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BookmarkThe continental crust is the layer of granitic, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks which form the continents and the areas of shallow seabed close to their shores, known as continental shelves.
It is less dense than the material of the Earth's mantle and thus "floats" on top of it.
Continental crust is also less dense than oceanic crust, though it is considerably thicker; mostly 35 to 40 km versus the average oceanic thickness of around 7-10 km.
About 40% of the Earth's surface is now underlain by continental crust..
For more information about the topic Continental crust, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
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The crust of the Earth is composed of a great variety of igneous, metamorphic, and ... > read more
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Igneous rock — Igneous rocks are formed when molten rock (magma) cools and solidifies, with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive ... > read moreNote: This page refers to an article that is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the article Continental crust at Wikipedia.org. See the Wikipedia copyright page for more details.
