Introduction To Geology Plate Tectonics

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition
by Stephen Marshak 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth
Introduction

Why study the solid Earth? To discover natural resources To understand and mitigate against natural disasters To predict the future and develop sustainable environmental policies Natural curiousity! curiousity!
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak
2011, W. W. Norton
Chapter 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth
2011, W. W. Norton
Chapter 1: Cosmology and The Birth of Earth
2011, W. W. Norton
PowerPoint slides prepared by Ronald L. Parker, Fronterra Geosciences, 700 17th Street, Suite 900, Denver, CO, 80202

2011, W. W. Norton
To predict future global change

By studying present environments, geologists can associate these with features preserved in ancient rocks Geologists can now detect Earths natural rhythms of global change over time Earths climate history has been largely deciphered.
Greenhousewarmer climates. Greenhouse Icehouse Icehouse colder climates.
Fig. 23.11a
Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth
Lecture 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth
Prepared by:
Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist

Fronterra Geosciences, Denver, Colorado Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak 2011, W. W. Norton Chapter 1: Cosmology and The Birth of Earth

Introduction
Cosmology: the scientific study of the Universe.
Structure History
Part 1 Opener
What Is the Structure of the Universe?

Three thousand years ago, people knew the heavens. They knew:
The stars are fixed relative to each other. All the stars rotate about a fixed point. The planets move against the background of stars.
They did not know that the Earth is a planet, however. They did not know how heavenly bodies move.
Part 1 Opener

The ancients thought the Universe was geocentric.
Heavenly bodies circle around a motionless central Earth. The idea held as religious dogma for 1,400 years. Ptolemy (100 (100170 C.E.) proved the idea was wrong.
Around 250 B.C.E., the Greeks proposed a heliocentric (sun(suncentered) Universe.

Sun
Earth
Fig. 1.1a


Renaissance: A new age of discovery in 1400s Europe. It spawned a new age of scientific exploration.
Copernicuspublished evidence for heliocentricity. Copernicus Galileo Galileo observed moons orbiting Jupiter. Newton Newton planet motion explained by his Theory of Gravity.
Natural laws (not deities) govern natural events. Geocentricity faded away.
Earth
Sun
Fig. 1.1b
The Nature of Our Solar System

Telescopes reveal seven other planets in our Solar System.
Planet Planet a planet:
Is a large solid body orbiting a star (the Sun). Has a nearly spherical shape. Has cleared its neighborhood of other objects (by gravity).
Thus, Pluto, previously defined as a planet, is excluded. Moon Moon a solid body locked in orbit around a planet.
2011, W. W. Norton
The Nature of Our Solar System

Two groups of planets occur in the solar system.
Terrestrial Planets Planetssmall, dense, rocky planets.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
GasGas -giant Planets Planets large, lowlow-density, gas gas-giant planets.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
The Solar System is held together by gravity.
Fig. 1.2a

How Do We Know Earth Rotates?

Earth spins rapidly on an axis of rotation. A timetime-lapse photo of stars shows this rotation.
One spin ~40,000 km per day or ~1,700 kph (1,040 mph). Rotation centered on Polaris, the North Star.
Rotation proven by Foucaults pendulum (1851).

Pendulum swings back and forth in the same plane. Earths rotation moves the ground beneath the pendulum.
Box 1.1a,c
The Solar System

The terrestrial planets are the four most interior. The gasgas-giant planets occupy the four outermost orbits. The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter. Planet orbital planes lie within 3 of the Sun's equator.
Consistent with the nebular theory of Solar System formation.
Fig. 1.2b
Stars and Galaxies

Stars are immense balls of incandescent gas.
Light and heat derives from nuclear fusion reactions. Gravity binds stars together into vast galaxies.
The Solar System is on an arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Our sun is one of 300 billion stars in the Milky Way.
Fig. 1.3

Determining Earths Size

Eratosthenes calculated the circumference in ~200 B.C. He measured shadows in deep wells 800 km apart.
Measurement taken at noon on the same day. Syene Syene shadow absent (directly overhead). Alexandria Alexandria shadow at 7.2o.
He calculated that 800 km was 1/50th of Earths circumference. He was correct!

