Introduction to Earth

Science
 What is geology?
Geology (geoscience): the
study of the Earth

Materials of Earth
Large scale internal processes
and structures
Surficial processes sculpting
the planet
 Why study Geology?
1. Understand the world around us:
Why do mountains form?
How are the rocks deposited?
Where can we locate resources?
 Why study Geology?
2. Understand geologic hazards
Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Floods

3. Understand natural resources

Ground Water
Coal Mining
Petroleum resources
Why study Geology?
We depend on the Earth for energy resources and raw materials
Every manufactured object relies on Earths resources from pencils to
skyscrapers
Geology drives the world economy
Petroleum, coal, uranium, metals, gemstones, sand and gravel
Why Study Geology?
Employment diverse disciplines
Energy industry
Mining industry
Water resources
Construction/engineering
Environmental
Conservation
Government (USGS)
Academics
Average salary by degree (AAPG, 2010)

Careers in the geosciences routinely rank in the top five

in financial magazine of job satisfaction
The Scientific Process
What is Science???
Bases on facts or observations about nature not beliefs
Can be predictive
Falsifiable (testable)
The nature of scientific inquiry
Science assumes the natural world
is consistent and predictable
Goal of science is to discover
patterns in nature and use the
knowledge to make predictions
Scientists collect facts through
observation and measurements
 Scientific Method: a systematic approach used in scientific study
**Question or Problem
Observation: existing knowledge
Qualitative Data: information that describes color, odor, shape, and other
physical characteristics
Quantitative Data: numerical information
Hypothesis: a tentative explanation for what has been observed,
and that can be tested
Experiment: a set of controlled observation that test the
hypothesis
Independent Variable: in an experiment, that variable the experimenter plans to change
Dependent Variable: in an experiment, the variable whose value depends on the
independent variable
Control: in an experiment, the standard that is used for comparison
Conclusion: a judgement based on the information obtained
 Scientific Theory vs. Law
Scientific Theory: explains a large
number of facts and hypothesis
Has withstood much testing
Is synonymous to fact
Plate tectonics is a theory built of
many hypotheses of plate motion

Scientific Law: describes a

relationship in nature that is
supported by many experiments
Law of Gravity
Newtons Laws of Motion
A scientific inquiry
Step One: Collection or
Observations
- Dinosaurs extinct @ ~65 Ma
- Many other organisms extinct @ ~65 Ma
- Iridium (Ir) present at extinction
- Iridium (a metal) is found in meteorites,
comets, certain lavas, and cosmic dust. Not
normally found in high concentration at Earths
surface
A Scientific Inquiry
Step Two: Hypothesis development
- Comet or asteroid impact created the
iridium anomaly

- Testable?
- Side effects?
- Dust cloud
- Fireball
- Nuclear winter
- Instant death
A Scientific Inquiry
Step Three: Observations and Experiments
- Test for iridium world-wide
- Test for abrupt end to dinosaurs and plankton
- Crater?
A Scientific Inquiry
Steps Four & Five: Accept, modify, reject?
- Iridium is world-wide
- Almost abrupt end to dinosaurs and plankton
- Later crater & soot found (Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula)
Forming the Universe
and it all started with the Big Bang
Big Bang: a violent expansion of the universe
All matter and energy that now constitutes the universe was initially packed
into an infinitesimally small point
The point expanded, according to current estimates, 13.7 billion years ago

The universe was small, dense and hot. It only consisted of energy.
Within a few seconds, hydrogen began to form
By 3 minutes, the temperature fell to below 1 billion degrees, and the
diameter grew to about 53 million km (35 million miles)
 Eventually (after several hundred thousand years) the
Universe became cool enough for chemical bonds to bind
atoms of certain elements together in molecules.
Stars first formed when gravity caused nebulae (cloud of
gas and dust) of gases produced by the big bang to
collapse inward, packing matter so tightly together that
nuclear fusion reactions could begin
Nuclear fusion: process by which the nuclei of atoms fuse
together, thereby creating new, larger atoms.

Stars and planets form when gravity pulls gas, dust, and ice
together into a rotating disk. The center of the disk becomes a
star. Rings around the star condense into solid planetesimals,
which combine to form planets.
 Planetesimals grow by continuous
collisions. Gradually, an irregular shaped
Earth develops. The interior heats up
and becomes soft.
Gravity reshapes Earth into a sphere.
Soon after Earth forms, a small planet
collides with it, blasting debris into a
ring around the earth
The moon forms from the ring of debris
Eventually, the atmosphere develops from volcanic gases.
When the Earth becomes cool enough, moisture
condenses and rains to create the oceans.
Misconceptions about the Big Bang
there was no explosion; there was (and continues to be) an expansion
Rather than imagining a balloon popping and releasing its contents, imagine a
balloon expanding: an infinitesimally small balloon expanding to the size of
our current universe
we tend to image the singularity as a little fireball appearing
somewhere in space
space began inside of the singularity. Prior to the singularity, nothing existed,
not space, time, matter, or energy - nothing.
Chapter 1
Forming the Earth
Origin of the Earth
The Earth is 4.6 billion
years old
It was formed by
collisions of meteorites
and other debris &
particles
Earth started entirely
molten and cooled into
layers
 Layered Earth
The Earths interior is layered
Each layer has a different chemical
composition and physical property

We can classify the layers in 2 ways:

Compositional Layers: distinguished
by different chemical composition
Mechanical Layers: differ in their
strength or rigidity
Compositional Layers
1. Crust
The uppermost layer
Where we walk
It is like the skin of an apple. It is very thin compared to
the other three layers
Oceanic Crust: heavy, dark colored rock containing magnesium
and iron, thin(7-10km)
Continental Crust: lighter, light colored rock, containing silica,
oxygen and aluminum, thick (20-70km)
Compositional Layers
2. Mantle
Middle Layer
Consists of oxygen, iron,
magnesium, and silicon
Over 2900 km thick
The mantle = 68% of Earths mass
and 83% of its volume!
Compositional Layers
3. Core
Inner most layer
Consists mostly of iron and
nickel
Mechanical Layers
1. Lithosphere
Outer layer (100-200km
thick)
Consists of the crust and
upper mantle
Cool
Rigid (solid)
Mechanical Layers
2. Asthenosphere
Below the lithosphere
Middle mantle
Partially melted
plastic layer
350-650 km thick
Mechanical Layers
3. Mesosphere
Lower mantle
Hot as the
asthenosphere but
more rigid due to
increased pressure ,
but still considered
plastic
 Mechanical Layers
4. Outer Core
Dense
Viscous liquid
Consists of iron and some nickel
5. Inner Core
Solid
Because there is so much pressure that it can only exist in the
solid form
May reach 6600C at its center
Consists of iron and some nickel