The Solar System: The Planets

The Earth, our home planet is the planet we know the best. The various terrain and water make it a very varied planet with many distinct qualities. It is the only planet with living beings which we know of. The radius of the earth is 6400 Kilometers. It is a terrestrial planet, the third from the sun, and a rocky planet. Carbon dating and radioactivity from the rocks indicates that the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Convection motions, which help with the Earth's rotational orbit also helps with the formation of plains, hill and mountains. Plate tectonics may be the cause of this. There are softer regions of rock which lay beneath the crust. As time progresses, the layers most, moving everything above it, in our case land. At points, it will reach endpoints of rock and collide with other rock causing rifting, which is when rising material reaches a planet's surface. Subduction builds these mountains as a result of rifting causing material to sink and remove up.This also allows for ocean's to expand, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
From Earthquakes we can deduce that the earth is made up of a thin rocky crust, another layer called the mantle beneath it, and a liquid core beneath that. The solid core helps explain the differential effect making the earth rotate. The mantle is made of hot and solid silicates, while the outer core consists of liquid iron and nickel . Finally, the inner core is solid iron and nickel.
Our atmosphere consists of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water as well as oxygen. These compounds except water and oxygen may have come from volcanic activity which also give off the same compounds. Water and oxygen may have formed as a result of other life forms forming such as plants, which split the light from the sun creating new forms of energy. The Earth also has a notable magnetic field, where the Aurora Borealis may be seen. Here, we see particles flow through the magnetic poles of the planet creating a lovely display. Far up above the Earth's orbit is the Van Allen Radiation belts which is the magnetic field lines capable of emitting radiation and disrupting DNA. Finally, the Earth has a upper Ozone atmosphere made of oxygen which protects
us from Ultraviolet light. The layer absorbs light at these frequencies making UV light hard to penetrate in. The hole in the Ozone layer is caused by carbo flouro carbons and possibly the green house effect caused by us on the environment. The Earth is truly an living atmosphere.