Earth Surface Features

The Earth's surface is composed of rigid plates that move relative to each other. The plates have
three main motions, and each one has different results.
1) When two plates collide, one may be forced under the other causing ocean trenches, volcanic
islands, and mountain ranges.
2) When two plates move away from each other, rifts occur. In the ocean, this process is called
sea floor spreading, and on land rift valleys are formed.
3) When two plates slide past each other, there are faults.
Features such as volcanoes and earthquakes exist mainly along the plate boundaries. Most
moons and some planets have many impact craters, however these are rare features on Earth.

Most of the Earth's surface (70%) is covered with water, and the remaining 30% is taken up by
the seven continental landmasses. However, underneath the water that fills the oceans and the
dirt and plants that cover the continents, the Earth’s surface layer is made of rock. This outer
layer formed a hard, rocky crust as lava at the surface cooled 4.5 billion years ago.

The crust is broken into many large plates that move slowly relative to each other. Mountain
ranges form when two plates collide and their edges are forced up. In addition, many
other surface features are the result of the moving plates. The plates move about one inch per
year, so millions of years ago the continents and the oceans were in different positions.
About 250 million years ago most of the land was connected together, and over time has
separated into seven continents.

You and I live on the

earth's lithosphere. The
lithosphere consists of two
parts, a thin outside layer of
solid rock called the crust and
the rigid upper part of the
mantle. It seems so solid that
you would think the earth is
solid all the way through.
However, we are actually
"floating" on thick, gooey,
molten rock called the
asthenosphere. The
lithosphere isn't just one
continuous covering. It is divided into sections called plates. These plates move around
on top of the asthenosphere which is about the consistency of a corn starch and water
mixture (obleck).
What happens when these plates move? Three things can happen. They can collide, move
apart, or slide past each other.

The boundary where two plates move apart is

called a divergent boundary. The
illustration is courtesy of United States
Geological Survey.

As the plates at the boundary move apart,

magma (molten rock) oozes up and forms
new crust. If this oozing magma is
continually forming new crust, then why
doesn't the crust get bigger and bigger? As
new crust is added at divergent boundaries, it
is also recycled at convergent boundaries.

Convergent boundaries are boundaries

where the plates collide. As they crash
into each other, one plate almost always
slides under the other plate. This is called
seductions zone, which means "to be led
down." Where seductions occurs old
crusts is moved down into the mantle
where it melts. The magma is less dense
which rises to the surface forming volcanoes.
 If you were to plot volcanoes on a map, you
would see a pattern. Many of the world's
volcanoes are located in a region called the
Pacific Ring of Fire where the Pacific plate
collides with other plates. How do you think it
got its name?

Continental to continental convergence is the

collision between two continental crustal plates.
At this type boundary mountains form buckling, cracking, folding and up thrusting until
the compressional force stops. This process is often referred to as an ogogenesis. The
Himalaya mountains are an example of a range that is still building.
The planetary surface undergoes reshaping over geological time periods because of tectonics
and erosion. The surface features built up or deformed through plate tectonics are subject to
steady weathering from precipitation, thermal cycles, and chemical effects. Glaciations, coastal
erosion, the build-up of coral reefs, and large meteorite impacts also act to reshape the
landscape.

The continental crust consists of lower density material such as the igneous rock granite
and andesite less common is basalt, a denser volcanic rock that is the primary constituent of the
ocean floors. Sedemetary rock is formed from the accumulation of sediment that becomes
compacted together. Nearly 75% of the continental surfaces are covered by sedimentary rocks,
although they form only about 5% of the crust.] The third form of rock material found on Earth
is metamorpic rock, which is created from the transformation of pre-existing rock types through
high pressures, high temperatures, or both. The most abundant silicate minerals on the Earth's
surface include quarts, the feldspars, amphibole, mica, pyroxene and olivine. Common carbonate
minerals include calcite (found in limestone) and dolomite.

The pedosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth that is composed of soil and subject to soil
formation processes. It exists at the interface of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and
biosphere. Currently the total arable land is 13.31% of the land surface, with only 4.71%
supporting permanent crops. Close to 40% of the Earth's land surface is presently used for
cropland and pasture, or an estimated 1.3 × 107 km2 of cropland and 3.4 × 107 km2 of
pastureland. The elevation of the land surface of the Earth varies from the low point of −418 m at
the Dead Sea, to a 2005-estimated maximum altitude of 8,848 m at the top of Mount Everest. The
mean height of land above sea level is 840 m.
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