Unit 10 Vocabulary: Layers of the Earth

the layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core

​Mantle

a shell of hot, liquid iron and nickel beneath the mantle and above the inner core of the Earth

​Outer Core

a dense ball of solid

iron-nickel at the center of the Earth

​Inner Core

the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle (mechanical)

​Lithosphere

the partially melted layer of the mantle that is under the lithosphere

(mechanical)

​Asthenosphere

force pressing on an area

​Pressure

heat transfer by direct contact

​Conduction

heat transfer by movement of currents within a fluid (liquid or gas)

​Convection current

heat transfer by electromagnetic waves or breakdown of elements in rock layers

​Radiation

a measure of how much mass is contained in a given volume

​Density