OUR PLACE IN SPACE

Earth is the planet third from the sun and is the third biggest planet. Earth is 4.54 billion years old.
Earth is the only planet in the solar system with plate tectonics. The outer crust of the Earth are broken up into regions known as tectonic plates.These are floating on top of the magma interior of the Earth and can move against one another. When two plates collide, one plate can go underneath another.

This process is very important. When tiny microscopic plants in the ocean die, they fall to the bottom of the ocean. Over long periods of time, the remains of this life, rich in carbon, are carried back into the interior of the Earth and are recycled . This pulls carbon out of the atmosphere, which makes sure we don't get a runaway greenhouse affect, like what happened on Venus.

Without tectonic plates, there would be no way to recycle carbon and the Earth would overheat.

By Claire