~40,000 km ~25,000 miles
Fig. 1.4
Distance to Celestial Objects

The dimensions of the Universe are vast. We must consider huge expanses of space and time.
The speed of light (c) is 186,000 miles/s (300,000 km/s).
The Moon is 1.3 lightlight-seconds (~237,000 miles) away. The Sun is 8.3 lightlight-minutes (~93 million miles) away.
A lightlight-year measures a distance of 9.5 trillion km. Alpha Centauri, the closest star, is 4.3 lightlight-years away.
40.85 trillion km
Edge of the visible universe: >13 billion lightlight-years away.
Part 1 Opener
Forming the Universe

The vastness of the Universe is difficult to conceive.
Earth is a planet orbiting a star on the arm of a galaxy. Andromeda, the next galaxy, is 2,200,000 lightlight-years away. Beyond Andromeda are hundreds of billions of other galaxies. Where did all this stuff come from? Observations since the 1920s have provided clues.
Fig. 1.3

The Doppler Effect

Sound waves compress or relax with relative motion.
Compressed: shorter wavelength; higher frequency. Relaxed: longer wavelength; lower frequency. A stopped train sounds different than a moving train.
As the train approaches, a person hears a higher pitch. As the train passes, the pitch drops (higher to lower). As the train recedes, a person hears a lower pitch. This is commonly heard as cars pass by on a road.
Fig. 1.5a,b
The Doppler Effect

The Doppler effect influences light waves, too. Visible light is electromagnetic radiation.
Visible wavelengths range from 400 and 700 nanometers.
400 nm nmblue = higher frequency. 700 nm nmred = lower frequency.
Moving light waves reveal the Doppler effect.

Light moving toward an observer compresses (blue). Light moving away from an observer expands (red).
Fig. 1.5d
The Red Shift

A moving star displays Doppler shifted light.
Approaching starlight is compressed (blue(blue-shifted). Receding starlight is expanded (red(red-shifted).
This observer sees light waves compressed blue-shifted.
This observer sees light waves spread out red-shifted.
No Doppler shift
Fig. 1.5c

The Expanding Universe

Light from galaxies was observed to be redred-shifted.
Edwin Hubble recognized the red shift as a Doppler effect.
He concluded galaxies were moving away at great speed. No galaxies were found heading toward Earth.
Hubble deduced that the whole Universe must be expanding (analogous to raisin bread dough).
The expanding Universe theory. Did expansion start at some time in the past?
If so, how far back? How small was the Universe before expansion?
Fig. 1.6a
Big Bang
An expanding Universe? When did it all begin?
The Big Bang: all mass and energy in a single point. It exploded ~13.7 Ga and has been expanding ever since.
Fig. 1.6b
Aftermath of the Big Bang

Researchers have developed a model of the Big Bang. During the first instant, only energy energyno matter matter present. Started as a rapid cascade of events.
Hydrogen atoms within a few seconds. At 3 minutes, hydrogen atoms fused to form helium atoms. Light nuclei (Be, Li, B) by Big Bang nucleosynthesis.
The Universe expanded and cooled.
Fig. 1.6b
2011, W. W. Norton

After the Big Bang

With expansion and cooling, atoms began to bond.
Hydrogen formed H2 molecules molecules the fuel of stars. Atoms and molecules coalesced into gaseous nebulae.
Gravity caused collapse of gaseous nebulae. Collapse resulted in increases in:

Temperature. Density. Rate of rotation.
Fig. 1.7
After the Big Bang

Mass in nebulae was not equally distributed. An initially more massive region began to pull in gas.
This region gained mass and density. Mass compacted into a smaller region and began to rotate. Rotation rate increased, developing a disk shape The central ball of the disk became hot enough to glow. The first protostar is born - 800 myr after the Big Bang?
Geology at a Glance
2011, W. W. Norton
Birth of the First Stars

The protostar continued to grow.
Pulling in more mass and creating a denser core. Temperatures soared to 10 million degrees. At these temps, hydrogen nuclei fused to create helium. With the start of nuclear fusion, the protostar ignited.
Chapter 1 Opener

Birth of the First Stars

First generation stars massive x100 the mass of the Sun Large stars burn hotter and faster and exhaust H2 fuel rapidly. A huge star may only exist for a few millions of years and then it explodes as a SUPERNOVA to distribute heavy elements into the adjacent universe.
Fig. 1.9
Where Do Elements Come From?

Big Bang nucleosynthesis formed the lightest elements.
Atomic #s 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 (H, He, Li, Be, and B).
Heavier elements are from stellar nucleosynthesis.

Atomic #s 6 626 (C to Fe).
Elements with atomic #s >26 form during supernovae.
Fig. 1.8
Where Do Elements Come From?

