EARTH SCIENCE

HIKHOK REVIEWER
LESSON 1 : UNIVERSE AND SOLAR SYSTEM

ORIGIN AND
STRUCTURE OF THE
EARTH
 KEY TERMS
1. BARYONIC MATTER -

“ORDINARY” MATTER CONSISTING OF PROTONS ELECTRON AND NEUTRONS

AND COMPRISES ATOMS, PLANETS, STARS GALAXIES AND OTHER BODIES

2. DARK MATTER-

MATTER THAT HAS GRAVITY BUT DOES NOT EMIT LIGHT

3. DARK ENERGY-

A SOURCE OF ANTI-GRAVITY : A FORCE THAT COUNTERACTS GRAVITY AND

CAUSES THE UNIVERSE TO EXPAND
4. PROTOSTAR -

AN EARLY STAGE IN THE FORMATION OF STAR RESULTING FROM THE

GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE OF GASES.

5 THERMONUCLEAR REACTION-

A NUCLEAR FUSION REACTION RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ENERGY PRODUCED BY

STARS

6. MAIN SEQUENCE STARS-

STARS THAT FUSE HYDROGEN ATOMS TO FORM HELIUM ATOMS IN THEIR

CORES; OUTWARD PRESSURE RESULTING FROM NUCLEAR FUSION IS BALANCED BY
GRAVITATIONAL FORCES

7 LIGHT YEARS-

THE DISTANCE LIGHT CAN TRAVEL IN A YEAR; A UNIT OF LENGTH USED TO

MEASURE ASTRONOMICAL DISTANCE
● 13. 8 BILLION YEARS OLD - UNIVERSE AGE.

● 4.5 - 4.6 BILLION YEARS OLD- AGE OF EARTH/SOLAR

SYSTEM.

● THE EARTH IS PART OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM - INNER

TERRESTRIAL (AS OPPOSED TO THE OUTER GASEOUS PLANETS)

● “THE THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN”- EARTH

● SOLAR SYSTEM IS A PART OF MILKY WAY GALAXY.

● SUN - THE OTHER LIMB OF THE GALAXY.

● MILKY WAY- ONE OF THE BILLIONS OF GALAXIES IN THE

UNIVERSE
THE UNIVERSE: STRUCTURE, COMPOSITION AND AGE

- CURRENTLY KNOW IT COMPRISES ALL SPACE TIME

AND ALL MATTER AND ENERGY IN IT
- MADE OF 4.6% BARYONIC MATTER, 24% COLD DARK
MATTER AND 71.4% DARK ENERGY
- HYDROGEN , HELIUM ANF LITHIUM - MOST ABUNDANT
ELEMENT
•Stellar interiors are like furnaces where
elements are synthesized or combined/fused
together. Most stars such as the Sun
belong to the so-called “main sequence
stars.” In the cores of such stars,
hydrogen atoms are fused through
thermonuclear reactions to make helium
atoms. Massive main sequence stars burn
up their hydrogen faster than smaller
stars. Stars like our Sun burn-up
hydrogen in about 10 billion years.
● HYDROGEN AND HELIUM- THE MOST
ABUNDANT ELEMENTS IN THE UNIVERSE.
HAVING THE LOWEST MASS ARE THE FIRST
ELEMENT TO FORMED IN THE BIGBANG
MODEL OF THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
● NUCLEAR BURNING (NUCLEOSYNTHESIS)-
STARS ENERGY COMES FROM COMBINING
LIGHT ELEMENT INTO HEAVIER ELEMENT
BY FUSION
 BIRTH EVOLUTION DEATH AND REBIRTH OF STARS

● THE REMAINING DUST AND GAS MAY END UP AS

THEY ARE OR PLANETS, ASTEROID, AND OTHER
BODIES OF THE ACCOMPANYING PLANETARY
SYSTEM
● GALAXY - CLUSTER OF BILLIONS OF STARS AND
CLUSTERS OF THE GALAXIES FROM SUPERCLUSTER
● IN BETWEEN THE CLUSTER OF PRACTICALLY AN
EMPTY SPACE
EXPANDING UNIVERSE
● (1929) EDWIN HUBBLE - DISCOVERY OF THE
“RED SHIFT”- GALAXIES ARE MOVING AWAY
FROM EACH OTHER, HENCE AS EVIDENCE FOR
AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE JUST PREDICTED
BY EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF GENERAL
RELATIVITY.
● THE POSITIONS FOR HELIUM FOR LIGHT
COMING FROM THE SUN ARE SHIFTED
TOWARDS THE RED END AS COMPARED WITH
THOSE FOR A DISTANT STAR
 COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND

