How is the oceanic and continental crust different from each other?
The crust is the outer layer of the Earth. Continental crust is typically 30-50 km thick, whilst oceanic crust is only 5-10 km thick. Oceanic crust is denser, can be subducted and is constantly being destroyed and replaced at plate boundaries.
How can a tectonic plate be both oceanic and continental?
The ocean floors are underlain by oceanic crust. These material have different compositions. The continental crust is lighter, similar to granite, and the oceanic crust is denser like basalt, another igneous rock. Continental and oceanic crust can both be part of the same plate.
What are two differences between oceanic crust and continental crust quizlet?
The oceanic crust is thinner and denser, and is similar in composition to basalt (Si, O, Ca, Mg, and Fe). The continental crust is thicker and less dense, and is similar to granite in composition (Si, O, Al, K, and Na). The mantle is made of magnesium, iron and silicon. The core is almost exclusively iron and nickel.
What do oceanic and continental crust have in common?
Silicates (mostly compounds made of silicon and oxygen) are the most abundant rocks and minerals in both oceanic and continental crust. Oceanic crust, extending 5-10 kilometers (3-6 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor, is mostly composed of different types of basalts.
Why is continental crust higher than oceanic crust?
Layers that are less dense, such as the crust, float on layers that are denser, such as the mantle. Both oceanic crust and continental crust are less dense than the mantle, but oceanic crust is denser than continental crust. This is partly why the continents are at a higher elevation than the ocean floor.
What is an example of oceanic crust?
An example of this is the Gakkel Ridge under the Arctic Ocean. Thicker than average crust is found above plumes as the mantle is hotter and hence it crosses the solidus and melts at a greater depth, creating more melt and a thicker crust. An example of this is Iceland which has crust of thickness ~20 km.
What is the purpose of oceanic crust?
It creates the crust of the Earth we walk on, and the crust that lies at the ocean floor. Oceanic crust is the part of the Earth’s crust that makes up the seafloor. It’s thinner, denser, and simpler in structure than the continental crust.
What are characteristics of oceanic crust?
Oceanic crust is thinner and more dense than continental crust. This is because it has been compressed by the weight of the oceans it carries above it. It is also much younger than Continental crust, as it is usually less than 200 million years old.
How thick is Earth’s oceanic crust?
7 km
Where is oceanic crust the thickest?
The crust is made up of the continents and the ocean floor. The crust is thickest under high mountains and thinnest beneath the ocean.
Why is the oceanic crust thinner?
oceanic crust is thinner than continental crust as oceanic crust keeps regenerating. it forms at the oceanic ridges or other sources (divergent plate boundaries) and with time it spreads away from the place of origin and becomes thinner away from the place of origin.
Where is oceanic crust found?
Oceanic crust, the outermost layer of Earth’s lithosphere that is found under the oceans and formed at spreading centres on oceanic ridges, which occur at divergent plate boundaries. A cross section of Earth’s outer layers, from the crust through the lower mantle.
What does oceanic crust mean?
Oceanic crust is the outermost solid layer of the lithospheric tectonic plates under the oceans that covers much of the Earth’s surface.
What is oceanic crust made up of?
Oceanic crust is generally composed of dark-colored rocks called basalt and gabbro. It is thinner and denser than continental crust, which is made of light-colored rocks called andesite and granite.
What is the thinnest part of oceanic crust?
10 km
What is the thinnest part of the oceanic crust?
What is Earth’s thickest layer?
core
What is the oceanic crust made of?
What are the three layers of oceanic crust?
Not including a sedimentary cover of variable thickness and composition, the oceanic crust consists of three layers: (1) a relatively thin uppermost volcanic layer of basaltic lavas known as mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) erupted on the seafloor; (2) a thicker layer of more coarsely crystalline, intrusive basaltic …