REVIEWER SCIENCE 10

1st Quarterly Exams

Layers of the Earth

A. Crust
o The THINNEST and OUTERMOST LAYER of the earth where LIFE EXISTS.
o It is 40 to 70 km thick (the Continental Crust – makes up the continents)
o Continental crust is made up of granitic rocks made up mostly of ALUMINUM SILICATE.
o Oceanic crust (5 km thickness) – underlies the ocean floor and is made up of denser rocks called “BASALTS”
Elements found in the crust:
1. Silicon – 27.72%
2. Oxygen- 46.60%
3. Aluminum – 8.13%
4. Calcium – 3.63%
5. Sodium – 2.83%
6. Potassium – 2.5%
7. Magnesium – 2.09%
8. Hydrogen - .14%
9. Tatanium - .04%

Lithosphere
 A rigid layer that can break under stress.
 Made up of tectonic plates.
 Crust and uppermost part of the mantle

Asthenosphere
 Can be found BELOW THE LITHOSPHERE
 Soft weak layer which contains MAGMA at temperature ranging from 300 Degree Celsius – 800 Degree
Celsius.
 Capable to flow; facilitates movement of lithospheric plates.
 It is one of the special feature of the Mantle.

B. Mantle
o Extends to about 2900 kilometers from the earth’s surface.
o Semisolid, rocky and very hot layer.
o Makes up 80% of the EARTH’s VOLUME and 68% of the EARTH’s MASS
o Made mostly of SILICATE ROCKS, other elements found are SILICON; OXYGEN;IRON and MAGNESIUM
o Top part of the mantle has a temperature of 900 degrees Celsius and the lower part has a temperature of
about 1000 degrees Celcius.

C. Core
 o Responsible for the EARTH’s MAGNETIC CHARACTERISTICS

Divided into:
1) Outer Core
 The ONLY LAYER THAT IS LIQUID
 About 2270 km thick.
 Made up of MOLTEN IRON and NICKEL
 Has a temperature of about 3000 deg. Celsius to 4300
deg. Celsius.
 Where MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE CREATED.

2) Inner Core
 It is about 1220 km thick
 Temperature reaches about 5000 to 6000 degrees
Celsius
 Made up of SOLID IRON AND NICKEL
 It is where MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE GENERATED

Pressure Freezing
 LIQUIDS are SUBJECTED into VERY HIGH PRESSURE.
INTERFACE BOUDARIES

 Mohorovicic Discontinuity
- It is between the CRUST AND THE MANTLE
- Discovered by ANDRIJA MOHOVIRICIC

 Guttenburg Discontinuity
- It is between the MANTLE AND OUTER CORE

 Lehmon Discontinuity
- A discontinuity between the OUTER CORE and the INNER CORE.

Uranium in the inner core

- Once it decays it GENERATES HEAT and SLOWS DOWN THE COOLING OF THE EARTH.

Seismic Waves
  Waves of energy that OCCURS WHEN THERE IS AN EARTHQUAKE.
 Seismic waves are detected by highly sensitive instruments called seismometers and recorded by a seismograph.

Body Waves
 Waves that can pass the INNER PART OF THE EARTH.
 Primary waves – waves that moves faster
 Secondary waves – these are transverse waves that moves through solids.

Characteristics of Primary Waves

1. Primary Waves
 First to be felt and detected by SEISMOMETER
 Compressional waves that SHAKES THE GROUND BACK AND FORTH.
 Travel through SOLIDS, LIQUIDS and GASES.

Surface waves
 Waves that TRAVELS ONLY ON THE CRUST.
 Do not penetrate the inner layers
 Slower than the body waves.
Types of Waves
a) Love Waves
- Considered as the FASTEST type of Surface waves
- Move the ground from SIDE TO SIDE
- Discovered by AUGUST EDWARD H. LOVE
b) Rayliegh Waves
- Moves in CIRCULAR MANNER
- Causes building to MOVE UP AND DOWN and SIDE
TO SIDE.
- These waves were named after JOHN WILLIAM
STROH also known as Lord Rayleigh.
- Waves with GREATER DEVASTATION DURING
EARTHQUAKES.

The Continental Drift Theory

 Continental drift was a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth's surface.
 Set forth in 1912 by Alfred Wegener, a geophysicist and meteorologist, continental drift also explained why look-
alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents.

Alfred Wegner
 The proponent of the Continental Drift Theory
 Wegener thought all the continents were once joined together in an "Urkontinent" before
breaking up and drifting to their current positions.

Pangaea
 Greek words pan “ALL” and gaea “EARTH”; Means ENTIRE EARTH
 It is the supercontinent around 250 million years ago
 Surrounded by a vast superocean PANTHALASA which means “ALL SEAS”
Evidences of the Continental Drift Theory
1. Continental Jigsaw puzzle
 Coastlines of the continents appear to fit together (specifically SOUTH AMERICA and AFRICA)

2. Fossil Correlation
 Identical fossils have been found in the rocks on either side of the ocean
 Mesosaurus who lives in shallow fresh waters remains found in South America and Africa
 Lystrosaurus fossils found in Antarctica, India and South Africa
 Glossopteris (Plant/Tree) fossils found in Australia, Antarctica, India, South Africa and South America.

3. Rock and Mountain Correlation

 Terrains of mountains in the east part of North America matched with the same mountains of Europe.

