How thick is the earths crust?

Question

How thick is the earths crust?

Answer 1

The Earth's Crust is like the skin of an apple. It is very thin in comparison to the other three layers. The crust is only about 3-5 miles (8 kilometers) thick under the oceans(oceanic crust) and about 25 miles (32 kilometers) thick under the continents (continental crust).

Answer 2

Geophysical studies have revealed that the Earth has several distinct layers. Each of these layers has its own properties. The outermost layer of the Earth is the crust. This comprises the continents and ocean basins. The crust has a variable thickness, being 35-70 km thick in the continents and 5-10 km thick in the ocean basins. The crust is composed mainly of alumino-silicates.

Answer 3

. Earth's Crust, Lithosphere and Asthenosphere This drawing shows the Earth's lithosphere (crust and upper mantle) on top of the asthenosphere. ... are made up of the Earth's crust and the upper part of the ... windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/inte... - 14k - Cached The Earth's Crust How Thick Is the Earth's Crust? We present a new contour map of the thickness of the Earth's crust. We use a 10 km contour interval plus the 45 km contour. This contour map was created directly from the 5 deg. by 5 deg. gridded crustal model CRUST 5.1 (Mooney et al., 1998) plus complimentary information. An initial contour map was created using the command "grdcontour" in GMT, and the resultant map was adjusted in Adobe Illustrator to honor individual point measurements and newly available information from Russia. The final contour map honors all available seismic refraction measurements for features with a dimension greater than 2 degrees. To a first approximation, the continents and their margins are outlined by the 30 km contour. That portion of the continental interior enclosed by the 40 km contour, and regions with crustal thickness of 45 to 50 km are found on all well surveyed continents (i.e., North and South America, Australia, and Eurasia). Continental crust with a thickness in excess of 50 km is exceedingly rare and accounts for less than 10% of the continental crust. These observations, now available on a global basis, provide important constraints on the evolution of the crust and sub-crustal lithosphere. A Contour Map of the World's Crustal Thickness This contour map of the thickness of the Earth's crust was developed from the CRUST 5.1 model. The contour interval is 10 km; we also include the 45 km contour for greater detail on the continents.

Answer 4

3-5 miles thick under the ocean

5-25 miles thick under land

Answer 5

It varies of course but on average it is around 30 miles thick.

Answer 6

Depends wher you measure from, mountain, valley, or sea bed?