Rise of the upper crust

• Autores: Jeff Hecht
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3017, 2015, págs. 36-39
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Earth's surface is like no other in the solar system. Sitting atop the partially molten mass of the planet's mantle, like the frothy film on the surface of a simmering pot, are a series of vast slabs of solid rock: the tectonic plates of Earth's crust. That's strange enough, but the crustal plates also contain two rather different ingredients. The first--a heavy, dark rock called gabbro--is typical of the basalts that line the ocean basins. The second, a granite characteristic of Earth's continents, feels light by comparison. Here, Hecht discusses how Earth first acquire its continent