● (CMB) COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND- ACCIDENTAL

DISCOVERY IN 1964 BY ARNO PENZIAS AND ROBERT WOONDROW
WILSON EARNED THEM THE PHYSICS NOBEL PRIZE IN 1978
● CAN BE OBSERVED AS A STRIKINGLY UNIFORM FAINT GLOW IN
THE MICROWAVE BAND COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS
BLACKBIDY RADIATION WITH THE AVERAGE TEMP. OF ABOUT
2.7DEGREES ABOVE ABSOLUTE ZERO
● CMB RADIATION MAP SHOWING SMALL VARIATION FROM
WMAP-WILKINSON MICROWAVE ANISOTROPY PROBE
NON SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
● ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BELIEVE UN MANY GODS AND MYTHS WHICH
NARRATES THAT THE WORLD AROSE FROM AN INFINITE SEA AT THE
FIRST RISING OF THE SUN
● KUBA PEOPLE OF CENTRAL AFRICA- CREATOR GOD MBOMBO(OR
BUMBA)WHO, ALINE IN THE DARK AND WATER COVERED EARTH, FELL
AN INTENSE STOMACH PAIN AND THEN VOMITED THE STARS SUN AND
MOON
● (INDIA) PURUSHA , THE PRIMAL MAN WHOSE HEAD FEET EYES AND
MIND BECAME THE SKY EARTH SUN AND MOON RESPECTIVELY.
● MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS OF JUDAISM CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM
CLAIM THAT THE SUPREME CREATED THE UNIVERSE MAN AND LIVING
THINGS
NON SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT
● UNLIKE HYPOTHESES IN THE
SCIENCE RELIGIOUS BELIEF
CANNOT BE SUBJECTED TO TESTS
USING THE SPECIFIC METHODS.
● FOR THIS REASON THEY CANNOT BE
CONSIDERED VALID TOPIC OF
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
 STEADY STATE MODEL

● 1948 BY BONDI AND GOULD AND BY HOYLE

● MAINTAINS THAT NEW MATTER IS CREATED
AS THE UNIVERSE EXPANDS THEREBY
MAINTAINING ITS DENSITY
● PREDICTIONS KED TO TEST AND ITS
EVENTUAL REJECTION WITH THE DISCOVERY
OF THE CMB
● THE UNIVERSE EXPANDED FROM A TINY, DENSED AND HOT MASS TO
ITS PRESENT SIZE AND MUCH COOLER STATE
● 2 IDEAS : GENERAL RELATIVITY AND COSMOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE
● EINSTEIN’S GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY- GRAVITY IS THOUGHT
OF DISTORTION OF SPACE-TIME ANF NO LONGER DESCRIBED BY A
GRAVITATIONAL FIELD IN CONTRAST OF THE LAW OF GRAVITY OF
ISAAC NEWTON
● GENERAL RELATIVITY- PECULIARITIES OF THE ORBIT OF MERCURY
AND BENDING LIGHT BY THE SUN AND HAS PASSED THROUGH RIGOROUS
TEST
● COSMOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE ASSUMES THAT THE UNIVERSE IS
HOMOGENOUSE AND ISOTROPIC WHEN AVERANGED OVER LARGE SCALES
BIG BANG THEORY
BIG BANG THEORY

● ITS CLUMPY AT SMALLER SCALES

● THE “BANG” SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN AS AN
EXPLOSION; IT IS BETTER THOUGHT OF AS
A SIMULTANEOUS APPERANCE OF SPACE
EVERYWHERE
•The Big Bang Theory has withstood the
tests for expansion:
1.the red shift
2.abundance of hydrogen, helium, and
lithium
3.the uniformly pervasive cosmic
microwave background radiation-the
remnant heat from the bang.
 Evolution of the Universe according to the Big
Bang Theory
•From time zero (13.8 billion years ago) until
10-43 second later, all matter and energy in the
universe existed as a hot, dense, tiny state.
● It then underwent extremely rapid, exponential
inflation until 10-32 second later after which
and until 10 seconds from time zero, conditions
allowed the existence of only quarks, hadrons,
and leptons
•Then, Big Bang nucleosynthesis took place and
produced protons, neutrons, atomic nuclei, and
then hydrogen, helium, and lithium until 20
minutes after time zero when sufficient cooling
did not allow further nucleosynthesis.
•From then on until 380,000 years, the cooling
universe entered a matter-dominated period when
photons decoupled from matter and light could
travel freely as still observed today in the
form of cosmic microwave background radiation.
LESSON 2 UNIVERSE AND
SOLAR SYSTEM
LESSON 3 EARTH
SUBSYSTEMS
EL NINO

