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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Earth
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INFOTEXT
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1992-09-03
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Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is
almost spherical, flattened slightly at the
poles, and is composed of three concentric
layers, the core, the mantle, and the crust.
About 70% of the Earth's surface is covered
with water. The Earth is surrounded by a
life-supporting atmosphere and is the only
planet on which life is known to exist. The
distance from the Sun is 149,500,000km
(92,860,000miles), it has an equatorial
diameter of 12,756km (7,923miles) with a
circumference of 40,070km (24,900miles). It
rotates every 23hours and 56minutes. The
Earth's average speed around the Sun is 30kps
(18½mps). The Earth's atmosphere contains
78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon,
0.03% carbon dioxide and less than 0.0001%
neon, helium, krypton, hydrogen, xenon,
ozone, and radon. The Earth's land surface
covers 150,000,000sq km (57,500,000sq miles).
The Earth is covered by 361,000,000sq km
(139,400,000sq miles) of water. The age of
the Earth is estimated at 4.6 billion years.
The Earth was formed with the rest of the
Solar System by consolidation of interstellar
dust. Life began 3½ to 4 billion years ago.
Subject by: Robert Small