Earth's crust

Also known as crust, crust of Earth, crust of the Earth

Earth's outer layer

AI overview

Earth's crust is the thin, solid outer layer of our planet that we live on and where all land and oceans sit. It matters because it provides the foundation for all life, shapes our landscapes through geological processes like mountain-building and earthquakes, and contains the rocks and minerals we use for resources.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: crust
Part of: internal structure of Earth
Has part: sedimentary cover
Image: Erdkruste-i.png

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: Crust of the Earth
topic's main category: Category:Earth's crust
studied by: geophysics
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4

Sources (4)

via Wikidata · CC0

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Plates in the crust of Earth

Earth's crust is its thick outer shell of rock, comprising less than one percent of the planet's radius and volume. It is the top component of the lithosphere, a solidified division of Earth's layers that includes the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The lithosphere is broken into tectonic plates whose motion allows heat to escape the interior of Earth into space.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Earth's crust” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.