-IS NOT LIMITED TO THE ATMOSPHERIC

CONDITIONS

-THE RESULT OF HYDROSPHERE- ATMOSPHERE

INTERACTIOM
L
ATMOSPHERE
- IS THE THIS GASEOUS LAYER THAT ENVELOPES THE
LITHOSPHERE
- COMPOSED OF 78% NITROGEN , 21% OXYGEN 0.9% ARGON
AND TRACES AMOUNT OF OTHER GASES
- ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PROCESSES BY THE HEAT ON
EARTH’S SURFACE IS REDISTRIBUTED IS THROUGH
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION
- CONSTANT EXCHANGE OF HEAT AND MOISTURE BETWEEN
THE ATMOSPHERE AND HYDROSPHERE THROUGH THE
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE
LITHOSPHERE

- INCLUDES THE ROCK OF THE CRUST AND MANTLE ,

THE METALLIC LIQUID OUTER CORE , AND SOLID
METALLIC INNER CORE.
- THE PLATE TECTONIC IS AN IMPORTANT PROCESS
SHAPING THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
- THE PRIMARY DRIVING MECHANISM IN THE EARTH'S
INTERNAL HEAT SUCH AS THAT IN THE MANTLE
CONVECTION
BIOSPHERE
- THE SET OF ALL LIFE FORMS ON EARTH.
- COVERS ALL ECOSYSTEM ( FROM SOIL TO THE RAINFOREST
FROM MANGROVES TO CORAL REEFS AND FROM PLANKTON
RICH OCEAN SURFACE TO THE DEEP SEA
- FOR THE MAJORITY OF LIFE ON EARTH THE BASE OF THE
FOOD CHAIN COMPRISES PHOTOSYNTHETIC ORGANISM
- AN CO2 SINK AND THEREFORE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE
CARBON CYCLE
- SUNLIGHT - NOT NECESSARY IN LIFE
- 70% OF THE EARTH COVERED WITH LIQUID
HYDROSPHERE
WATER AND MUCH OF IT IS THE FORM OF
OCEAN WATER
- 3% OF THE WATER IS FRESH. ⅔ ARE IN FORM
OF ICE AND THE REMAINING ⅓ IS PRESENT IN
STREAMS LAKES AND GROUNDWATER.
- IMPORTANT SINK FOR CO2 THROUGH DIRECT
EXCHANGE WITH THE ATMOSPHERE AND
INDIRECTLY THROUGH THE WEATHERING
ROCKS
- HEAT IS ABSORBED AND REDISTRIBUTED ON
THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH THROUGH
OCEAN CIRCULATION
MINERALS AND ROCKS
MINERAL

- NATURALLY OCCURING (NOT MAN MADE

OR MACHINE GENERATED) INORGANIC(
NOT BYPRODUCT OF LIVING THINGS) SOLID
WITH AN ORDERLY CRYSTALLINE
STRUCTURE AND DEFINITE CHEMICAL
COMPOSITION
- ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ROCK
MINERAL PROPERTIES

LUSTER
- THE QUALITY AND INTENSITY OF
REFLECTED LIGHT EXHIBITED BY THE
MINERAL
- WAY A SURFACE REFLECTS LIGHT
HARDNESS

- THE MEASURE OF THE

RESISTANCE OF A MINERAL TO
ABRASION

MOHS SCALE OF HARDNESS

- THE SCRATCH RESISTANCE OF

VARIOU MINERAL FROM A
SCALE OF 1 TO 10
CONS OF MOHS SCALE OF HARDNESS

-QUALITATIVE NOT QUANTITATIVE

- CANNOT BE USED TO ACCURATELY
TEST THE HARDNESS OF INDUSTRIAL
MATERIAL
CRYSTAL FORM/ HABIT
- EXTERNAL SHAPE OF A CRYSTAL OR
GROUP CRYSTALS IS DISPLAYED
- THE FORM REFLECTS THE SUPPOSEDLY
INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF THE CRYSTAL
- NATURAL SHAPE OF MINERAL BEFORE
DEVELOPMENT OF ANY CLEAVAGE OF
FRACTURE
STREAK
- MINERAL’S COLOR IN POWDERED FORM
CLEAVAGE
- PROPERTY OF SOME MINERAL TO BREAK
ALONG SPECIFIC PLANES OF WEAKNESS TO
FORM SMOOTH, FLAT SURFACES
SPECIFIC GRAVITY

- RATIO OF DENSITY OF THE

MINERAL AND THE DENSITY OF
WATER
- MAGNESIUM, ODOR, TASTE ,
TENACITY REACTION TO ACID ETC R