Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
(BSA 2-7)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Hadean Eon
Archean Eon
Proterozoic Eon
Phanerozoic Eon
Paleozoic Era
Mesozoic Era
Cenozoic Era
LAYERS OF THE EARTHS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
Crust
Mantle
Outer Core
Inner Core
ATMOSPHERE------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12
Troposphere
Stratosphere
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
Exosphere
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE EARTH---------------------------------------------------- 15
NATURAL DISASTERS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
Hurricanes
Intorduction
By: Rivera, Josua Hector
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Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the densest and fifth-largest of
the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar
System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the world or
the Blue Planet.
Earth formed approximately 4.54
billion years ago, and life appeared
on its surface within its first billion
years. Earth's biosphere then
significantly altered the atmospheric
and other basic physical conditions,
which enabled the proliferation of
organisms as well as the formation
of the ozone layer, which together
with Earth's magnetic field blocked
harmful solar radiation, and permitted
formerly ocean-confined life to move
Photo of the Earth from the moon,
safely to land. The physical
This supports why the planet is called the
properties of the Earth, as well as its
Blue planet
geological history and orbit, have allowed
life to persist.
and traveling to measure our days and years. The earth spins around it's
axis. This spin makes it seem that the sun is moving from east to west. One
day is the time it takes for the earth to spin once. It takes 23 hours, 56
minutes, and 4.091 seconds for the earth to do this. This length of time is
called a sidereal day.
The earth travels around the sun in 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 9.54
seconds. This is called a sidereal year. The earth travels 595 million miles
around the sun at a speed of 66,600 miles per hour. The path the earth
takes to move around the sun is called an orbit.
The Milky Way spins as well. It revolves around the center of the Galaxy at
155 miles per second! The earth only has one moon. Its diameter is 2,160
miles.
The earth has a North and South Pole. Halfway between these poles is the
equator. The earth is not perfectly spherical. It is slightly flatter at the poles.
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The earth is said to be 4.6 billion years old. From its origin to the present, as
inferred from the rocks record, both on earth and the moon, and geochemical make
up of those two bodies.
Four levels of hierarchy of time intervals
-Eons: First and longest division of geologic time scal
-Eras: 2nd division, each era has 2 periods
-Periods: 3rd division
-Epochs: 4th division
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The mantle is the layer located directly under the sima. It is the
largest layer of the Earth, 1800 miles thick. The mantle is composed
of very hot, dense rock. This layer of rock even flows like asphalt
under a heavy weight. This flow is due to great temperature
differences from the bottom to the top of the mantle. The movement
of the mantle is the reason that the plates of the Earth move! The
temperature of the mantle varies from 1600 degrees Fahrenheit at
the top to about 4000 degrees Fahrenheit near the bottom
Outer Core
The core of the Earth is like a ball of very hot metals. (4000 degrees
F. to 9000 degrees F.) The outer core is so hot that the metals in it are
all in the liquid state. The outer core is located about 1800
milesbeneath the crust and is about 1400 miles thick. The outer core
is composed of the melted metals nickel and iron.
Inner Core
The inner core of the Earth has temperatures and pressures so great
that the metals are squeezed together and are not able to move
about like a liquid, but are forced to vibrate in place as a solid. The
inner core begins about 4000 miles beneath the crust and is about
800 miles thick. The temperatures may reach 9000 dgrees F. and the
pressures are 45,000,000 pounds per square inch. This is 3,000,000
times the air pressure on you at sea level.
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Atmoshphere
By: Castillo, Terence
The Earth's atmosphere is a thin layer of gases that surrounds the Earth. It
composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.03% carbon
dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases. This thin gaseous layer
insulates the Earth from extreme temperatures; it keeps heat inside the
atmosphere and it also blocks the Earth from much of the Sun's
incoming ultraviolet radiation.
The Earth's atmosphere is about 300 miles (480 km) thick, but most of the
atmosphere (about 80%) is within 10 miles (16 km) of the surface of the
Earth. There is no exact place where the atmosphere ends; it just gets
thinner and thinner, until it merges with outer space.
1. The Troposphere
This is the lowest part of the atmosphere - the part we live in. It contains
most of our weather - clouds, rain, snow. In this part of the atmosphere the
temperature gets colder as the distance above the earth increases, by
about 6.5C per kilometre. This change of temperature with height varies
from day to day, depending on the weather.
The troposphere contains about 75% of all of the air in the atmosphere,
and almost all of the water vapour (which forms clouds and rain). The
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3. The Mesosphere
The region above the stratosphere is called the mesosphere. Here the
temperature again decreases with height, reaching a minimum of about
-90C at the "mesopause".
4. The Thermosphere and Ionosphere
The thermosphere lies above the mesopause, and is a region in which
temperatures again increase with height. This temperature increase is
caused by the absorption of energetic ultraviolet and X-Ray radiation from
the sun.
The region of the atmosphere above about 80 km is also called the
"ionosphere", since the energetic solar radiation knocks electrons off
molecules and atoms, turning them into "ions" with a positive charge. The
temperature of the thermosphere varies between night and day and
between the seasons, as do the numbers of ions and electrons which are
present. The ionosphere reflects and absorbs radio waves, allowing us to
receive shortwave radio broadcasts in New Zealand from other parts of the
world.
5. The Exosphere
The region above about 500 km is called the exosphere. It contains mainly
oxygen and hydrogen atoms, but there are so few of them that they rarely
collide - they follow "ballistic" trajectories under the influence of gravity, and
some of them escape right out into space.
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6. Earth, ever-moving
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Natural DIsasaters
By: Rivera, Roselle Coleen
1. Earthquakes
Technically, an earthquake is a vibration that travels through the Earth's
crust. Quakes can be caused by a variety of things, including meteor
impacts andvolcanic eruptions, and even sometimes man-made events like
mine collapses and underground nuclear tests But most naturally occurring
earthquakes are caused by movement of pieces of the Earth's surface,
which are called tectonic plates
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Perhaps the most lethal quake in history had a magnitude of 8.0 and struck
China's Shanxi Province in 1556. According to historical accounts, city walls,
temples, government buildings and houses all crumbled, and more than
830,000 people were killed. A scholar named Qin Keda, who survived the
quake, later provided what may have been the first earthquake preparedness
advice in history: "At the very beginning of the earthquake, people indoors
should not go out immediately," he recommended. "Just crouch down and wait
for chances. Even if the nest is collapsed, some eggs in it may still be kept
intact"
2. Tsunami
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Many tsunamis could be detected before they hit land, and the loss of life
could be minimized, with the use of modern technology, including
seismographs (which detect earthquakes), computerized offshore buoys
that can measure changes in wave height, and a system of sirens on the
beach to alert people of potential tsunami danger.
NOTE: If you see the water recede quickly and unexpectedly from a beach
(this is called drawback), run toward higher ground or inland -- there may
be a tsunami coming. Also, if you are on the coast and there is an
earthquake, it may have caused a tsunami, so run toward higher ground or
inland. Some beaches have tsunami warning sirens -- do not ignore them.
3. Hurricanes
A hurricane is a powerful, rotating storm that forms over warm oceans near
the Equator. Another name for a hurricane is a tropical cyclone. Hurricanes
have strong, rotating winds (at least 74 miles per hour or 119 kilometers per
hour), a huge amount of rain, low air pressure, thunder and lightning. The
cyclonic winds of a hurricane rotate in a counterclockwise direction around
a central, calm eye.
If this type of storm forms in the western Pacific Ocean, it is called a
typhoon.
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