What Causes the Earth's Crust-Atmosphere Phase Transition?

In summary, the Earth crust-atmosphere phase transition is a discontinuity in composition that exists between the Earth's atmosphere and crust.
  • #1
flicflex
13
0
Hello, I ask for your help because I can't find any information about Earth crust-atmosphere phase transition. I noticed indeed that our feet tread upon a solid surface, while our nostrils breath a gazeous compound !

This remark seems so obvious that I can't find any description neither analysis about this phase transition. If we look under our feet, there is no problem, we can find the moho' discontinuity at 35km, the gutenberg discontinuity at 2885km, etc...

Same if we look over us, there is the tropopause at 11km, then the stratopause, etc...

But it is impossible for me to find any schema or study including Earth mantel AND atmosphere. Why the hell is the 0 km discontinuity located at 0 km? Which statistic model let us understand it? This lack of back standing about our self-environnement make me feel like the human being is still the center of the universe like 500 years ago...

(I mean if the human being was born in a solid/ductile part of the Earth mantle like termites or whatever the "surface" of our world would had been at -10 km or any other value)

I am mostly looking for the mathematic explanation of the phenomenon (explanation of the localization (height) and cause of Earth crust-atmosphere phase transition)
Thank you for your lightnings.

PS . I am not physician.
 
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  • #2
Why 2 draws when we could have a beautiful unique draw?

350px-Earth-crust-cutaway-english.svg.png

atmosphere_sm.jpg
 
  • #3
There is no phase transition between Earth crust and atmosphere. Phase transition means the same substance changing state of matter (like ice melting), not different substances being in contact (like nail in the water).

And the Earth surface is at zero, because we decided the surface is at zero and we measure everything from the surface. It is like asking why all distances from home are measured from home, as if the home was the center of the world. Well - if you ask what is the distance from the home to the gas station, don't be surprised the distance is measured from home.
 
  • #4
Borek said:
And the Earth surface is at zero, because we decided the surface is at zero and we measure everything from the surface. It is like asking why all distances from home are measured from home, as if the home was the center of the world. Well - if you ask what is the distance from the home to the gas station, don't be surprised the distance is measured from home.

OK thank you, that means that we assume to be the center of our environnement . Why not (but it's a rather old school style)
Borek said:
There is no phase transition between Earth crust and atmosphere. Phase transition means the same substance changing state of matter (like ice melting), not different substances being in contact (like nail in the water).

I appreciate your answer Borek, but I'm sorry to say that according to wikipedia you are wrong.

Wikipedia said:
A phase transition is the transformation of a thermodynamic system from one phase or state of matter to another.

Wikipedia said:
A thermodynamic system is a precisely specified macroscopic region of the universe, defined by boundaries or walls of particular natures, together with the physical surroundings of that region, which determine processes that are allowed to affect the interior of the region, studied using the principles of thermodynamics.

That's why I ask for your help again : what is the mathematic characterization of the crust-atmosphere phase transition?

Thank you, Thibault.
 
  • #5
The phase transition is also obvious trough the temperature point of view
On the attachment I draw Earth temperature gradient (0 km = Earth center on the graphic ; 6400 km = Earth radius).
 

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  • #6
As much as I like wikipedia its reliability is questionable. Now you know why. In this case perhaps it is just a matter of inconsistency between two different articles.

There is no phase transition here as the composition changes.
 
  • #7
A question of definition. What wiki describes is the phase transition of one particular compound. Water for instance, phase transition solid - liquid - gas is via melting, evaporization etc etc.

That's not the same as the boundary layers between the different shells in and around the Earth
 
  • #8
Andre said:
A question of definition. What wiki describes is the phase transition of one particular compound. Water for instance, phase transition solid - liquid - gas is via melting, evaporization etc etc.

That's not the same as the boundary layers between the different shells in and around the Earth

The Earth atmosphere interface is not associated with a change in phase, only with a change in composition. As you pointed out, this is a discontinuity associated with compositional transition, not phase transition. The proportions of different elements are different between atmosphere and crust.

