EARTH&LIFESCI – HO2

Maranatha Christian Academy

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
A.Y 2022 - 2023

Lesson 2: EARTH: HISTORY AND GEOLOGIC TIME

Petrology – branch of geology that deals with the origin, composition, structure and classification of
rocks.
Stratigraphy – study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratifications).
Paleontology – studies the life that existed prior to, or sometimes at the start of the Holocene epoch
(the current geologic epoch). Includes study of fossils to determine how they have evolved and
interacted with the environment.

Geologic Time Scale – represents the interval of time occupied by the geologic history of Earth. It
provides a meaningful time frame within which events of the geologic past are arranged.
1. Absolute Dating
- Places actual ages of rocks and events.
- Based on the decay rate of certain radioactive isotopes within fossils, rocks and artifacts.
2. Relative Dating
- Places events or rocks in their chronological sequence or order of occurrence without knowing
their actual age.
 Principle of Original Horizontality
- Sedimentary rocks are deposited as horizontal or nearly horizontal layers. Any deviation
from horizontality indicates that deformation occurs after the deposition.
 Principle of Superposition
- In the sequence of sedimentary rocks, the layer at the bottom of the sequence is the oldest
and the successively higher levels are successively higher.
 Principle of Cross-cutting Relationships
- Geologic features like faults or igneous intrusions are younger than the rocks they cut
across.
 Principle of Inclusion
- If rocks or rock fragments are included within another rock layer, the rock fragments must
be older than the rock layer where they were embedded.
FOSSILS
- A remnant or trace if organisms of a past geologic age.
 True Form Fossils
- Entire animals or plants trapped and preserved in ice, tar or other material.
 Mold Fossils
- Hollow impressions of a living thing in a rock. Reflects only the shape and surface marking of
the organisms.
 Cast Fossils
- Created when mold fossils get filled with mineral. The minerals harden and form a replica of
the original fossil.
 Trace Fossils (Ichnofossils)
- Impressions on rocks that showed various activities such as footprints, eggs and droppings or
nests of animals.
Principle of Fossil Succession
- Discovered by William Smith, an English engineer and canal builder
- States that fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order and
therefore, any time period can be recognized by its fossil content.
Index Fossils
- Time indicators correlating rocks of similar age in different regions.
EARTH’S HISTORY
1. Precambrian Period
- 88% or a total span of roughly 4.1 billion years.

Hadean Eon (4.6 – 3.8 BYA)

- Considered as the “chaotic eon”
- Lasted for 800 million years
- Earth’s surface was continually bombarded by meteorites and the very hot mantle caused
severe volcanism.

Archean Eon (3.8 – 2.5 BYA)

- Lasted for 1.3 billion years
- Earth was probably warm and the atmosphere contained mostly methane and little to no
oxygen.
- The sky was orange due to the abundance of methane. The sea was green because of iron
and shorelines were marked with stromatolites.
- Most of earth was covered with ocean. Continent formation began during this period.

Proterozoic Eon (2.5 BYA – 542 MYA)

- Lasted for 1.9 billion years
- Longest period that lasted almost half the age of the Earth.
- Oxygenation of the atmosphere, origin and diversification of eukaryotic life, appearance of
multicellular animal life and the motion of the continental drift.

2. Phanerozoic Eon

Paleozoic Era
- Fossils were found in layers of sedimentary rocks.
- Marine invertebrates, development of shells of marine life forms, amphibians, land plants like
giant ferns and marsh plants, clams and snails, fish and reptiles were formed.
- Scientists believed that the remains of these plants formed the huge coal deposits in many
parts of the world.

Mesozoic Era
- Formation of several continents and new bodies of water.
- Footprints, eggs, bones and other fossils of reptiles were found. Existence of dinosaurs were
recorded.
- The only surviving reptiles today are turtles, snakes, crocodiles and lizards.

Cenozoic Era
- Mountains were uplifted and new life forms started appearing. Volcanic activity was also
widespread.
 - Warm-blooded animals such as marsupials like kangaroo and primitive mammals roamed the
land.
- Mammals, birds and deciduous trees were developed. Humans left their marks on land.
- Earliest record of humans: stone tools.

Lesson 3: EARTH: STRUCTURE AND SUBSYSTEMS

Earth consists of layers made up of different densities.
1. Core: Inner and Outer

Lehmann Discontinuity – boundary between outer and inner core.

2. Mantle: Lower and Upper

Mohorovicic Discontinuity – the upper boundary that separates the upper mantle from the
Earth’s crust.
Asthenosphere – the layer that lies after the lithosphere beneath km, Earth’s surface. It plays
a critical role in the movement of plates on the surface of the Earth.

