Science glossary film: Continental crust

Continental crust

Sorry, this film is not free to view

Start trial

Please log in or subscribe to watch the full film

The uppermost layer of the Earth that forms the continents and coastal sea floor, sitting on top of a layer of denser rock called the mantle.

The uppermost layer of the Earth that forms the continents and coastal sea floor, sitting on top of a layer of denser rock called the mantle. It's composed mainly of granite, and ranges from 10 to 70 kilometres in thickness. It is created and destroyed very slowly by various geological processes – the oldest known rocks in the crust are about 4 billion years old.

It's composed mainly of granite, and ranges from 10 to 70 kilometres in thickness. It is created and destroyed very slowly by various geological processes – the oldest known rocks in the crust are about 4 billion years old.

Embed this film

Copy and paste the embed code above to include this film on other websites.

Share this film

Copy and paste the code above to link to this page.