BIOLOGICAL HEIRARCHY: - Two Types of Tundra:

o Arctic
1. Organism
- occupies Earth’s Northern hemisphere,
2. Population
circling the North Pole
3. Community
o Alpine
4. Biome
- exist on rocky mountain tops
5. Biosphere
- similar to Arctic tundra except for a
conspicuous lash of trees
• Taiga
BIOMES:
- boreal forests
- masses of life - largest terrestrial biome
- distinctions related to the life-form of their plants and animals - conical-shaped evergreen trees with needle-like leaves
(Christen Raunkaier) • Grassland
- type of habitat in certain places - dominated by grass
- determined by the climate and vegetation of the place - Two Types of Grassland:
o Temperate Grassland
- characterized as having grasses as the
MAJOR BIOMES OF THE WORLD: dominant vegetation; trees and large shrubs
are absent.
o prairies – all grasses.
o steppes – short grasses.
o Savannah
- grassland with scattered individual trees
• Desert
- hottest
- least amount of rainfall
- temperature swings make this an extreme environment
• Tropical Rainforest
- dominated by evergreen trees
- contains the greatest variety of animals.
- highest amount of rainfall

TERRESTRIAL BIOMES:

• Tundra
- coldest of all terrestrial ecosystems
- treeless
AQUATIC BIOMES: THE FOUR SPHERES OF EARTH:

• Freshwater Ecosystem 1. Geosphere

- includes lakes, ponds and rivers - comprises the solid Earth and includes both Earth’s surface
- can be fragile and unhealthy esp. if the is imbalance or and the various layers of the Earth's interior
contamination 2. Atmosphere
- eutrophication - gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth and constitutes
• Wetlands the transition between it and the vacuum of space
- flooded by water 3. Hydrosphere
- Types of Wetlands: - includes all water on Earth (including surface water and
o Swamps groundwater)
o Marshes 4. Biosphere
o Bogs - the life zone of the Earth and includes all living organisms,
• Estuary and all organic matter that has not yet decomposed
- mixture of fresh and salt water
- where river is connected to the ocean
- bordered by wetlands ATMOSPHERE

______________________________________________________________ - Greek term “atmos” means air

- a great big blanket
- protects Earth like a blanket of insulation
THE GOOD EARTH - absorbs the heat from the Sun and keeps the heat inside the
atmosphere helping the Earth to stay warm (greenhouse effect)
- not too close or far from Sun (preventing life from freezing or frying) - also keeps the overall temperature of the Earth fairly steady,
- large enough to hold atmosphere especially between night and day
- abundance of water
- temperature range allows water to exist as solid as well as liquid
and gas form
COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERE:
- interactions of four spheres
- Primarily Composed of:
o Nitrogen – about 78%
WHICH SYSTEM DESCRIBES EARTH SYSTEMS? o Oxygen – about 21%
- Other Components that Exist in Small Quantities:
• Earth is a closed system but its four subsystems are open systems. o Argon – 0.9%
• Matter and energy freely transfer between them. o Other gases – 0.1%
IMPORTANT ROLES OF ATMOSPHERE:
• contains the gases that living organisms need for survival (oxygen
for respiration, carbon dioxide for aerobic respiration)
• heat transfer
• protects Earth’s surface from being struck by meteors
• ozone in stratosphere protects biosphere form UV radiation
• plays a part in weathering and erosion
LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE ARE BASED ON TEMPERATURE CHANGE WITHIN
THE LAYER:
• As you move up through the troposphere, temperature decreases.
• As you move up through stratosphere, temperature increases.
• As you move up through the mesosphere, temperature decreases.
• As you move up through the thermosphere, temperature increases.
EXOSPHERE
- represents the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and
outer space
- outermost layer
- from the exobase: 600 km
- atoms and molecules are so far apart that this layer no longer
behaves like gas
o Satellites travel here because there is very little friction with
air.
o Theodore von Kármán – first to calculate that around this
altitude, the atmosphere becomes too thin to support
aeronautical flight
THERMOSPHERE
- warmest layer (1,000ºC – 1,500ºC)
- absorption of very short-wave, high-energy solar radiation by
oxygen and nitrogen
- blocks cosmic radiation
- but gases are so sparse (insignificant quantity of heat)
- exobase: top of thermosphere, base of exosphere
o ionosphere
o Satellites & radio waves travel in this layer
MESOSPHERE
- from the stratopause: 50-85 km
- temperature decreases with height
- coldest layer: -85ºC to -100ºC (coldest place on Earth)
- least explored regions of the atmosphere
- it cannot be reached by the highest research balloons nor is it
accessible to the lowest orbiting satellites
- mesopause: outer boundary of the mesosphere
o Meteors burn up when they hit this layer.
STRATOSPHERE
- temperature increases with height
- contains the ozonosphere (ozone layer)
- temperatures increase in the stratosphere because it is in this layer
that the atmosphere’s ozone is concentrated
- ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the Sun (stratosphere is
heated)
- stratopause: outer boundary of the stratosphere
o Rivers of air, called Jet Streams, can be found at the base of
this layer.
TROPOSPHERE - 97% of the water on Earth is saltwater
- Only 3% of the water is fresh (streams, lakes, groundwater & frozen
- contains convection currents created by the sun’s heat which cause
ice)
most of our weather
- 75% of the atmosphere’s mass
- tropopause: outer boundary of the troposphere
WATER CYCLE:
o Harmful ozone is found here, it creates smog.
- explains the continuous movement of the water, above or below
the Earth’s surface. The sun is the driving agent of this cycle
OXYGEN DEPLETION

