ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)

EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER

EARTH’S SUBSYSTEMS

ATMOSPHERE

The whole mass of air that surrounds the Earth.

PRIMITIVE composition - CO2 – dominant gas
PRESENT composition - N2 – dominant gas

Layers of the Earth’s Atmosphere

 Troposphere – “densest layer” – most jets and planes would fly slightly above the troposphere to avoid
turbulent weather.
Tropopause - thin buffer zone between troposphere and stratosphere.
 Stratosphere – air in this layer has strong, steady, horizontal winds which make it as advantageous to long-
distance flights.
In its upper region, ozone layer is found.
Stratopause – thin buffer zone between stratosphere and mesosphere.
 Mesosphere – “coldest layer” – reaches a minimum of -90°C
protect the Earth from planetary debris
Mesopause – “coldest region” – thin buffer zone between mesosphere and thermosphere.
 Thermosphere – “hottest layer” – absorption of highly energetic solar heat.
can reach beyond 1,000°C
Ionosphere – lower part of the thermosphere
particles of O2 and N2 go back to neutral state, they release PHOTONS (light energy) which cause
spectacular display of colorful lights in the sky, called aurora.
Thermopause – separates thermosphere from outer space.
 Exosphere – the outer fringe region of the atmosphere of the Earth.

HYDROSPHERE

It encompasses all the waters found on Earth.

This includes water in various forms whether in ice, liquid or vapor found on the surface of Earth, below the
surface of Earth, and in the atmosphere (in gaseous form).

The Properties of Water

1. Water could be in liquid form, not just solid and gas.

2. Water has a neutral pH.

3. Water is a good conductor of heat and energy.

4. Water has a high specific heat.

5. Water is a universal solvent.

The Hydrological Cycle (Water Cycle)

Evaporation – The sun heats up the water from oceans, lakes, rivers and change into water vapour.

* transpiration – plants also lose water in the form of water vapour from their leaves into

Condensation – As the water vapour rises up into the air, it starts cooling down and forms tiny water droplets.
These tiny water droplets come together to form clouds.

Precipitation – When the clouds dtart getting heavy and can no longer hold the water droplets anymore, they fall
back to the Earth in the form of rain, hail or snow.

Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)

Teacher III
 ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER
GEOSPHERE

Portion of Earth that includes the interior structure, rocks and minerals, landforms, and all physical processes on land
that shape the Earth’s surface.
All the continents and the ocean sea floor are also considered parts of the geosphere.
It should be clear:
Geosphere - covers ALL of the SOLID PART of the Earth.
- From its surface into the deeper depth of the CORE.
Lithosphere - covers ONLY the CRUST.

LAYERS OF THE EARTH

CRUST - can be: CONTINENTAL CRUST OCEANIC CRUST

- continental crust is thicker than oceanic crust - part of Earth where we live.
- most abundant elements: Oxygen Silicon
Mohorovicic discontinuity - transitional boundary between crust and mantle
Discovered by: Andrija Mohorovicic
MANTLE - thickest layer of Earth - it has a sublayer: “asthenosphere”
Asthenosphere - lies on the upper part of the mantle and is directly below the crust.
- most of it is solid, but behaves like a viscous (sticky) fluid.
Gutenburg discontinuity - transitional boundary between the lower mantle and the outer core.
Discovered by: Beno Gutenburg
CORE - most abundant elements: Iron Nickel
a. Outer core - iron and nickel in liquid state
b. Inner core - iron and nickel in solid state
Lehman discontinuity - transitional boundary between the inner core and the outer core.
Discovered by: Inge Lehmann

2 Types of Waves Traveling through Earth:

p-waves – travel fast through BOTH solids and liquids
s-waves – can travel ONLY through solids

