EAR 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Oceanic Crust, Mount Everest, Continental Crust

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Earth Sciences
• Course: EAR 105
• Professor: Junium

Document Summary

Byproduct of the interior of the earth. Protects atmosphere and life on earth (from sun, gamma rays, etc) The solar wind distorts the magnetosphere and deflects most of the solar wind. The strong magnetic field arrests deadly cosmic radiation. The strong magnetic field keeps our atmosphere from ionizing and blowing away. The field has north and south ends. Earth"s atmosphere is made up of nitrogen (78% n2) and oxygen (21% o2) Sea-level atmospheric pressure: 14. 7 pounds per square inch (psi), 1. 01 bar, 1 atm. Mount everest: 0. 3 atm (3/10 oxygen you need), 8. 85 km elevation. Trace gases make up less than 1% Argon, carbon dioxide, neon, methane, ozone, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. Silicon & iron (also end products that end in stars) Oxygen (in earth"s crust, oxygen and silicon are the most abundant) 91% of earth is comprised of four elements: iron (fe) - 32. 1, oxygen (o) - 30. 1, silicone (si) - 15. 1, magnesium (mg) - 13. 9%