile, at
convergent boundaries, one plate slides
beneath another, pushing up mountain
ranges and making volcanoes erupt. Other
volcanoes erupt over hot spots in the
mantle below the crust.

Liquid outer
core, 1,400 miles
(2,250 km) thick

Solid inner
core,
1,515 miles
(2,440 km)
across

Transform
fault

Divergent
boundary

Uncertain
boundary

Convergent
boundary

Continental crust, much

thicker than oceanic crust

Oceanic crust formed from

heavy basalt rock

Hot-spot volcano erupting

over mantle plume

Broad basin formed near

uplifted area

Upper mantle, mostly solid

but very hot

10

Ocean trench marking

convergent plate boundary

Ancient converging
boundary, now inactive

Mantle, solid but mobile

owing to heat currents

11

Volcano erupting over

convergent boundary

Mountains created when

plate boundary was active

Spreading rift forming

a mid-ocean ridge

12

Earthquake zoneone plate

grinding under another

13

Plates pulling apart, creating

a rift valley

10

2
4

11
13

5
6

iv

12
3

7
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.

ACTIVE PLANET
North Pole
THE SEASONS

Earth spins on a tilted axis, so as it orbits the Sun once a

year, the North Pole points toward the Sun in June and
away from it in December. This means that in
regions north of the Tropics it is summer in June
but winter in Decemberand the opposite is
true to the south of the tropics. Near the
Equator it is always warm and there are
annual wet and dry seasons.

March is the
northern spring

December is
the southern
summer and
northern winter

Arctic Circle,
where Suns rays
are dispersed

South Pole

Cold air (in blue)

becomes chilled in
upper atmosphere

Earths axis

Warm air (in red)

heats up near
Earths surface

June is the
northern
summer and
southern winter

The Sun
Equator, where
Suns rays are
concentrated

Tropic of
Cancer
Tropic of
Capricorn

COLD POLE

Descending cool,
dry air over
desert zone

The Tropics are the hottest parts of the

planet because the Suns rays directly
strike them, concentrating the heat
energy. Near the poles the same amount
of heat energy is spread out over a
broader area, so it does not have as much
heating effect, even in the summer. At
midwinter, the entire polar region is in
permanent darkness, so it gets no solar
energy at all and is bitterly cold.

JUNGLE AND DESERT

Sahara Desert

Rainforest,
Borneo

Concentrated sunlight near the Equator heats

Earths surface, warming the air above. The warm
air rises, carrying moisture with it. This forms huge
clouds that spill tropical rain, fueling the growth of
rainforests. The dry, cooling air then flows north
and south and sinks over the subtropics, creating
deserts. Similar air-circulation patterns affect the
climate in the far north and south.

RAINFALL

Rising
warm,
moist air
near
Equator

Some parts of the world get much more rain than others.
The wettest regions are mostly rainforest zones, where
year-round rain and warmth promote lush plant growth.
Regions of moderate rainfall are naturally forests and
grasslands, although most of this land is now used for
farming. The driest regions may be too dry for many
plants to grow, creating desertsbut they also include
some northern forest zones and polar tundra.

Key to map
Less than 20 cm (50 in)
2079 in (50200 cm)
More than 79 in (200 cm)

Atacama Desert,
Chile

Cool, dry air sinks

over desert zone

v
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.