ROCK CYCLE AND ROCKS

ROCKS - Natural substances consisting of aggregate minerals clumped together w/ other Earth materials through
natural processes.
CLASSIFICATIONS:
 IGNEOUS
 SEDIMENTARY
 METAMORPHIC
Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)
Teacher III
 ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER
IGNEOUS
 Derived from Latin word ignis meaning “fire”
 Crystallized from magma (molten volcanic materials came fr. Within Earth).
 Magma rises from asthenosphere or at the base of the crust through volcanoes or any cracks on Earth’s
surface.
 When it reaches the Earth’s surface, it will be called, LAVA.
 EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS – when magma flows onto the surface of the Earth or floor of the ocean
through deep cracks and at volcanic vents then COOL and HARDENS.
 INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCKS – when magma SOLIDIFIES BENEATH the Earth’s surface in mines and
tunnels or at the surface where it has been exposed by geological uplifting and erosion.
SEDIMENTARY
 From root word sediments w/c means “remaining particles”
 Rocks formed fr. deposition of different materials on Earth’s surface.
 Came fr. preexisting rocks or pieces of dead organisms then lithified or cemented together by natural
processes.
 Most are found in beaches, rivers, and oceans where sand, mud and other types of sediments are present.
 Preserve or record the kind of environment that existed when they were being formed.
METAMORPHIC
 meta means “change”
 morph means “form”
 Derived fr.igneous or sedimentary rocks (or combination of both) that were exposed to high pressure and
temperature.
 Mostly found on mountains.

MINERALS
- Are naturally occurring inorganic solids.
- They are considered natural because they are considered natural because they are derived from natural
geologic processes.
- Have crystalline structures and definite composition.
Physical Properties:
1. Color - Usually the property used to identify minerals EASILY.
- Result of the way minerals absorb light.
- May not be used in identifying translucent to transparent minerals due to the presence of trace amounts of
other minerals in them.
- THEREFORE, color is considered the least reliable means of identifying minerals.
2. Streak - Color of the mineral in powder form.
3. Hardness - Measure of the mineral’s resistance to scratching.
- Mohs scale is used to measure the relative hardness of minerals.
- It was developed by a German minerologist named Frederick Mohs.
4. Cleavage & fracture - Used to describe how minerals break into pieces.
Cleavage - Breakage along the crystalline structure where a mineral is likely to break smoothly.
Fracture - Breaks in a direction where there is no cleavage.
5. Crystalline structure - Tells how a mineral’s crystals are arranged.
- Hand lens is a necessary tool in checking for crystalline structure.
Crystal Solid – form a regular repeating three-dimensional crystal lattice.
Amorphous Solid – forms aggregates that have no particular order or arrangement.
6. Transparency - Indicates the extent of light that can pass through the mineral.
- HENCE, the degree of transparency may depend on the thickness of the mineral.
7. Magnetism - Ability of the mineral to attract or repel other minerals.
8. Tenacity - Level of resistance or reaction of minerals to stress such as: CRUSHING, BENDING, OR TEARING.
9. Luster - Reaction of a mineral to light.
- Determines how brilliant or dull the mineral is.
10. Odor - Distinct smell of a mineral that is usually released from a chemical reaction when subjected to water, heat,
air or friction.
- EXAMPLE: Sulfur smells like a lit match.
11. Specific gravity - Measure of the density of a mineral.
- How heavy the mineral is by its weight to water.
- Used especially when two minerals have the same size or the same color.

Chemical Properties:

Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)

Teacher III
 ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER
1. Silicate class – largest and most abundant group containing silicon and oxygen.
2. Carbonate class – mostly found deposited in marine environments.
3. Sulphate class – forms in areas with high evaporation rates and where salty waters slowly evaporate.
4. Halide class – contains natural salts and they are usually formed in lakes, ponds, and other landlocked seas such
as the Dead Sea and Great Salt Lake.
- have relatively low hardness, may be transparent, have good cleavage, have low specific gravities, and are poor
conductors of heat and electricity.
5. Oxide class – is a diverse class and are important as they carry histories of changes in Earth’s magnetic field.
- formed as precipitates close to Earth’s surface or as oxidation products of minerals during the process of weathering.
6. Sulphide class – these are economically significant.
-are found in electrical wires, industrial materials and other things that are needed in construction.
7. Phosphate class – contains minerals with phosphorus.
- found in the teeth and bones of many animals.
8. Native Element class – contains metals and intermetalic elements, semimetals, nonmetals or natural alloys, and
constituents of a few rare meteorites.

GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
Exogenous processes - occur ON or NEAR the surface of Earth.
- Usually influenced by GRAVITY, WATER, WIND, and ORGANISMS.
- Could be DESTRUCTIVE occurrences that leave significant CHANGES on the landscape
and even in the ecosystem of an area.
- Can wipe out majority of the organisms inhabiting that area.
Types:
1. Weathering - Disintegration of rocks, soil, minerals together with other materials through contact with E’s
subsystems.
- Happens even without movement or transportation (as opposed to erosion that involves movement).
a. Physical Weathering – breakdown of rocks by mechanical forces concentrated along rock fractures.
- example: soil cracks because of extreme heat or drought
b. Chemical Weathering – rocks break down by chemical reactions.
- statues that are deteriorated by acid rain
2. Erosion – Earth’s surface is worn away by wind, water, or ice.
- moves rocks debris or soil from one place to another and it takes place when there is rainfall, surface runoff, flowing
rivers, seawater intrusion, flooding, freezing and thawing, hurricanes, wind, etc.
3. Mass Wasting - movement of large masses of materials (rock debris, soil, mud).
a. Debris flow – happens when a large amount of sediments, usually rocks of various sizes, falls down the
slope and unlike landslide, debris flow does not need water to flow down.
b. Mudflow – happens when combined soil and water flow down a slope.
- it usually happens near rivers or streams where soil or sand is always moist or has been soaked in water for
a long time.
c. Slump – Slow movement of soil along a curved surface.
4. Sedimentation - accumulation of materials such as soil, rock fragments, and soil particles settling on the ground.
- Over time, the sediment load becomes thick and forms a new layer of ground.
- Usually occurs in streams and sea erosion.

Endogenous processes - Take place within or in the interior of Earth.

- responsible for earthquakes, development of continents, mountain building, volcanic
activities, and other movements related to E’s crust.
Types:
1. Magmatism - Happens when magma is generated and develops into igneous rocks.
- Take place either under the surface or on the surface of E.
2. Volcanism - Process that usually happens after magma is formed.
3. Metamorphism - Process of changing the materials that make up a rock.

METHODS OF DETERMINING THE AGE OF STRATIFIED ROCKS

1. Absolute Dating
- Geologists often need to know the age of material that they find.
- sometimes called numerical dating
- geologists use this to give rocks an actual date, or date range, in number of
years.
2. Relative Dating

Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)

Teacher III
 ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER
used to arrange geological events, and the rocks they leave behind, in a
-
sequence.
- the method of reading the order is called stratigraphy (layers of rock are called
strata).
- does not provide actual numerical dates
*GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE - a model scientists use to describe the timing of events and the relationships
between those events in earth’s history.
TYPES OF STRESS THAT INFLUENCE ROCK BEHAVIOR
1. Compressional – rock push or squeeze against one another.
- The stress produced is directed toward the center.
2. Tensional – rocks are pulled apart.
- Rocks may separate in opposite directions or move farther
away from one another.
-it is speculated that this type of stress is what separated all
The continents in the world during the breaking away of the
supergiant continent known as Pangaea.
3. Shear – some of the portions of a plate at the edges may
break away in different directions, eventually making the
plate smaller in size.
4. Confining – the crust becomes compact, making it looks smaller.
-this is different from shearing as none of the crust’s edges break away.

CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY

-In 1596, Abraham Ortelius, a Flemish cartographer --- observed that the shapes of the continents on both sides of
the Atlantic Ocean seem to fit together.
-It was as if Africa was torn away from Asia and Europe.
-With the absence of valid measurements and proofs, the only speculation Ortelius could provide was that
earthquakes and floodings may have made the separation possible.

-1912, geophysicist Alfred Wegener developed the concept and hypothesized the CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY.
-He claimed that there used to be only one supergiant landmass where all the continents came from.
-He called this massive landmass Pangaea.
-Over time, this continent broke apart into two huge landmasses and these landmasses moved away from each other.
-The two giant continents were Laurasia (continents in the present-day Northern Hemisphere) and Gondwanaland
(continents in the present-day Southern Hemisphere).
-The separation continued until we have the continents that we can see on the map today.

PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

-In 1929, Arthur Holmes, a British geologist, suggested the idea of thermal convection as the driving force for the
movement of the continents.
- While the basis for the movement of continents progressed, geologists started to use a more precise term to refer to
te moving piece of crust as “plate” because it was believed that continents are not the only ones moving (as
explained by Wegener).
-Crust and upper mantle of Earth is made up of several tectonic plates that glide over the mantle.
-After the plate boundaries were discovered, scientists were able to identify eight major plates:
Pacific plate, Indian plate, Eurasian plate, North American plate, South American plate, Indo-Australian plate, Antarctic
plate, and African plate.

Folding
-resulting from the compression of rock strata (rock layers)
-bending, curving, crumpling, or buckling of rocks into folds is usually visible on rock strata.

Faulting
-form cracks or fractures in rocks. These cracks are called fault lines.

Seafloor Spreading
-developed by geologists Harold Hess and Robert Dietz.
-continuous process where tensional forces on both sides of the plates cause them to constantly move apart.
Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)
Teacher III
 ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER
1. Magma rises to the surface from the mantle.
2. In time, the magma is cooled by seawater and forms the oceanic crust.
3. New rocks then form in this area.

HAZARDS CAUSED BY GEOLOGIC PROCESSES

1. Earthquakes - a sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of
movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action.
Richter Scale - was developed by Charles F. Richter in 1934.
- used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake.
a. Ground shaking – the vibration of the ground due to plate movement or seismic wave during an
earthquake.
b. Surface faulting – tearing of ground when movement of a fault deep within Earth breaks through to ground
surface.
c. Tsunamis – very high, large waves or seismic sea waves caused by the sudden movement of the ocean
floor due to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, man-made explosions, and landslides.
2. Volcanic Eruptions – can be predicted days or even weeks before it happens.
-the location of volcanoes and the possible risks associated with the activities of these volcanoes can be identified
using geohazard maps plotted by PHIVOLCS (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology).
-can be followed by other related hazards such as lahar flow, ash fall, pyroclastic flow, ballistic projectiles, emission of
volcanic gases, and lava flow.
3. Landslides – occur in sloping terrain.
a. Rainfall-induced landslides – places with tropical climates after very intense and long rains during the
wet season.
b. Earthquake-induced landslides – happens during or after an earthquake when a piece of weakened
landslides off primarily due to gravity.

COMMON HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA

Tropical Cyclones
Also known as:
-“typhoons” for those occurring in the Northwest Pacific
-“hurricanes” for those developing in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific)
-are storm systems characterized by rapidly spiraling storms, low-pressure center, and intensely strong winds.

*Cyclones can have increased strength of wind. When this happens, they can develop into tropical
depressions. As the strength of the wind increases, the tropical depression (45-62 km/h) develops into a
storm (63-117 km/h), then into typhoon (118-239 km/h), and finally into a supertyphoon (240 km/h or higher).
- on the average, the Philippines experiences almost 20 typhoons annually.

Monsoons
-“seasonal winds”
-the Philippines experiences two monsoons every year: AMIHAN and HABAGAT.
-amihan --- “Northeast Monsoon” is characterized by cold gusty wind with little or no precipitation.
-habagat --- “Southwest Monsoon” is characterized by hot and humid atmosphere with frequent heavy rainfall.

*Amihan blows to EAST while habagat blows to WEST.

Tornadoes
-locally known as “ipo-ipo” is a rapidly swirling condensation funnel whose narrow end comes in contact with the
ground.

COMMON COASTAL HAZARDS

Coastal Erosion
-The seawater through wave actions, tidal currents, strong winds, or a combination of all these loosens the soil on the
shore, which eventually destroys the integrity of land.
Submersion
- A global atmospheric temperature rises; oceans and seas become warm and expand.
Storm Surges
- May occur in coastal areas when typhoons make landfall.
Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)
Teacher III
 ISABELA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (2022-2023)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE FIRST QUARTER
Saltwater Intrusion
- Movement of minerals and salts from coastal seas to freshwater aquifers

Prepared by: Mrs. Donna Mae P. Empleo (Subject Teacher)

Teacher III