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General Science.

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The Earths Spheres Plates and the Earths Crust has that The Earths crust is composed of the continental crust (30100 km thick; forms the continents) and the oceanic crust (about 10 km thick; denser than continental crust; mostly covered by oceans).

Auto-Readcasting: OffView Past Readcasts Our planet formed 4.5 billion years ago. Since then, it Undo developed and modified four main physical environments
interact strongly with one another. 1.

Atmosphere: The layer of gases that surrounds the Earth. The atmosphere protects us from the suns intense heat and radiation, provides the air we Submit breathe, and produces weather. 2. Hydrosphere: The Earths water. The hydrosphere Auto-Readcasting: OffView Past all Readcasts includes the liquid and frozen water of the Earths oceans and land (groundwater), as well as water vapor in the atmosphere. 3. Biosphere: All organisms living on and inside the Tw eet Earths surface. 4. Lithosphere: The rigid, relatively cool rocky zone immediately under the Earths surface. The lithosphere includes the Earths crust and part of the upper mantle. The asthenosphere is the region in the upper mantle

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(beneath the lithosphere) where rocks melt to form magma (molten rock). The asthenosphere is less rigid than the lithosphere and is able to flow. Movement of the lithosphere is directly connected to flow within the asthenosphere. The Earths Interior The Earths interior is divided as follows: 1. 2. 3. Crust (540 km thick): The thin outer skin of the planet. Mantle (2,885 km thick): The origin of most magma. Core (3,486 km thick): A dense, metal-rich ball inside the Earth. The core is composed of the liquid outer core and solid inner core.

Plate Tectonic Theory Geologists developed plate tectonic theory as a model of movement on Earths crust on the surface of our planet. Observations and measurements of the processes that lead to and result from this movement support the plate tectonic model. Continental drift: In the early 1900s, scientists noticed that, based on the continents shapes, it looked like the continents could fit snugly together. Geologists proposed that the continents gradually float around on the surface of the planet, bumping into each other and pulling apart. Wilson cycle: In the 1960s, J. Tuzo Wilson proposed that landmasses, over time, repeatedly join to form a supercontinent an amalgamation of all the continents into one big massand subsequently split apart. Isostasy: The concept that the crust floats on the heavier mantle in gravitational balance, like a block of ice in water. Mountains have roots that enable them to stay in balance; bigger mountains have bigger roots. When a great load is removed from Earths surface (like when a glacier melts), the crust rebounds, or gently rises, to maintain isostatic equilibrium.

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Plate Boundaries The plates meet at plate boundaries, which are the sites of most earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation. There are three

Plate T ectonics Plates are the slabs of the Earths crust that make up the lithosphere.

earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation. There are three types of plate boundaries: 1. Convergent boundary: The margin between two plates that are moving toward each other. Plate convergence leads to ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, or continent-continent collision.

General Science.

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Subduction: Dense oceanic crust sinks beneath less dense continental crust at a convergent boundary. In this setting, a deep oceanic trench forms along the coast above the subduction zone, and volcanoes arise on the continental plate. An example of

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ocean continent convergence is seen today in the Aleutian Arc of Alaska. This convergence eventually leads to continent-continent collision and mountain formation as two landmasses crumple into each other. A classic example of this mountain formation is the convergence between India and Asia, which continues to build the Himalayan chain and the tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest. 3. Ring of Fire: The circumference of the Pacific Ocean, bounded by subduction zones at the edges of the Pacific plate, that is the site of many volcanoes. Divergent boundary (spreading center): The margin between two plates, usually both oceanic, that are 2. moving away from each other. Plates with growmidat spreading centers, which are often coincident ocean ridges like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At a midocean ridge, magma rises from the asthenosphere, pushing the plates apart and accreting, or sticking onto, the sides of the plates. The plates widen in parallel strips as they diverge from each other. This is also the source of magnetic striping on the sea floor (see Magnetic polarity reversals). Transform boundary: The margin between two plates that are sliding past each other. Transform boundaries are prominent features on sea floors, where they connect offset mid ocean ridge segments. The most famous transform boundary is along the San Andreas Fault in California, where the Pacific and North American plates slide past each other.