There are phase transitions associated with the different shells within the earth. The composition of the mantle does not change that much from surface to core. In other words, the ratio of elements varies continuously throughout the mantle. However, the precise phase of the material does vary due to changes in pressure and temperature. These changes in phase, without a sudden change in composition, are associated with phase changes.

Although a discontinuity in the earth’s structure can’t be a phase transition, a discontinuity is often associated with a phase transition. The pressure on the materials of the Earth increases continuously with depth. Even though the stochiometry of the mantle may vary continuously, different mineral forms are more stable at different pressures. Thus, other are regions of depth where different minerals are stable regardless of the proportions of the different elements.

Phase transitions occur when the pressure or temperature exceed certain thresholds. Discontinuities can occur at certain times if the pressure and temperature are changing with time. However, the pressure and temperature vary more with depth instead of time. There are discontinuities in depth associated with temperature and pressure changes.

Variation in pressure is more important than variation in temperature for most of these discontinuities. Temperature evens out eventually due to the flow of heat. Eventually, the temperature profile reaches a steady-state condition where the temperature varies slowly. However, the variation in pressure does not change in time. There will always be a gradient of pressure within the Earth even in the far, far future where the temperature is the same throughout the earth.

Here are some links on phase transitions in the mantle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_zone_(Earth)
“The transition zone is part of the Earth’s mantle, and is located between the lower mantle and the upper mantle, between a depth of 410 and 660 km. The Earth’s mantle, including the transition zone, consists primarily of peridotite, an ultramafic igneous rock.
The mantle was divided into the upper mantle, transition zone, and lower mantle as a result of sudden seismic-velocity discontinuities at depths of 410 and 660 km. This is thought to occur as a result of rearrangement of atoms in olivine (which constitutes a large portion of peridotite) at a depth of 410 km, to form a denser crystal structure as a result of the increase in pressure with increasing depth. Below a depth of 660 km, evidence suggests that atoms rearrange yet again to form an even denser crystal structure. This can be seen using body waves from earthquakes, which are converted, reflected or refracted at the boundary, and predicted from mineral physics, as the phase changes are temperature and density-dependent and hence depth dependent.”


http://www.ucl.ac.uk/EarthSci/people/stixrude/stixrude_97.pdf
“Structure and sharpness of phase transitions and mantle discontinuities
Abstract: The structure of phase transitions from the standpoint of equilibrium thermodynamics is examined…We predict that the olivine to wadsleyite transition in the presence of pyroxene and garnet is approximately half the binary loop at typical transition zone temperatures. The estimated effective width of this transition (4-8 km) is marginally consistent with observations of high frequency (0.5-1.0 Hz) P-waves from the 410 km discontinuity….this transition can account for the properties of the 710 km discontinuity.”

http://www.eos.ubc.ca/~mjelline/453website/eosc453/E_prints/newfer06/2005RG000186.pdf
“The stability of (Mg,Fe)SiO3 perovskite in the deep lower mantle has long been uncertain. Recently, a phase transition from perovskite to postperovskite was discovered
through a significant change in the X-ray diffraction pattern at high-pressure and high-temperature conditions corresponding to the core-mantle boundary region. This
phase transition was also confirmed by first-principles calculations.”
 
  • #9
Andre said:
A question of definition. What wiki describes is the phase transition of one particular compound. Water for instance, phase transition solid - liquid - gas is via melting, evaporization etc etc.

That's not the same as the boundary layers between the different shells in and around the Earth
Right. There is no flaw in the Wiki articles there, only in the OP's comprehension of them: The Earth/atmosphere boundary is not a thermodynamic system.
 
  • #10
russ_watters said:
The Earth/atmosphere boundary is not a thermodynamic system.

Perhaps my English fails me, but I have a feeling boundary fits the definition of the thermodynamic system as quoted earlier by OP. You can select a volume that contains the boundary and describe processes inside it using thermodynamics.

It will still not make these processes phase transition, no doubt about it.
 
