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Geological Data

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 52 Accesses

General Information

Whole Earth

Age of the Earth

4.550 Ga

Age of the oldest known terrestrial material (zircon from Jack Hills, Australia)

4.404 Ga

Age of the oldest known terrestrial rock (Acasta Gneiss, Canada)

4.030 Ga

Equatorial radius

6,378.136 km

Polar radius

6,356.753 km

Ellipticity

0.00335281

Total surface area

510 × 106 km2

Ocean surface area

357 × 106 km2

Continental surface area

153 × 106 km2

Mass

5.974 2 × 1024 kg

Mean density

5.515 g cm−3

Deepest oceanic trench (Marianas)

10,911 m

Highest mountain (Everest)

8,863 m

Present-day oceanic ridge length

∼80,000 km

Solid inner core

Depth from surface

5,155 km

Radius

∼1,223 km

Average density

12 g cm−3

Volume

8.45 × 1010 km3

Mass

1.18 × 1023 kg

Liquid outer core

Depth

2,891 km

Thickness

∼2,264 km

Average density

10 g cm−3

Volume

1.65 × 1011 km3

Mass

1.65 × 1024 kg

Lower mantle (mesosphere)

Depth

660 km

Thickness

∼2,231 km

Average density

5 g cm−3

Volume

5.87 × 1011 km3

Mass

2.93 × 1024 kg

Upper mantle

Depth

30 km

Thickness

∼630 km

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References and Further Reading

  • Anders E, Grevesse N (1989) Abundances of the elements: meteoritic and solar. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53:197–214

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • McDonough WF (1998) Earth’s core. In: Marshall CP, Fairbridge RW (eds) Encyclopedia of geochemistry. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, pp 151–156

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  • McDonough WF, Sun S-S (1995) Composition of the earth. Chem Geol 120:223–253

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  • McDonough WF, Sun S-S, Ringwood AE, Jagoutz E, Hofmann AW (1992) Potassium, rubidium, and cesium in the earth and moon and the evolution of the mantle of the earth. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 56(3):1001–1012

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick RL, Fountain DM (1995) Nature and composition of the continental crust: a lower crustal perspective. Rev Geophys 33:267–309

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick RL, Gao S (2003) The composition of the continental crust. In: Rudnick RL (ed) The crust. Treatise on geochemistry. Elsevier-Pergamon, Oxford, pp 1–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1985) The continental crust: its composition and evolution. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 312 pp

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, OPGC, CNRS, IRD, 5 rue Kessler, 63038, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Hervé Martin

  2. GEOTOP Research Center for Geochemistry and Geodynamics, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Daniele L. Pinti

  3. CNRS-Universite de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d‘Astrophysique de Bordeaux, BP 89, 33270, Floirac, France

    Muriel Gargaud

Authors
  1. Hervé Martin
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  2. Daniele L. Pinti
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  3. Muriel Gargaud
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hervé Martin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS-Universite de Bordeaux, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Floirac, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  2. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

    William M. Irvine

  3. Departamento de Biologia Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  4. Earth–Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro–ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

  5. GEOTOP Research Center for Geochemistry and Geodynamics, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Daniele L. Pinti

  6. Department of Astrophysics, Laboratory of Molecular Astrophysics, Iorrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  7. LESIA, Observatoire Paris-Site de Meudon, Meudon, France

    Daniel Rouan

  8. Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Planetenforschung, Berlin, Germany

    Tilman Spohn

  9. Centre François Viéte d'Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques EA 1161, Faculté des Sciences et des, Techniques de Nantes, Nantes, France

    Stéphane Tirard

  10. CNES/DSP/SME, Vétérinaire/DVM, Astro/Exobiology, Paris Cedex 1, France

    Michel Viso

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Martin, H., Pinti, D.L., Gargaud, M. (2015). Geological Data. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_5070

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