Earthquakes and Seismology Faults Fault: A fracture in the Earths crust caused by stress. There are several different types of faults: 1. Normal fault: A fault in which the hanging wall (the block of crust above the fault) moves down relative to the footwall (the block of crust below the fault) as a result of extension. Reverse fault: A fault in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall as a result of compression. Strike-slip fault: A fault in which two blocks of crust slide past each other on the same plane. The San Andreas Fault is a strike-slip fault.

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Deformation Rock layers crumple when the Earths crust is subject to stresses. These stresses may result in folds (warping or bending of rock layers, such as in the diagram below) or faults (fractures in the crust).

General Science.

Stream Shapes and Patterns There are several types of streams and drainage patterns, which are dictated by landforms and also shape those landforms. Whereas glaciers carve flat-bottomed, U-shaped valleys, streams carve sharp canyons, or V-shaped valleys. Groundwater 1. Braided stream: A stream that divides into smaller streams. When a stream gradient decreases, its flow slows, causing the stream to branch into smaller subchannels. Braided streams are common on alluvial fans and glacial outwash plains. Meandering stream: A stream that carves a path sideways and forms wide loops, called meanders, as it flows downstream. Often, when water in a stream flows over a bump, ripples are created that deflect water toward one side of the stream and carve into the side. This sideways flow creates a bend in the channel, and water flowing out of this bend then deflects toward the opposite side of the stream, carving a bend there. 1. Point bar: Sediment deposited in the inner curves of a meandering stream. The stream moves slowest in these inner curves, so the stream drops sediment here. Oxbow lake: A lake that splits off from a meandering stream when erosion carves a straight channel that cuts off the flow into one of the streams meanders. 2. Groundwater is surface water that seeps into the ground. It constitutes 95% of the Earths supply of fresh water (outside of glaciers) and feeds not only humans and crops but also streams and lakes.

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Groundwater Distribution and Movement 1. The ground under the surface of the Earths landmasses is divided into two zones based on the presence or absence of groundwater: 1. Zone of aeration: The area just below ground in which spaces between rocks and soil are filled with air. 2. Zone of saturation: The area below the zone of aeration in which the spaces between particles are filled with water. The top level of the zone of saturation is called the water table. The water in the zone of saturation is groundwater. The porosity and permeability of soil and rock dictate the accumulation and movement of groundwater. 1. Porosity: The ratio of open spaces to volume of material. Porosity is quantified in percentages. 2. Permeability: A measure of the ease with which sediments transport water. Permeability is calculated as the volume of water that can move through a crosssection of sediments in a given time. Permeability is classified on a scale from very low to excellent. Sand typically has 20% porosity and excellent permeability. Clay has a 50% porosity but poor permeability. The water table roughly follows topography, rising slightly beneath hills and depressed beneath stream channels. Where the land surface cuts low, the water table intersects the land, typically at stream channels. 1. Effluent stream: A stream that gains water from the zone of saturation, typically in wet environments. 2. Influent stream: A stream that loses water to the water table, typically in dry environments. 3. Hydraulic gradient: The slope of the water table. The hydraulic gradient, along with the

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Streams can follow several different drainage patterns: 1. Dendritic drainage: Several substreams branch out from a main stream in a treelike pattern. 2. Radial drainage: Streams run in all directions from a central high point. 3. Rectangular drainage: Streams make right-angled turns, following rectangular fracture patterns in the bedrock over which they flow. 4. Trellis drainage: Tributaries flow perpendicular to the main channel, following parallel beds of weak strata. Trellis drainage often occurs in tilted or folded rocks.

