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USGS CMG InfoBank: The Crust is Different

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Comment: 10:58 - 11:36 (00:38)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 2. The Restless Planet

Keywords: crust, "Earth's formation", granite

Our transcription: But rocks forming the outermost layer of Earth today are much different in composition from that of many meteorites.

For example, a common continental rock is granite, which is lighter in weight than meteoritic material.

This suggests that this planet must have originally had a very different structure than it has today.

Scientists believe that initially it was a homogeneous blob of silicon compounds, iron, magnesium oxides, and lesser amounts of all the other natural chemical elements.

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