Crusty Old Discovery Reveals Early Earth's History (3.8 billion years old outer crust)

LiveScience.com on yahoo ^ | 3/24/07 | Robert Roy Britt

[NormsRevenge]

I almost didn't post this.. for fear of all the 'Crusty' shots to come. ;-)

[NormsRevenge]

The Earth’s radius is about 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers). The main layers of its interior are in descending order: crust, mantle and core.

The crust thickness averages about 18 miles (30 kilometers) under the continents, but is only about 3 miles (5 kilometers) under the oceans. It is light and brittle and can break. In fact it's fractured into more than a dozen major plates and several minor ones. It is where most earthquakes originate.

The mantle is more flexible – it flows instead of fractures. It extends down to about 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) below the surface.

The core consists of a solid inner core and a fluid outer core. The fluid contains iron, which, as it moves, generates the Earth’s magnetic field. The crust and upper mantle form the lithosphere, which is broken up into several plates that float on top of the hot molten mantle below.

SOURCE: LiveScience reporting

[Jeff Chandler]

Please no Helen Thomas photos.

[stephenjohnbanker]

I know this, I was there.

[stephenjohnbanker]

What crusty? Hillary wasn't there.

[doc1019]

She was to busy being named for the famous climber of Mount Everest.

[AGreatPer]

Yea, I thought it was a story about "Old Crusty" the pants suit Hitlery wears all the time.

Sorry Norm, I had to post that. LOL, you saw it coming.

[stephenjohnbanker]

: ) Thompson/Hunter or Hunter/Thompson 08!

[hosepipe]

Anybody that says they know what happened a Billion years ago is on some strong drugs..
or lying..

[gondramB]

>>Only in science could the discovery of something old and crusty be exciting.<<


Ha... They should see my mother on an antiquing expedition - and she doesn't have a scientific bone in her body.

[Fireone]

"Crusty Old Discovery"
Headlines from the White House laundry?

[gondramB]

>>Anybody that says they know what happened a Billion years ago is on some strong drugs..
or lying..<<

Its a lot like a murder investigation without an eye witness - with enough evidence you can still get a conviction. Except instead of looking for reasonable certainty they use the term "scientific certainty." Its subject to revision as more data is found and scientists all around the world double check each other.

[LiteKeeper]

YEC INTREP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nice diagram....

BBC article:

Sea floor records ancient Earth

[TexasTransplant]

4.5 or 2.5 Billion years... as a Science Fiction Novel reader I would wonder how many times Dinosaurs - Mammals or whatever spent Millions of years evolving before SUV's eventually wiped them out.

TT

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

My thread has maps.....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Fred Flintstone had SUV's?

[Shadowstrike]

Great article. Thanks for the ping.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I pinged you because of the neat diagram and the tie in to earthquakes....the earth has had earthquakes as a consequence of the crustal movement which has been going on since the earliest days....

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks! I missed this one. Good pics.