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General Science.

permeability of material through which

Groundwater can move in confined channels underground,

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permeability of material through which water flows, influences the speed of groundwater flow. Recharge area: An area (usually higher elevation) that receives precipitation that soaks into the zone of saturation. Discharge area: An area (usually near a stream) that receives groundwater from the zone of saturation and carries it away. When recharge and discharge are in

Groundwater can move in confined channels underground, carving out spaces like caves. 1. Cave: A crevice in a rock large enough for a p erson to enter. Caves usually form when acidic water flows through limestone formations and dissolves the calcium carbonate. As this carbonate-rich water drips off a cave ceiling, it forms: 1. Stalactites: Calcite deposits that hang from a cave ceiling. 2. Stalagmites: Calcite spears that point up from a cave floor. When groundwater dissolves underground limestone, strange topographical features may result: 1. Sinkhole: A depression that forms on the surface when the roof of an underground cavern collapses. 2. Karst topography: Irregular topography on the surface that results when groundwater below flows through an extensive area of limestone, carving underground channels and caverns until surface water flows only underground. The land above these areas takes on irregular patterns as it sinks into various holes and grooves. Geysers and hot springs: Features that form when magma exists near the the surface of the Earth (e.g.,water near volcanoes) and heats groundwater. Some turns to steam, expands, and erupts out of holes in the ground in geysers. In other places, hot water trickles out of springs. Climate Change The Earths climate has changed considerably over the planets history. Scientists have determined that these changes occur in cycles driven by a number of factors. Climate Cycles Evidence suggests that the Earth has experienced climate cycles alternating periods of extreme warmth and cold throughout geologic time. 1. Periods of glacial climate, which have fostered the growth of glaciers, have alternated with interglacial periods, during which temperatures are so warm that glaciers melt. During the Ice Age around 2 3 million years ago, ice sheets spread over much of the Earths land surface. About 55 million years ago, however, air and sea temperatures were so warm that geologists think glaciers melted away completely.

balance, the water table remains steady. Groundwater availability is affected by the types of rock underground and the flux of water on the Earths surface. 1. Aquifer: An underground body of permeable rock or sediment that conducts water. Aquifers typically are composed of sand or gravel. 2. Confining bed: A laterally continuous sheet of rock that is impermeable to water and prevents the escape of water from aquifers. Typically, a confining bed is composed of shale ( see Sedimentary Rocks). 1. Confined aquifer: An aquifer between two confining beds. 2. Unconfined aquifer: An aquifer above a confining bed. Artesian well: A well drilled into a confined aquifer. 0. Confined aquifers cannot receive precipitation from directly above; instead, water seeps in from far away on the sides, where the top confining bed thins to nothing.

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As a result, a confined aquifer often has high water pressure. When a well is drilled into the top confining bed, water gushes upward out of the confined aquifer. Perched water table: A pocket of groundwater stranded above the main water table by a confining bed beneath it

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Driven by the Earths Orbit Most geologists believe that these dramatic temperature changes result from variations in the Earths orbit

Geology and Groundwater

General Science.

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In the 1920s, Serbian astrophysicist Milutin Milankovitch formulated a model of climate cycles based on three properties of the Earths orbit: 1. Eccentricity: Changes in the shape of the ellipse that the Earth traces as it orbits the sun. The ellipse is at its longest once every 100,000 years. 2. Obliquity: The tilt of the Earth toward the sun on its axis of rotation. The Earths obliquity shifts between 21.5 and 24.5 every

Driven by Humans Today, as we burn fossil fuels that release CO 2 into the atmosphere, we are experiencing human-induced climate change.

40,000 years. When the tilt is greatest, polar regions receive more summer sunlight 3. and less winter sunlight. Precession: The wobble of the Earth on its axis. Precession completes a full cycle every 26,000 years and affects the intensity of sunlight that reaches the Earths polar regions.

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These three cycles regularly reinforce each other. At certain times, they combine to maximize the input of solar radiation to the Earth, which leads to warming of the Northern Hemisphere and glacial retreat. At other times, they combine to minimize the heat that the Northern Hemisphere receives, leading to glacial advance.

Driven by Tectonics 1. When the Earths tectonic plates form a supercontinent at high latitudes ( see Plate Tectonics), ice growth is encouraged. This convergence of the continents is a rare event in Earth history, however. More frequently, extensive volcanism leads to outpouring of CO2 into the atmosphere, which traps heat and leads to a greenhouse effect. Glaciers record climate change. Geologists are able to drill cores out of glacial ice to measure the CO 2 content of the atmosphere at different times in the past. They have determined that the CO 2 content of the Earths atmosphere has fluctuated over time and that these fluctuations correspond to rising and falling temperatures.

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General Science Notes

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