- Question: Earth has several natural satellites.
- Answer: Many artificial satellites circle Earth, but only one is natural: the Moon.
- Question: Earth’s atmosphere is composed of nearly 100 layers.
- Answer: Earth’s atmosphere is made up of five layers. From closest to most distant, they are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
- Question: Nitrogen is very rare in Earth’s atmosphere.
- Answer: Nitrogen composes about 78 percent of the lower atmosphere. Oxygen, argon, and other gases compose the rest.
- Question: Life began on Earth soon after the planet was formed.
- Answer: Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Life began about 4 billion years ago, which, in geological time, is considered to be very soon after the planet formed.
- Question: The Pacific plate is the fastest-moving of the Earth’s plates.
- Answer: The Pacific plate, which underlies most of the Pacific Ocean, is moving at a rate of about 7.2 inches (18.3 centimeters) a year. Most of the other plates are about half as fast.
- Question: Because of volcanic action, Earth is constantly getting bigger.
- Answer: Though volcanoes produce new rocks, other rocks are "eaten" by Earth’s moving plates. The planet’s size remains constant as a result.
- Question: Earth’s interior has four major layers.
- Answer: Earth is made of concentric layers of rock. From outward to inward, they are the lithosphere, the mantle, the outer core, and the inner core.
- Question: Earth is a giant magnet.
- Answer: Earth behaves like a giant magnet, with metals such as nickel and iron flowing through the core and producing an electric current.
- Question: Earth has geomagnetic poles.
- Answer: Our planet has two magnetic poles, one in the Arctic and one in the Antarctic. They sometimes reverse polarity, and no one is quite sure why this happens.
- Question: Earth’s stratosphere is very cold.
- Answer: Reaching to 50 miles (80 kilometers) away from Earth, the stratosphere is very cold: it is about –148 oF, or –100 oC.
Earth Sciences: Fact or Fiction?
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