Republic of the Philippines

DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

MID- LA UNION CAMPUS
COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES
City of San Fernando, La Union
NAME: Nero M. Paderes COURSE: Ph.D. Science Education
PROFESSOR: Dr. Mirasol M. Bangug YEAR: 1
TOPIC: Special Problems in Earth Science
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Introduction to Earth Science

 About 4.5 billion years’ old
 Geologically dynamic
 internally and externally
 Only planet presently known to support life
 As far as life is concerned:
It is the “Goldilocks of the Solar System” (relative to Sun, not too far, not too
close, just right!)
 A closed system!

Overview of Earth Science

Encompasses all sciences that seek to understand
• Earth
• Earth's neighbors in space

Earth science include

1. geology, the study of Earth
2. oceanography, the study of the ocean
3. meteorology, the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather
4. astronomy, the study of the universe

Formation of Earth
Most researchers conclude that Earth and the other planets formed at essentially the
same time.
1. Nebular Hypothesis
 The solar system evolved from an enormous rotating cloud called the
solar nebula.
 The nebula was composed mostly of hydrogen and helium.
 About 5 billion years ago, the nebula began to contract.
 It assumed a flat, disk shape with the protosun (pre-Sun) at the center.
 Inner planets begin to form from metallic and rocky clumps.
  Larger outer planets began forming from fragments with a high
percentage of ices.

2. Layers Form on Earth

• As Earth formed, the decay of radioactive elements and heat from high-
velocity impacts caused the temperature to increase.
• Lighter rocky components floated outward, toward the surface.
• Gaseous material escaped from Earth’s interior to produce the primitive
atmosphere.

Four Realms of the Earth

 The Earth’s Surface
Consists of Both land and
water.
 A blanket of air surrounds
the earth.
 It is inhabited by living
organisms, plants and
animals.
 All these elements- land,
air, water and living
organisms, make up the
Constituents or Realms of
the Earth.

Earth's Major Spheres

1. Hydrosphere
Ocean is the most prominent feature of the
hydrosphere.
Is nearly 71% of Earth's surface
Holds about 97% of Earth's water
Also includes fresh water found in streams, lakes, and
glaciers, as well as that found underground

2. Atmosphere
Thin, tenuous blanket of air
One half lies below 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles)

3. Biosphere
Includes all life
Concentrated near the surface in a zone that extends from the ocean floor upward for
several kilometers into the atmosphere
 4. Geosphere
Based on compositional differences, it consists of the crust, mantle, and core.
Crust—the thin, rocky outer layer of Earth.
Mantle—the 2890-kilometer-thick layer of Earth located below the crust.
Core—the innermost layer of Earth, located beneath the mantle.

Earth System Science

A system is any size group of interacting parts that form a complex whole.
1. Closed systems are self-contained (e.g., an automobile cooling system).
2. Open systems allow both energy and matter to flow in and out of the system
(e.g., a river system).

Earth as a System
o Earth is a dynamic body with many separate but highly interacting parts
or spheres.
o Earth system science studies Earth as a system that is composed of numerous
parts, or subsystems.

Sources of Energy
1. Sun—drives external processes such as weather, ocean circulation and erosional
processes
2. Earth’s interior—drives internal processes including volcanoes, earthquakes and
mountain building

People and the Environment

1. Environment
 o Surrounds and influences organisms
o Physical environment encompasses water, air, soil, and rock
o The term environmental is usually reserved for those aspects that focus
on the relationships between people and the natural environment.

2. Resources
Include water, soil, minerals, and energy
Two broad categories
a. Renewable—can be replenished (e.g., plants, energy from water and wind)
b. Nonrenewable—cannot be replenished in the near future (e.g., metals, fuels)

3. Population
Population of the planet is growing rapidly
Use of minerals/energy has climbed more rapidly than the overall growth of
population

Environmental Problems
Local, regional, and global
Caused by people and societies
o Urban air pollution
o Acid rain
o Ozone depletion
o Global warming

Caused by natural hazards

o Earthquakes
o Landslides

Just how integrated is the Earth System?

 James Lovelock (1979) introduced a somewhat extreme concept called the Gaia
Hypothesis. Proposed that Earth functions as a single super organism that maintains conditions
necessary for its survival.
Inherent in explanation is the idea that the biosphere, atmosphere, geosphere and
hydrosphere are in a delicate balance – that a homeostatic condition is maintained
Analogous to how processes within the human body insure that temperature, blood pH,
electrochemistry, etc. are kept in balance for our survival.
In an extreme sense, the inner workings of Gaia could be viewed as a study of the
physiology of the Earth where water is the Earth’s “blood,” the atmosphere is the Earth’s lungs,
the geosphere is the Earth’s “solid tissues,” and living organisms are the Earth’s “senses”.
while Earth is probably not a sentient being as Lovelock implies, the Gaia Hypothesis
does underscore the importance of looking at Earth processes as interconnected parts of a
larger system
As a closed system, Earth’s processes adjust to disturbances in the system to maintain
balance

Where Do Humans Fit In ?

As components of the biosphere, humans are temporary receptacles of the matter and
energy that flows through the Earth System. “You are what you eat, drink, and breathe”
Human health is, to some degree, a function of how this flow of matter and energy flows
through, and interacts with, the human body
In many cases, problems of human health are fundamentally linked to the natural
distribution of Earth materials

The Bottom Line

Considerations on how processes within the Earth System interact are extremely
important in the understanding of the real world !
Understanding physical and chemical processes in the Earth System is as important as
understanding biological entities in terms of understanding biological systems (all are
connected)