First generation stars left a legacy of heavier elements. Second generation stars repeated heavy element genesis. Succeeding generations contain more heavy elements. The Sun may be a third, fourth or fifth generation star.
The mix of elements found on Earth include:
Primordial gas from the Big Bang. The disgorged contents of exploded stars.
Elements ultimately originate in stars
2011, W. W. Norton
10

Nebular Theory of the Solar System

The nebular theory of Solar System formation. A third, fourth, or nth generation nebula forms 4.56 Ga.
Hydrogen and helium left over from the Big Bang. Heavier elements produced via:
Stellar nucleosynthesis. Supernovae.
The nebula condenses into a protoplanetary disk.
Geology at a Glance
2011, W. W. Norton
Solar System Formation

The ball at the center grows dense and hot. Fusion reactions begin; the Sun is born. Dust in the rings condenses into particles. Particles coalesce ACCRETE - to form planetesimals planetesimals. .
Geology at a Glance
Solar System Formation

Such flattened rotating discs have been observed around other stars. Disc around star Beta Pictoris: Pictoris:
2011, W. W. Norton
11

Formation of the Solar System

At any given location, the only materials to condense were those that could survive the temperatures there Only metallic grains could condense near the protoproto -Sun in Mercurys orbit In contrast, gases could condense as lowlow density icy materials in the outer parts of the embryonic Solar System This accounts for the differences in the compositions of the planets
2011, W. W. Norton
Computer simulation of accretion
2011, W. W. Norton
12

Stellar wind sweeps dust and gas left over after star formation
2011, W. W. Norton
Formation of planet Earth

Planetesimals clump into a lumpy protoplanet. protoplanet. Once >1000 km in diameter, interior is warm and soft enough to flow in response to gravity. Protrusions pulled inward and planetismal becomes a sphere so gravity is the same at all points on its surface
Geology at a Glance
Why are the rocky planets layered?

Random accretion, then heavier elements (Fe, Ni) sank to form a core, with lighter silicate minerals left over to form mantle OR Densest material accreted first to form protoproto -core, followed by lighter silicate material
13

Why are the rocky planets layered?
2011, W. W. Norton
Formation of the Moon

~4.53 Ga, a MarsMars-sized planetoid collides with Earth. The planet and a part of Earth mantle are disintegrated. Collision debris forms a ring around the Earth. The debris coalesces and forms the Moon.
The Moon has a composition similar to Earths mantle.
Geology at a Glance
2011, W. W. Norton
2011, W. W. Norton
14

Earth a unique planet in our Solar System

An oxygenoxygen-rich atmosphere Large amounts of water on its surface Hosts a wide variety of complex life forms Its surface is continuously changing as a result of PLATE TECTONICS
Resources
Read Marshak Chapter 1 NASA Solar System Exploration http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/index.cfm
NASA / JPL Solar System Missions

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solarhttp://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar -system/index.cfm
BBC Big Bang Theory Program

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/universe/questions_and_ideas/big_ bang/
2011, W. W. Norton
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Introduction To Geology Plate Tectonics

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Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

by Stephen Marshak 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 1: Cosmology and The Birth of Earth

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 1: Cosmology and The Birth of Earth

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 1: Cosmology and The Birth of Earth

To predict future global change

Lecture 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth

Ronald L. Parker, Senior Geologist

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

What Is the Structure of the Universe?

What Is the Structure of the Universe?

Around 250 B.C.E., the Greeks proposed a heliocentric (sun(suncentered) Universe.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

What Is the Structure of the Universe?

The Nature of Our Solar System

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth

The Nature of Our Solar System

GasGas -giant Planets Planets large, lowlow-density, gas gas-giant planets.

The Solar System is held together by gravity.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

How Do We Know Earth Rotates?

Rotation proven by Foucaults pendulum (1851).

The Solar System

Stars and Galaxies

The Solar System is on an arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

Determining Earths Size

He calculated that 800 km was 1/50th of Earths circumference. He was correct!

Distance to Celestial Objects

Edge of the visible universe: >13 billion lightlight-years away.

Forming the Universe

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

The Doppler Effect

The Doppler Effect

Moving light waves reveal the Doppler effect.

The Red Shift

This observer sees light waves compressed blue-shifted.

This observer sees light waves spread out red-shifted.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

The Expanding Universe

Aftermath of the Big Bang

The Universe expanded and cooled.

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition, by Stephen Marshak

Chapter 1: Cosmology and the Birth of Earth

Earth: Portrait of a Planet, 4th edition

Chapter 1 Cosmology and Birth of Earth

After the Big Bang

Gravity caused collapse of gaseous nebulae. Collapse resulted in increases in: