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CONTINENTAL CRUST [1 record]

Record 1 2011-06-03

English

Subject field(s)
  • Geology
DEF

The part of the Earth's crust located underneath the continents as well as underneath the continental shelf.

CONT

The continental crust accounts for only about one-third of the Earth's global surface, but it forms all the major landmasses and their fringing shallow seas. It ranges from 16 to 45 miles (25 to 70 km), with the thickest portions underlying young mountain belts, and it has huge variations in composition—from sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, coal, and limestone ... through metamorphic rocks such as marble and slate ... to igneous rocks such as granite and gabbro ...

CONT

The oceanic crust lies atop Earth's mantle, as does the continental crust.

OBS

... there are two distinctly different types of crust – oceanic and continental. Variations in their composition, density, and thickness help to account for difference in their topography, relative age, and history of formation.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Géologie
DEF

Partie de la croûte terrestre qui se trouve sous les continents, y compris sous la plate-forme continentale.

CONT

La croûte continentale est épaisse (35 km en moyenne, jusqu'à 80 km sous les chaînes de montagnes). Elle est constituée principalement de roches granitiques et de roches sédimentaires.

CONT

Au cours de temps géologiques, l’écorce se différencia en une croûte continentale formée principalement de roches granitiques [...] et en une croûte océanique formée de roches balsatiques [...]

Spanish

Campo(s) temático(s)
  • Geología
CONT

Casi todos los yacimientos minerales que se conocen, incluso los más antiguos, se encuentran en la corteza continental, bien en secuencias de rocas que reflejan la proximidad de ésta durante el período de mineralización o bien en fragmentos de corteza oceánica que se han integrado en la corteza continental.

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