Unit 2. The relief and the continents.

(We are going to study in English only the first two points of the unit)

1. The formation of continents and relief.

The Earth has got three main layers: The Core (el ncleo), divided into Inner Core (ncleo interno) and Outer Core (ncleo externo); the Mantle (el manto) and the Crust (la corteza). The crust is the most superficial layer and it contains the continents and seas. The distribution of the continents has changed over the time.

1.1

The formation of the continents:

The continental drift theory states that about 200 million years ago all continents were joined and they formed only one continent called Pangaea. This theory was complemented by the plate tectonics theory. According to it, Pangaea broke into different tectonic plates that separated. These tectonic plates float over the mantle and slowly travel all around the world, forming the current continents and oceans.

1.2

The formation of the relief:

The relief can be defined as the set of irregularities that we can find on the Earths surface. The current relief is the result of the action of inner agents and outer agents. Inner agents are caused by the inner energy of the Earth. They are agents that form the relief, like plate tectonics, faults, volcanoes or earthquakes. Outer agents are agents that model the Earths surface, like the water, the wind, the vegetation, the temperature or the human action.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes

A volcano is an opening in the earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases are ejected. These materials may form different landscapes and even isles when they solidify. An earthquake is a subterranean movement that cause ruptures on the crust. If an earthquake is submarine is called a seaquake, which may cause a tidal wave or tsunami.

2. The modelling of the relief.

Outer agents model the relief through erosion, transport and sedimentation of materials. The main outer agents are: The Water. Its the most active outer agent. Water may act in different ways depending on the place or if we talk about waves and sea currents, rainwater, rivers or ice. The Wind. The wind transports little particles of sand that crash into big rocks and produce erosion on them. The sand can also be accumulated in big dunes. The Vegetation. The root of plants break the soil, but we cannot forget that plants are also the best protection against the erosive effect of the water and the wind. The Temperature. The dilation (dilatacin) and contraction (contraction) effects produced by the changes in temperature between days and nights break big rocks into fragments. The human action is also a very important outer agent of modelling the relief.

Questions: 1. What are the layers of the Earth? 2. What is the most superficial layer of the Earth? What does it contain? 3. What are the names of the two theories that explain the current distribution of the continents? 4. What does the continental drift theory say? 5. What does the plate tectonics theory say? 6. What are the agents that form and model the relief? 7. What is a volcano? And an earthquake? 8. What are the main outer agents of modelling the relief? Answers: 1. The layers of the Earth are the core, divided into inner core and outer core, the mantle and the crust. 2. The most superficial layer of the Earth is the crust and it contains the continents and seas. 3. The names of the two theories that explain the current distribution of the continents are the continental drift theory and the plate tectonics theory. 4. The continental drift theory says that about 200 million years ago all continents were joined and they formed only one continent called Pangaea. 5. The plate tectonics theory says that Pangaea broke into different tectonic plates that separated. These tectonic plates float over the mantle and slowly travel all around the world. 6. The agents that form and model the relief are the inner agents and the outer agents 7. A volcano is an opening in the earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases are ejected and an earthquake is a subterranean movement that cause ruptures on the crust. 8. The main outer agents are the water, the wind, the vegetation, the temperature and the human action.