  • #11
flicflex, where do you wish to measure things from? There are really only two viable options: the surface of the Earth, or its centre. No other points or surfaces are well defined. It is convenient, in many instances, to continue using the Earth's surface (however now defined) as the reference surface. That's not old school, as you suggest; that's just solidly practical.
 
  • #12
Borek said:
Perhaps my English fails me, but I have a feeling boundary fits the definition of the thermodynamic system as quoted earlier by OP. You can select a volume that contains the boundary and describe processes inside it using thermodynamics.

It will still not make these processes phase transition, no doubt about it.

Yes of course.
Definition of the french wikipedia

Wikipedia said:
En thermodynamique classique, on appelle système thermodynamique, une portion de l'univers que l'on isole par la pensée du reste de l'univers que l'on baptise alors milieu extérieur.

Le système thermodynamique n'est pas forcément défini par une frontière matérielle, il n'est pas non plus nécessairement connexe. Les gouttes de liquide dans un brouillard, par exemple, définissent un système thermodynamique.

id est

Wikipedia said:
In classic thermodynamics, we call thermodynamic system a portion of the universe that we isolate by the mind besides from the universe that we call then outside environment.

The thermodynamic system is not necessarily defined by a material border, it is not either inevitably connected. The drops of liquid in a fog, for example, define a thermodynamic system.


Ophiolite said:
flicflex, where do you wish to measure things from? There are really only two viable options: the surface of the Earth, or its centre. No other points or surfaces are well defined. It is convenient, in many instances, to continue using the Earth's surface (however now defined) as the reference surface. That's not old school, as you suggest; that's just solidly practical.

Since (darwin123) that we have a drastic change of the composition at the Earth surface, we can indeed consider it as an abscissa. But I guess that overall we should consider altitude 0 of our Earth system the same way we consider the altitude 0 of another planet. Anyway this is a detail :)
 
  • #13
Darwin123 said:
The Earth atmosphere interface is not associated with a change in phase, only with a change in composition. As you pointed out, this is a discontinuity associated with compositional transition, not phase transition. The proportions of different elements are different between atmosphere and crust.

As a phase transition is defined in math-phys as non-analyticity of certain parameterized functions on a configuration space IN the parameter variable, we can consider the non analicity of internal energy (or pressure if you prefer) depending of the Earth radius parameter, at any point of the radius, including Earth surface, right?

But I guess that building such a function in a such heterogenous space would be really difficult.

Then can you give me an example of a similar function which could describe surface's radius (distance surface-center) of another planet (with a homogenous materia system)? Or even of Earth but during its very early history (when it turned to be a gaz planet to magma/gaz planet)?
 
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  • #14
No. A thermodynamic cycle contains a working fluid (or two or three) that move and typically change state in order to carry energy from one place to another and/or transform it between electrical/mechanical/thermal forms. Let me explain, with an example:

Draw a cylindrical boundary of 1 km diameter and 15 km height, with its bottom on the surface of the earth, on an externally calm day (so no significant mass flow in and out of the cylinder) that is warm, sunny, and humid. This is the boundary of a thermodynamic system, with two working fluids: water and air. On a day like this, a thunderstorm is likely: The external heat source is the sun, it warms the ground, evaporating liquid water (changing its state/phase, causing air to heat and rise, carrying water vapor up. The mixture of water and air cools as it rises and the water vapor condenses, (changes state/phase to liquid), then precipitates out, falling back to the ground. The cycle repeats the next day.

Notice:
1. Nothing but heat is moving across the boundary.
2. The changes in state happen to one of the working fluids, which is conserved and is singular in its composition (it is just water).

Try the same with drawing a 1m cube, half of which is underground. It is just a box of dirt and air. Though there may be heat transfer initially, eventually there will be an equilibrium in this box, where nothing is happening.

So, to be clear:

In thermodynamics, a "phase transition" is referrring to a working fluid that changes its phase while performing some thermodynamic task (carrying energy, performing work).

