1.

2 Shape and movements of the earth

A. The shape of earth

Earth is one of eight planets in our solar system. The earth’s shape is not

perfectly round. It has a slightly greater radius at the Equator. It is an oblate

spheroid (spherical) shape. Earth does not have a perfect spherical shape.

This is due to the gravitational force caused by the Earth’s rotation. As a

result, it is bulging in the middle; whereas slightly flattened at North and

South Poles.

Evidences of earth’s shape

There are various physical evidences that prove the earth’s shape is not

perfectly spherical. If the shape of the earth were a flat disc, then the

rising Sun would have been seen at all places at the same time. But this

does not happen. Places in the east see the rising Sun earlier. When a ship

approaches land, its funnel or mast is seen first and then the hull. If the

Earth had been flat, the whole ship would have been seen at the same time.

These evidences prove that earth’s shape is not flat but an oblate spheroid.

B. Movements of the Earth

There is nothing stationary in the universe. The planets, moons, and other

heavenly bodies in the universe rotate and revolve at different speeds. Earth

has two movements. These movements are called

-rotation and

- revolution.

i. Rotation

Rotation is the movement of the earth on its axis. The earth takes about 24

hours to complete one rotation around its axis. Earth rotates from west to
east, so the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west. It’s axis of

rotation is tilted at an angle of 231and is perpendicular to the Earth’s orbit.

Effects of Earth’s Rotation

1.Day and Night

2.High and Low Tide

ii. Revolution of the Earth

Revolution is the movement of the earth around the sun in a fixed path or

orbit. Time for one revolution is 365¼ days or one year and the speed of

earth’s revolution is 109,430.32 km or 68,000 miles per hour.

The Effects of Revolution of the Earth

a. variation in the length of day and night

The revolution of the earth gives impression that the sun is moving north

and south of the equator. The equator faces the sun directly on March 21

and September 23. During these two days the day and night are equal

throughout the earth. These two days are called equinoxes. On June 21,

the tropic of cancer faces the sun. This is known as summer solstice. It

is the longest day in the Northern hemisphere and longest night in the

southern hemisphere. On December 21, the Tropic of Capricorn faces the

sun. This is known as the winter solstice. It is the longest day in southern

hemisphere and longest night in northern hemisphere.

b. Seasons

The revolution of the earth causes the four seasons namely summer

(kiremt), autumn (Meher), winter (Bega) and spring (Belg / Tsedey).

1.3 External components and internal structure of the earth

1.3.1. External Components of the earth

or sub systems. They are the “lithosphere” (land), “hydrosphere” (water),

“biosphere” (living things) and the “atmosphere” (air).

A. The lithosphere

The lithosphere is the solid or rock part of the Earth. It is the coolest and

most rigid part of the Earth.

mountains,

plateaus,

plains and

valley etc

The surface of the lithosphere is very uneven. There are highest mountains

like Ras Dejen (4620 m above sea level) and lowest places like Dallol

(116 m below sea level) in Ethiopia.

B. The Hydrosphere

The hydrosphere is the water section of the earth. The hydrosphere contains

all of the water on earth in liquid, solid and vapor form. They can be found

in oceans, seas and lakes etc. The oceans are the most prominent features

of the hydrosphere, covering nearly 71 percent of the earth’s surface and

97 percent of earth’s water.

C. The Biosphere

The biosphere is part of the earth’s surface where living things exist.

D. The Atmosphere

Atmosphere is the envelope of air that

surrounds the earth. It is a mixture of gases.

is Nitrogen (78%). Nitrogen enters the

atmosphere when volcanoes erupt and when

dead plants and animals decay. The second

most abundant gas in earth’s atmosphere

is oxygen (21%). Oxygen is primarily

produced by plants. Nitrogen and oxygen

accounts for about 99 % of the gases. Gases

including argon, carbon dioxide, methane,

and water vapor make up the rest of the

atmosphere

1.3.2 Internal structure and sources of information about the

internal parts of the earth

1.3.2.1. Sources of information about the internal parts of the earth

Human lives on the surface of a globe that has a radius of nearly 6500

km, yet no one has ever penetrated more than a few kilometers below

the solid earth. The knowledge about the internal parts of the earth is

obtained from direct sources and indirect sources.

A. Direct sources

The direct source of information about the internal parts of the earth
includes rock materials from mining areas and molten magma from

volcanic eruptions. Besides scientist are working on “deep ocean drilling

projects”.

i. Mining

Mining is the process of extracting useful materials from the earth. The gold

mining that is being undertaken in the Republic of South Africa enabled

human beings to secure rock sample from a depth of 3 – 4 km beneath the

surface.

ii. Volcanic eruption

Volcanic eruption forms another source of direct information. When the

molten material (magma) thrown in to the surface of the earth, during

volcanic eruption it becomes available for laboratory analysis.

iii. Deep ocean drilling projects

Many holes have been dug for research purpose. The

deepest hole by far is on the Kola Peninsula in Russia,

referred as the “Kola well”. The deepest drill at Kola,

has so far reached a depth of 12km. This and many

deep drilling projects have provided large volume

of information through the analysis of materials

collected at different depth

A. Indirect Sources

The vast interior of the earth is largely inaccessible to direct study.

1.3.2.2. Internal structure of the earth

The structure of the earth’s interior

These are crust, mantle and core.

A. Crust

The crust is the outermost and thinnest

layer of the earth. It has two different

parts: continental crust and oceanic

crust. The average thickness of

continental crust is about 30 to 40 km.

In contrast, oceanic crust is between 5 to 6 km thick. The crust consists of

hard and strong rock. Major constituent elements of the continental crust

are Silica (Si) and Aluminum (Al) and thus, it is often termed as SIAL.

The major constituent elements of the oceanic crust are Silicon (Si) and

Magnesium (Mg) and thus, it is often termed as SIMA.

The portion of the interior below the crust is called the mantle. The mantle

is about 2,900km thick, and takes up 84% of Earth’s volume. The mantle is

the thickest layer of the earth. The major constituent elements of the mantle

are Silicon and Magnesium and hence it is also termed as SIMA. The

upper mantle has solid rocks whereas, the lower part with molten rock

called magma.

C. Core

The core is the innermost layer of the

earth. It is composed mainly of Nickel

(Ni) and Iron (Fe) hence it is also called

as NIFE. The core´s temperature is

about 60000

c. The core constitutes

nearly 15% of earth’s volume. The core

has two layers: an inner core that is solid and an outer core that is liquid

(or semi-liquid). In the inner core, the force of gravity is so intense that the

molten metal (iron and nickel) is compressed in to a solid material.

1.4.1. Major Elements

Earth’s crust is made up of several elements. These elements are in a

solid form in the outer layer of the earth and in hot and molten form in

the interior. About 98% of the total crust of the earth is composed of eight

elements. As you can see from the table (table 1.1)