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File: I. Introduction

1. Introduction
Make sure you look at the Syllabus - outline, due dates for homeworks and quizzes, grading
I. Earth Science
A. What is the study of the Earth?

Geology - how it formed, its materials, the processes which affect it

B. Why Study Geology? (Who Cares? So what?)

If you are not a geologist nor even a scientist, is there any reason to study geology? (thecourses in parentheses
are other geology courses that cover these topics in more detail)
geologic hazards - volcanoes, earthquakes - If you got a job in San Francisco...?, landslides, sink holes (GLY3039,
Environmental geology)
Resources - energy, mineral resources (GEO3034 Earth resources)
Environment - global warming, pollution, waste disposal (GLY3039 Environmental geology)
How the landscape, mountains, continents, rocks got to be the way they are.(GLY1010)

Example: If one looks closely at the rocks in Mt.Everest, one finds fossils of organisms that lived in the sea. How
could the highest mountain in the world have rocks from the bottom of the sea????

Read about Uniformitarianism: p.4-5 in your text or find a suitable site on the net and read about it.

File: II. Earth Structure

II. Planet Earth Structure (Ch 1)

A. Interior Structure

Earth is made up of layers. The layers of the Earth formed > 4 billion years ago.

LAYERS DIVIDED BY

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES CHEMICAL

COMPOSITIO(

Atmosphere 97% within 29km N2, O2

-gas
water
Hydrosphere ave. depth ~5km
-liquid Crust - high Si rock
---~8-70km----(5 - 42mi)
Lithosphere - brittle solid
Mantle - high Mg rock
--- 100 km----(60mi)

Asthenosphere- plastic
(non-rigid) solid

--- 350 km---- (210mi)

 Mesosphere - rigid solid

--- 2883km----(1730 mi) --- 2883km--------(1730 mi)

Outer Core - liquid Core - iron

Inner Core - solid metal

-center - 6371km(3823 mi)----

Crust: continental 20-70km thick, average: ~35km (~12 - ~42 mi) (~21 mi); oceanic ~8 km thick (min ~5mi)

Isostasy: read p.329-331

B. Plates and Plate Tectonics (Chapter 2)

A plate is a section of lithosphere which moves as a unit. - internally rigid

Deformation occurs at plate boundaries. à resultsin earthquakes
Earthquake map:

Plate map:

Plate tectonics has to do with the motions and deformation of platesè

3 types of plate boundaries

1. Divergent margin: - moving apart

 Plate Plate
A B
è
ç

spreading center: mid-ocean ridge

2. Convergent margin- moving towards each other

Plate Plate
C D
ç
è

subduction zone

oceanic trench ==> Aleutian trench and Islands= island arc

3. Transform-fault Margin- moving past each other, side-by-side

Plate Plate
E F
ê
é
 example: San Andreas and Hayward Faults, California

C. Driving Force for Plate Tectonicè Why do plates move? Convection - heat within Earth
"trying" to get out. è Speed: 2cm/yr - 20cm/yr

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