9781422277539

Lava flows from one of the five volcanos that make up the Big Island of Hawaii, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean. The lava cools rapidly as it reaches the water and forms solid rock, which over time builds up the volcanic island.

rock that forms continents. If you could cut the Earth in half, it would look a bit like the inside of a giant peach. On the outside is a thin crust, like the peach skin—except that the Earth’s crust is not one continu- ous piece but is instead made up of several enormous pieces, called plates. Below the crust is a very thick layer of dense, heavy, hot rock called the mantle , which is like the flesh of a peach. At the center of the Earth is the “peach pit”—a core of metallic iron and nickel. The core of the Earth is like a vast nuclear reactor. It gen-

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Oceans