SUMMARY OF LECTURE 2

Revised Jaunary 12, 2017

Differences between continents and oceans

See table of same name under supplementary material for January 12 (at the very
bottom)
Continents are less dense and contain old crust (up to 4+ billion years);
oceans are denser and only have rocks younger than 200 million yers.
Bimodal distribution of elevation is unique to Earth; only planet with plate
tectonics. Why none on Venus?
Sea-level is an artifact of the amount of water in the oceans varies over
geologic time.

Energy budget
Earth processes are a result of energy (heat) transfer (or a change in the distribution of
energy)
Energy is expressed in terms of heat or work (how much energy something
contains)
SI: joule (N-m) (tank of gas is ~ 2 x 109 joule)
calorie = 4.2 joules (warm 1 g of H20 by 1C)
(note: cal in food is actually kcal)
Power is the rate of use (or production) of energy
SI: joule/sec = watt
hybrid unit Kilowatt-hour = 3.6 x 106 joules
(how many watts you have used in an hour)

Energy transfer in the Earth

Heat Transfer
o Radiative heat travels as electromagnetic radiation
o Conduction heat moves through a material
o Convection heat is entrained in and moves with a material
Energy sources for the Earth (see supplementary material for January 12
of the same name)
o External (from the sun) about 2 x 1017 watts.
About half of energy (short wavelength radiation) reaches
ground, is absorbed, and is re-radiated as long-wavelength
radiation. Some stays in the atmosphere for a while
resulting in greenhouse effect.
o Internal (numbers not important)
Convection 1.13 x 1013 watts (mainly at mid-ocean ridges)
Conduction 2.1 x 1013 watts
Tidal contribution 0.27 x 1013 watts
Estimates vary, but ~50-70% due to radioactive decay, ~30-
50% primordial heat from the formation of the Earth. This
means the convection in the mantle is largely heated from
within, not from below.
 Note that the internal heat is a miniscule amount compared
to solar radiation (~ 2 x 1017 watts)
o Heat transfer in the Earth (important)
Mainly conductive in the rocks of the crust/lithosphere
Convective everywhere else
convection in outer core creates magnetic field
D is a boundary layer like the crust but between the core
and mantle (more much later)
See diagram in supplemental material on D2L.

Earth systems and pitfalls

A system is any part of the universe that can be distinguished for the purpose of
observing changes.
Open systems allow heat and matter transfer in and out (parts of
Earth) (some definitions vary)
Closed system allow heat transfer in and out; no matter transfer
(Earth as a whole)
The Earth System (important)
o closed
o Amount of matter and resources are fixed and finite
o Changes to one part of the system affect others
o Individual parts of the geosphere are open and multi-variate
systems and we usually cannot control the inputs or
variables conditions vary from place to place
o Effects may be reflected elsewhere in space (location) and
time (deep time and time scale)
o Matter and energy flows from one place to another these flows
are often schematically shown as cycles (these will be visted
through the term)

What is the Earth Made of?: Earth Materials

Minerals
Atoms bond together to form compounds
If they have a regular, ordered, and repeating internal arrangement of
atoms, they form a crystal.
Minerals must be
o naturally occurring; excludes synthetics
o inorganic compounds; excludes organic
o regular internal structure; excludes glass
o definite composition
o solid
Internal structure
o Minerals have a regular crystalline structure, which controls how
minerals break
o Can be determined using an X-ray diffraction
definite composition (solid solution)
 o The composition can vary within specific limits.
o Ions can substitute for other ions of the same charge and size in
a crystal lattice and form a solid solution.
Crystal growth and stability
o Crystals grow over time (crystallization)
o If growth is impeded by obstacles (including other crystals)
their external shape may vary, but internal structure remains the
same
o Minerals of the same chemical composition can have different
crystal structures depending on P-T conditions of formation
o Generally, minerals formed under higher pressure have
denser, more compact structures.
o The resultant minerals can have quite different properties (e.g.,
diamond and graphite)
o Minerals are found outside their stability range (called
metastable) because some reactions are very slow such
conditions are often found at the Earths surface (hence
diamonds exist at the surface)
Rock forming minerals
o Silicon and oxygen are two of the most abundant elements at
the Earths surface not surprisingly minerals based on these
(silicate minerals) are the most common in the crust
o Silicate minerals are based on silica tetrahedral (SiO4)4-
They comprise 92-95% of the crust
Because the tetrahedral have a charge of 4-, they
bond with various cations* and each other in various
ways to form the silicate minerals
o Other classes of minerals have important geologic and
economic significance (e.g., carbonates, sulfates)
o Silicate minerals form in different structures where the
silica tetrahedral bond to each other and to cations in
different ways.
o The bonds between the silica tetrahedra generally tend to be
stronger than those between the tetrahedra and the cations,
thus the lattice structure controls how minerals break
o Mineral Cleavage* and Fracture (how minerals break)
Cleavage* breaking along planes
mica, a sheet silicate, has planar cleavage into
sheets
Asbestos, a double chain, breaks into shards or
needles
* Do not confuse with rock cleavage which
we will discuss under structural geology
Not surprisingly, this can affect physical and
biological hazards
Fracture breaking along non-planar surfaces
o Hardness
Minerals have a characteristic hardness or ability to be
scratched
Measured on Mohs hardness scale (see,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_miner
al_hardness)
o Other properties
 Color
Streak (color of the mineral when powdered)
Luster (sheen)
Specific gravity (density)
Crystal habit (shape)
o Minerals under polarized light
Different minerals appear as different colors when viewed
under polarized light on a petrographic microscope at
different angles
This is a diagnostic tool in study the rocks in thin
section
Common and Michigan rock-forming minerals
o quartz
o potassium feldspar (orthoclase)*
o plagioclase feldspar*
o mica (biotite and muscovite)*
o pyroxene*
o amphibole*
o olivine*
* all form solid solutions
o calcite and dolomite (for cement in Michigan)
o native copper (Keweenaw)
o hematite and magnetite (iron) (Marquette area)
o potash (for fertilizer) (west lower Michigan)
o salt (for deicing) (Detroit area)
o gypsum (formerly for drywall) (Grand Rapids area)
o pentlandite and other sulfides (for nickel, copper) (new Eagle
Mine, west of Big Bay)