One can call the boundary of the ground and air by any name you want, but calling it a "phase transition" is going to have a different definition than the thermodynamic one. Similarly, I can say "when I jumped in a pool, I 'transitioned' from being in one phase of matter to being in another", but that has nothing whatsoever to do with thermodynamics.

Now. I'm sure you aren't here to argue about the definition of "phase transition" whether pertaining to thermodynamics or not. So please rephrase your question. To be perfectly honest, it mostly sounds like gibberish to me (being born underground?), though some may be a language barrier.

The specific question you asked at the end of the first post has an easy answer: When the Earth was formed, it was formed out of a mixed-cloud of gas and dust/rock. The dust/rock is heavier than the gas, so it sank and formed a clump on the inside (the earth) while the gas is light and so it stayed on the outside. That really is all there is to it. Besides the initial formation, there really isn't anything about this to study - it is too simple. Unlike what is going on inside Jupiter, for example, where there is no well defined transition plane between gas and liquid.
 
  • #15
Well, the french (again) wikipedia has two different articles : one for "phase transition" (transition de phase) which I quoted, and one for "state transition" (changement d'état) which seems to be a subcategory of phase transition. But let stick to you definition (you have 20345/7= 2907 times more messages than me!).

My question could be reformulated like this :

trough a mathematical point of view, why does the solid part of Earth has a precise radius of 6400km?

If the question is too difficult, can you give the answer for the similar question to any planet easier to study?
 
  • #16
flicflex said:
trough a mathematical point of view, why does the solid part of Earth has a precise radius of 6400km?

1. It doesn't.

2. Looking for a logic behind the Earth radius is a pure numerology. IOW: there is no scientific meaning behind.
 
  • #17
flicflex said:
trough a mathematical point of view, why does the solid part of Earth has a precise radius of 6400km?

As Borek said, it doesn't. But the reason the radius is approximately 20,000/∏ km is because of the way the meter was first defined. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_metre
 
  • #18
russ_watters said:
When the Earth was formed, it was formed out of a mixed-cloud of gas and dust/rock. The dust/rock is heavier than the gas, so it sank and formed a clump on the inside (the earth) while the gas is light and so it stayed on the outside. That really is all there is to it. Besides the initial formation, there really isn't anything about this to study - it is too simple. Unlike what is going on inside Jupiter, for example, where there is no well defined transition plane between gas and liquid.
Hmm. Questionable. The gasesous components of the Earth are almost entirely (perhaps entirely) derived from degassing of the interior once formed from solid planetesimals and from volatiles provided by cometary and asteroidal impact. There is no evidence I am aware of that would involve a meaningful contribution of nebular gases to the proto-Earth. I stand ready to be corrected on provision of relevant citations.
 
  • #19
Ophiolite said:
Hmm. Questionable. The gasesous components of the Earth are almost entirely (perhaps entirely) derived from degassing of the interior once formed from solid planetesimals and from volatiles provided by cometary and asteroidal impact. There is no evidence I am aware of that would involve a meaningful contribution of nebular gases to the proto-Earth. I stand ready to be corrected on provision of relevant citations.
Sigh. Yes, it is a simplification. Yes, we did have nebular gasses, but it was mostly hydrogen and most blew away during Earth's formation and the start-up of the sun. But whether we call the "degassing" process that created our current atmosphere part of the formation of Earth or not is yet another hair I don't care to split. It still follows the description I laid out: Heavier substances sink and lighter ones rise. That's why all of the gases are now in Earth's atmosphere instead of its core.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Earth#Solar_System_formation
 
  • #20
flicflex said:
My question could be reformulated like this :

trough a mathematical point of view, why does the solid part of Earth has a precise radius of 6400km?

If the question is too difficult, can you give the answer for the similar question to any planet easier to study?
The reason the Earth's radius is what it is is because that's how much solid matter there was floating around our proto-solar system, in range of Earth's gravity when it formed. There really is nothing more complicated about it than that.
 
  • #21
Let me rephrase... which parameters determine the radius (in our case 6371km) of a planet and how (which function) ?
 
