SUPPLY CHAIN DEFINITIONS. Definitions of a supply chain virtually universally encompass the following three functions: i. supply of materials to a manufacturer; ii. the manufacturing process; and, iii. the distribution of finished goods through a network of distributors and retailers to a final customer.
The thickest parts are under the continents and the thinnest parts are under the oceans. Crust. Earth's crust is made up of several elements: oxygen, 47 percent; silicon, 27 percent; aluminum, 8 percent; iron, 5 percent; calcium, 4 percent; magnesium, potassium and sodium, 2 percent. The crust is divided into huge plates that float on the mantle, the next layer.
Making the crust. Mantle material, usually made of a dark heavy rock called peridotite, is odd stuff. Whenever Iâve seen it on the surface it always looks out of place somehow, too homogeneous, too brown, too massive. Yet it forms over 80% of the earthâs volume â excepting the metallic core it is what earth is made of.