Where is the continental crust located?

Where is the continental crust located?

The continental crust is the layer of granitic, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves. It is less dense than the material of the Earth’s mantle and thus “floats” on top of it.

What layer is oceanic and continental crust?

In very broad terms, oceanic crust is made up of basalt and continental crust is made up of rocks similar to granite. Below the crust is a solid relatively cooler portion of the upper mantle that is combined with the crust to make the lithosphere layer.

What is the name of the area where oceanic and continental crust meet?

subduction zone
When oceanic crust converges with continental crust, the denser oceanic plate plunges beneath the continental plate. This process, called subduction, occurs at the oceanic trenches (figure 6). The entire region is known as a subduction zone.

Where is the oldest oceanic crust?

eastern Mediterranean Sea
The oldest patch of undisturbed oceanic crust on Earth may lie deep beneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea – and at about 340 million years old, it beats the previous record by more than 100 million years.

Where do earth’s plates slide past each other?

A transform plate boundary occurs when two plates slide past each other, horizontally. A well-known transform plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, which is responsible for many of California’s earthquakes. A single tectonic plate can have multiple types of plate boundaries with the other plates that surround it.

How many trenches are in the ocean?

Of the Earth’s 20 major trenches, 17 are found in the Pacific basin, a vast area rimmed by trenches of both marginal and island arc varieties. Marginal trenches bound the west coast of Central and South America from the Gulf of California to southern Chile.

What is granite and basalt?

Basalt is an igneous rock or volcanic rock that is produced by the rapid cooling of lava which is rich in magnesium and iron. It is formed at the surface where it will Barden from lava. Granite is a coarse- or medium-grained intrusive igneous rock with a felsic composition.

Where does the continental crust and oceanic crust meet?

Continental crust and oceanic crust are two of the most basic areas that are to be understood for the study of the movement of tectonic plates and the consequent phenomena. The continental crust supports the existence of life on the land. The continental crust lies just above the sea level with certain convergent sites with the oceanic crust.

How big is the thickness of the continental crust?

The continental crust thickness comes to about 40 kilometers, that is, 25 miles roughly. However, the oceanic crust has a thickness of 6 kilometers approximately. There is a difference in the composition of continental crust and oceanic crust.

Which is the oldest part of the continental crust?

Cratons are the oldest and most stable part of the continental lithosphere. These parts of the continental crust are usually found deep in the interior of most continents. Cratons are divided into two categories. Shields are cratons in which the ancient basement rock crops out into the atmosphere.

Which is less dense oceanic crust or continental crust?

Less dense layers float on top of denser ones such as the mantle. The oceanic crust and the continental crust are good examples of less dense layers. Both float on top of the denser mantle. Together, these layers make up the uppermost part of the earth that is collectively known as the crust.