  • #22
Depends on how specific you want to get, but I'd start with mass and density:

V=m/d
 
  • #23
I am going to throw [itex]V=\frac {4} 3 \pi r^3[/itex] in.
 
  • #24
well let's admit the mass, but the density has to be explained !
does Earth internal inergy alone can parametrize Earth density?
In such a case, how do we determine Earth internal energy? Earth initial internal energy + energy lost in the external system (cooling within the universe) + energy brought by the external system (sun and asteroid crashes) ?
 
  • #25
flicflex said:
does Earth internal inergy alone can parametrize Earth density?

Looks like a word salad to me.
 
  • #26
I'll translate, and I was initially going to include this:

Temperature (internal energy), heat generation, heat dissipation, thermal conductivity, heat capacity and...coefficient of thermal expansion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion#Expansion_in_solids

In other words, as the Earth cools, it shrinks. How much? Probably not enough to be more significant than the effect of its oblateness or plate tectonics.
 
  • #27
Yes indeed the evolution of Earth internal energy determines the evolution of its diameter.
But my question is rather how does Earth internal energy determines its diameter (statically talking)?


borek (numerology salad blabla), i apologize for my lack of vocabulary but I beg you to try to understand the topic behing my babblings rather than despise them :smile:
 
  • #28
Borek said:
1. It doesn't.

2. Looking for a logic behind the Earth radius is a pure numerology. IOW: there is no scientific meaning behind.

What you could say about the Earth's radius is that the radius at any point on the surface along a line extending from the center of gravity to outer space is the point of greatest gravitational potential along that line. The acceleration due to gravity on a test object falls as you move toward the center of mass from the surface and also falls as you move toward space from the solid or liquid surface.

However, as pointed out, the solid and liquid surfaces of the Earth consist of different substances than the atmosphere, so there is no phase transition per se. Where the surface is water or water ice, the atmosphere is still mostly nitrogen and oxygen with proportionately very little water vapor.

www.syvum.com/physics/gravitation/gravitation2.html
 
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  • #29
flicflex, phase transitions in geophysics refer to structural changes in minerals, generally associated with changes in pressure, or temperature. So, phase transitions do play a role in determining the Earth's radius, in as much as they have profound effects on the interior stucture and behaviour of the Earth's interior.

The original composition of the planetesimals forming the Earth, the siderophile, lithophile or chalcophile tendencies of the elements, the resultant differentiation into crust, mantle and core, the subsequent phase changes within mantle and core, the consequent initiation and evolution of convection, all of these things in combination have determined the particular radius of the Earth. (Other items could be added.)

That said, I'm still not sure I have properly understood what it is you are trying to ask.
 
  • #30
flicflex said:
trough a mathematical point of view, why does the solid part of Earth has a precise radius of 6400km?

As Borek had said, and I will try to reformulate, there is no special significance behind the numerical value (here 6400) of any physical quantity (here the radius of the Earth) when expressed in particular units (here km). Coming back to our example, one may say that it is so, because the kilometer had been initially defined as 1/10000 part of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator along the meridian passing through Paris.

Assuming the Earth resembles as a sphere, it means that 1/4 of a great circle has a length of 10000 km. But, a quarter of a circlular arc with radius R has a length [itex]R \pi/2[/itex]. Then, solving for the radius, we have:
[tex]
\frac{R \pi}{2} = 1.0000 \times 10^4 \, \mathrm{km}
[/tex]
[tex]
R = \frac{2 \times 1.0000 \times 10^4 \, \mathrm{km}}{3.14159} = 6.3662 \times 10^3 \, \mathrm{km}
[/tex]
There is your magic number!

Similar examples to your question would be to ask why is the radius of the Earth 3400 nautical miles (look up the definition of a nautical mile), or why is the triple point of water at an absolute temperature of 273.16 kelvin (look up a triple point, and the definition of a kelvin as a unit of thermodynamic temperature).