4. Paleoclimate Data (past Climate Data)

a. Glacial Stations
 Found in Africa and South America (tropical Continents)
 Scratch marks on rocks as a result of moving glaciers
 Proves that Africa and South America being tropical continents were probably farther from the
equator and near the South Pole.

b. Bituminous Coal
 Made from compacted plant remains
 Should be found in tropical areas
 Present in ANTARCTICA (this suggest that Antarctica was near the equator before the drifting of the
continents)
 5. Sea floor Spreading
 Seafloor spreading is a geologic process where there is a gradual addition of new oceanic crust in the
ocean floor through a volcanic activity while moving the older rocks away from the mid-oceanic ridge. The
mid-ocean ridge is where the seafloor spreading occurs, in which tectonic plates—large slabs of Earth’s
lithosphere—split apart from each other.
 Suggested by Harry Hess and Robert Dietz

Tectonics
 A branch of geology that deals with MOVEMENTS THAT SHAPE the Earth’s crust

Lithospheric Plates
 The MOVING OF IRREGULARY SHAPED SLABS that fit together to form the surface of the earth’s crust.

Subduction
 Process in which DENSER CRUST LOUNGES/GOES BACK INTO THE INNERPl PART OF THE EARTH.

PLATE BOUNDARIES

A. Divergent Plate Boundary

 Two plate MOVE AWAY FROM EACH OTHER.

Geological Events of Divergent Plate Boundary

1. When there is a CRACK IN THE CONTINENTAL CRUST, it creates a RIFT VALLEY
or the SPLITTING OF THE CONTINENTAL CRUST.
2. Mid – oceanic ridge (underwater mountain ridges) created in the oceanic
crust.
3. Earthquakes
- If the rift would be wider and wider away, it would be filled up with water.
- In places where molten lava fill up, VOLCANIC ISLANDS CAN BE FORMED.

B. Convergent Plate Boundary

 Two plates are MOVING TOWARDS EACH OTHER.
 Can be identified as CONTINENTAL CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY and OCEANIC and OCEANIC
PLATE BOUNDARIES.
 B1. Continental and Oceanic plates Geological Events in Order
1. Occurrence of SUBDUCTION
2. SUBDUCTION ZONE
3. FORMATION OF TRENCH
4. Volcanic Arc
5. Earthquake caused by the GRINDING OF THE TWO PLATES.

B2. Oceanic and Oceanic Convergent Plate Boundaries

 When TWO OCEANIC PLATES COLLIDE
1. The denser oceanic plates subducts
2. Subduction zone
3. Formation of trenches
4. Earthquakes
5. Formations of volcanic island arcs
6. Trench will FLICK UPWARDS causing a TSUNAMI

Findings that support sea floor Spreading

1. Rocks are younger at the mid – oceanic ridge.
2. Rocks farther form the mid-oceanic ridge are older
3. Sedimentary rocks are thinner at the ridge
4. Rocks at the ocean floor are younger than those at the continental crust.

How are mountain ranges created?

o Through constant moving of two continents will cause them to pile up and form mountain ranges.

C. Transform Plate Boundary

 The plates SLIDE against one another in OPPOSITE DIRCECTION.

Transform Plate Boundary Events

1. Fault – constant grinding will cause
2. Shallow Earthquake –the DEEPER THE FAULT, the stronger the earthquake

Convection Current
o Continuous process where the HOT LESS DENSE MATERIAL RISE and the COOL MORE DENSE MATERIAL SINK.
o Hot less dense materials spread as it reach the upper mantle cause upward or downward force.
o These forces LIFT and SPLIT the lithosphere at DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY; the downward movement of the
convection current occurs along a plate boundary.

Mid Atlantic Ocean Ridge

o Spreading CENTER which causes the divergence of the South American and African Plates
o Eurasian and North American Plates – moved away from each other at the rate of 5cm per year causing Atlantic
Ocean to get wider.
THE PACIFIC RING OF FIRE

 Consist of the ¾ or 75% of the EARTH VOLCANO AROUND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
 It is the LETHAL LINE OF VOLCANOES in the PACIFIC OCEAN.

Key Question:

1. How many % of Earthquakes occurred in the Pacific Ring of Fire?

o 90% of EARTHQUAKES occurred in the Pacific Ring of Fire.

2. Why is Alaska a perfect laboratory for volcanology?

o Alaska has 75% out of the 90% of the volcanoes which make it perfect laboratory for
volcanology.

3. What is the type of Volcano found in the Pacific Ring of Fire?

o Stratovolcanoes – CONICAL built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava, tephra, pumice
and ash.

4. What is lava blocky?

o It is a THICK LAVA which contains a lot of SILICA which makes it thicker.

5. What are reasons why the volcanoes in the PRF is very dangerous?
o It is dangerous because lava in the PRF is very thick
o It is dangerous because it creates very thick and large and hot ash plumes.

6. What is hornblendes?
o This are minerals that ONLY FORM ON WATER.

7. What type of carbon is found under volcanoes in the PRF? Where did it came from?
o Carbon 12 (c12) is the type of carbon that is found under the volcanoes in the PRF. They come
from oceanic sediments.

8. Give 2 reasons why PRF is very dangerous?

o One of the reasons why the PRF is dangerous because of the BLOCKY LAVA FLOWS.
o The home hornblende crystals that force magma to move upward because of the pressure
which creates volcanoes.