3. Crust

EARTH’S SUBSYSTEMS
1. Lithosphere
 - Solid outer section of the Earth.
- Includes the entire Earth’s crust and the rigid upper mantle.
Pangaea – a huge landmass comprising of the lock up of the continent at the beginning
as proposed by Alfred Wegener.
Plate Tectonic Theory – the large-scale movement of the Earth’s plates. It proposes that
the lithosphere is divided into major and small plates resting upon the lower soft layer
called asthenosphere.
There were 15 major plates and 50 smaller plates.
Boundary – border between tectonic plates.
Continents – large, continuous, discrete masses of land separated by expanses of
water.

2. Atmosphere

Layers of the Atmosphere

 Troposphere
- Lowest layer of the atmosphere.
- Contains 80% of the total mass of the atmosphere.
- Water vapor and weather-associated cloud types are found in this layer.
- As altitude increases, temperature decreases.
Tropopause – the uppermost layer of the troposphere where decrease in temperature
ceases.
 Stratosphere
- Second lowest layer of the atmosphere.
- As altitude increases, temperature also increases due to the presence of ozone which absorbs
the UV rays from the sun and releases some of this energy in this layer.
- Layer where the jet planes fly and lacks the weather-producing air turbulence. It is also free
from clouds.
 Mesosphere
- Third layer of the atmosphere.
- As altitude increases, temperature decreases.
- Protects the earth from meteoroids.
Meteorites – meteoroids that manage to reach the earth
 Thermosphere
 - Second highest layer of the atmosphere.
- As altitude increases, the temperature also increases because of the presence of nitrogen and
oxygen which absorbs UV radiation and converts it to heat.
Ionosphere – portion of the thermosphere that consists of highly ionized gas. It helps
the radio waves pass around the Earth called Kennely – Heaviside layer.
This layer also interacts with air molecules which forms Aurora Borealis (Northern
Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights).
 Exosphere
- Outermost layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Most of the orbiting satellites as well as low density elements like hydrogen and helium are
found in this layer.

3. Hydrosphere
The Earth is called the “blue planet” because nearly 71% of its surface is covered by ocean:
Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
Ocean – a body of saltwater with almost no boundaries and limitless volume.
Sea – a part of an ocean that is partially surrounding a landform.
Salinity – refers to the proportion of dissolved salts to pure water, expressed in parts per
thousand.
Where do the dissolved salts come from?
 Chemical weathering of rocks on land carried by streams to the ocean at the rate of 2.5
billion tons per year.
 Volcanic outgassing where large amounts of bromine, sulfur and boron were being emitted
to the Earth’s surface during volcanic eruptions and carried to the ocean.

Ocean Zones
 Horizontal Zones
- Divide the ocean from land to the sea.
 Coastal Zone – region in which the sea bottom is exposed during low tide and is
covered during high tide. Animals found were sea stars, sea urchins and some species
of coral.
 Pelagic Zone – located seaward of the coastal zone’s low tide mark. This is always
covered with water. It is divided into two parts:
o Oceanic Zone – lies above the continental shelf
o Neritic Zone – extends from the edge of the continental shelf to the ocean floor.

 Vertical Zones
- Divide the ocean based on depth, beginning at sea level to the deepest point of the ocean.
 Epipelagic Zone or Sunlight Zone (0-200 m)
- Zone that gets a lot of sunlight resulting to an abundance of aquatic plants. Common animals
found: seals, sea turtles, sea lions, rays and shark.
 Mesopelagic or Twilight Zone (200-1000 m)
- Characterized by dim light due to the limited amount of sunlight it receives. Only plants and lilly
fish, octopus and squid are found in this region.
 Bathypelagic or Midnight Zone (1000-4000 m)
- Does not receive and sunlight. Animals that live here lack eyes like viperfish, anglerfish, stripe
eel and tripod fish.
 Abyssopelagic or abyss (4000-6000 m)
- Described as deep sea. Most animals living here are invertebrates like blind shrimps, small
squids and hagfish.
  Hadalpelagic Zone or Trenches (6000-bottom)
- The deepest part of the ocean.

4. Biosphere
- Referred as the “zone of life”
- The global ecological system integrating all living things and their relationship, including their
interactions with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere.
- Coined by geologist Edward Suess in 1875.
- Biomes: Aquatic, Forest, Grassland, Desert and Tundra
Flow of Matter in the Biosphere
1. Nitrogen Cycle

2. Oxygen Cycle

3. Carbon Cycle
 4. Water Cycle

Movement of Energy in the Biosphere

The sun is the major source of energy. When light energy reached the earth, three things happen:
 Light is reflected back into space.
 Light is transmitted through an object.
 Light energy is absorbed and captured in photosynthesis.
Law of Energy
 Energy can neither be created nor destroyed (first law).
 No transfer of energy is 100% complete (second law).
The energy transfer between trophic levels is inefficient. As a general rule, only 10% of the energy contained in the
organism of one trophic level are available to consumers in the next level. This is referred as ten percent rule.