What would make sense to ask is why does the ratio of two physical quantities of the same kind (eg. lengths) that are related to each other, have a particular numerical value (but no units or dimensions). I emphasize the phrase "related", because, for example, you may take the Bohr radius (colloquially known as the radius of the hydrogen atom), which has a value [itex]a_0 = 5.29 \times 10^{-11} \, \mathrm{m}[/itex], and calculate the ratio
[tex]
\frac{R}{a_0} = 1.20 \times 10^{17}
[/tex]
You may take the cube of the above ratio to find the ratio of the volume of the Earth to the volume of a single hydrogen atom
[tex]
x = \left( \frac{R}{a_0} \right)^3 = 1.74 \times 10^{51}
[/tex]
Is there any significance to this astronomical number? Not unless you show a reason behind your choice of the Bohr radius as a length of comparison.

I may argue that the above number represents, at least to an order of a magnitude estimate, the number of atoms of which the solid portion of the Earth is made out of. Indeed, if you assign 1 a.m.u. of mass to each of these "atoms" (look up the atomic mass unit), then their combined mass would be [itex]2.89 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm{kg}[/itex]. Compare this to the mass of the Earth, [itex]5.97 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm{kg}[/itex], and you are in the right order of magnitude range. But, by no means should you ask why the first result is nearly half of the second! It just turned out that way (we know that the Earth is not made out of hydrogen, nor can we pack spheres to occupy the whole space). But, what it should show you is that the Earth is made up of atoms, and that it is not a white dwarf or a neutron star.

Well, anyway, that was my long winded digression that I hope someone will read through.
 
  • #31
SW VandeCarr said:
What you could say about the Earth's radius is that the radius at any point on the surface along a line extending from the center of gravity to outer space is the point of greatest gravitational potential along that line. The acceleration due to gravity on a test object falls as you move toward the center of mass from the surface and also falls as you move toward space from the solid or liquid surface.

This is an interesting element of answer. But why does the materia doesn't accumulate anymore (isn't solid anymore) beyond that greatest gravitational potential field (6400km)?

Ophiolite said:
That said, I'm still not sure I have properly understood what it is you are trying to ask.
Calculate Earth's radius with the help of some chosen parameters (something like internal energy, temperature and quantity of materia, magnetic field, i don't know something like that)

Dickfore said:
As Borek had said, and I will try to reformulate, there is no special significance behind the numerical value (here 6400) of any physical quantity (here the radius of the Earth) when expressed in particular units (here km). Coming back to our example, one may say that it is so, because the kilometer had been initially defined as 1/10000 part of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator along the meridian passing through Paris.

Assuming the Earth resembles as a sphere, it means that 1/4 of a great circle has a length of 10000 km. But, a quarter of a circlular arc with radius R has a length [itex]R \pi/2[/itex]. Then, solving for the radius, we have:
[tex]
\frac{R \pi}{2} = 1.0000 \times 10^4 \, \mathrm{km}
[/tex]
[tex]
R = \frac{2 \times 1.0000 \times 10^4 \, \mathrm{km}}{3.14159} = 6.3662 \times 10^3 \, \mathrm{km}
[/tex]
There is your magic number!
Dickfore, you just said that [tex]

\frac{2 \times \frac{R\pi}{2}}{\pi}= R

[/tex]

Dickfore said:
I may argue that the above number represents, at least to an order of a magnitude estimate, the number of atoms of which the solid portion of the Earth is made out of. Indeed, if you assign 1 a.m.u. of mass to each of these "atoms" (look up the atomic mass unit), then their combined mass would be [itex]2.89 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm{kg}[/itex]. Compare this to the mass of the Earth, [itex]5.97 \times 10^{24} \, \mathrm{kg}[/itex], and you are in the right order of magnitude range. But, by no means should you ask why the first result is nearly half of the second! It just turned out that way (we know that the Earth is not made out of hydrogen, nor can we pack spheres to occupy the whole space). But, what it should show you is that the Earth is made up of atoms, and that it is not a white dwarf or a neutron star.
Your comparison is interesting, but I'm looking for a more precise calculus (something close at least of 20% of the real radius). We obviously can't add the size of all the different atoms of earth, that's why I'm rather looking for a thermodynamic related calculus.
 
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  • #32
flicflex said:
i don't know something like that

I am afraid that summarizes whole thread.
 
  • #33
Borek said:
I am afraid that summarizes whole thread.

Exactly. Which parameters can determinate Earth radius and how.
 
  • #34
flicflex said:
Exactly. Which parameters can determinate Earth radius and how.

I have answered that in a general way in post #29. If you wish to get a more precise answer then an extensive study into geochemistry, geophysics and planetology over a five to ten year period should provide the answer you seek. The question is not, in my view, interesting enough to warrant anyone yet having considered it. You could become famous.
 
  • #35
Your answer was interesting, but I'm indeed looking for a thermal answer rather than a (geo)chemical answer.

Do you think Earth can be considered as some kind of solid gaz, or at least as complex system, in order to study it trough a thermal/energetical point of view? Is it what you call an extensive study?

Why would'nt it be interesting? Such a method would save obviously a lot of calculus and measures in order to describe few characterisics of any planet.
 
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<h2>1. What is the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?</h2><p>The Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition refers to the boundary between the solid crust of the Earth and the gaseous atmosphere that surrounds it. This transition occurs at the surface of the Earth and is characterized by changes in temperature, pressure, and composition.</p><h2>2. What causes the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?</h2><p>The Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition is primarily caused by the Earth's internal heat and the effects of gravity. The Earth's internal heat drives processes such as volcanism and plate tectonics, which can impact the composition and structure of the crust. Gravity also plays a role in shaping the atmosphere, as it pulls gases towards the Earth's surface.</p><h2>3. How does the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition affect life on Earth?</h2><p>The Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition has a significant impact on life on Earth. The composition of the atmosphere and the structure of the crust determine the availability of resources and the conditions for life to thrive. Changes in these factors can have consequences for the survival and evolution of different species.</p><h2>4. Are there other factors that contribute to the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?</h2><p>Yes, there are other factors that contribute to the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition. These include external factors such as solar radiation and meteorite impacts, which can affect the Earth's atmosphere and crust. Human activities, such as pollution and deforestation, can also impact the composition of the atmosphere and the stability of the crust.</p><h2>5. How do scientists study the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?</h2><p>Scientists study the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition through a variety of methods, including geological and atmospheric measurements, laboratory experiments, and computer simulations. They also use data from past events, such as volcanic eruptions and climate changes, to understand how the Earth's crust and atmosphere have evolved over time and how they may continue to change in the future.</p>

1. What is the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?

The Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition refers to the boundary between the solid crust of the Earth and the gaseous atmosphere that surrounds it. This transition occurs at the surface of the Earth and is characterized by changes in temperature, pressure, and composition.

2. What causes the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?

The Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition is primarily caused by the Earth's internal heat and the effects of gravity. The Earth's internal heat drives processes such as volcanism and plate tectonics, which can impact the composition and structure of the crust. Gravity also plays a role in shaping the atmosphere, as it pulls gases towards the Earth's surface.

3. How does the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition affect life on Earth?

The Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition has a significant impact on life on Earth. The composition of the atmosphere and the structure of the crust determine the availability of resources and the conditions for life to thrive. Changes in these factors can have consequences for the survival and evolution of different species.

4. Are there other factors that contribute to the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?

Yes, there are other factors that contribute to the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition. These include external factors such as solar radiation and meteorite impacts, which can affect the Earth's atmosphere and crust. Human activities, such as pollution and deforestation, can also impact the composition of the atmosphere and the stability of the crust.

5. How do scientists study the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition?

Scientists study the Earth's crust-atmosphere phase transition through a variety of methods, including geological and atmospheric measurements, laboratory experiments, and computer simulations. They also use data from past events, such as volcanic eruptions and climate changes, to understand how the Earth's crust and atmosphere have evolved over time and how they may continue to change in the future.

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