- Two Distinct but Related Phenomena Observed Since the Late

1970s:
o a steady decline of about four percent in the total amount
of ozone in Earth's stratosphere (the ozone layer)
o a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone
around Earth's polar regions

ATMOSPHERE INTERACTIONS:

• Hydrosphere
- the gases of the atmosphere readily exchange with those
dissolved in water bodies
- ex. oceans, lakes, etc.
• Biosphere
- the atmosphere supplies oxygen and carbon dioxide that
form the basis of life processes (photosynthesis and HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE:
respiration).
• Geosphere - involves the other three spheres
- gases in the atmosphere react with water to produce weak - Water found on the surface of our planet includes the ocean as well
acids that aid in the breakdown of rock as water from lakes and rivers, streams, and creeks.
- Water found under the surface of our planet includes water
trapped in the soil and groundwater.
HYDROSPHERE: - Water found in our atmosphere includes water vapor.
- Frozen water on our planet includes ice caps and glaciers.
- liquid component of the Earth (including glacial waters) - Only about 3% of the water on Earth is “fresh” water, and about
- covers 70% of the earth’s surface 70% of the fresh water is frozen in the form of glacial ice.
WHERE IS ALL THE WATER? HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA, HAZARDS AND OTHER WEATHER
MIXED-UPS:
• Salt Water – 96.5%
• Fresh Water – 3.5% • Northeast Monsoon (Amihan)
- cold wind usually coming from China and Siberia (Nov. –
• Breakdown of Earth’s Water: Feb.)
o Oceans – 96.5% • Southwest Monsoon (Habagat)
o Permanent Ice & Snow – 1.7% - wind from Australia that flows in a southwest direction
o Groundwater – 1.7% going towards the equator (May – Oct.)
o Lakes & River – 0.014 %
o Atmosphere – 0.0001%
• Breakdown of Fresh Water WHAT’S WITH THE COLORS?
o Permanent Ice & Snow – 68.7%
- weather radar
o Groundwater – 30.1%
- have a transmitter that sends out short pulses of radio waves
o Lakes & Rivers – 0.3%
- these wavelengths can penetrate small cloud droplets, but are
reflected by larger raindrops, ice crystals, or hailstones
- reflected signal (echo) is received and displayed on a TV monitor
GROUNDWATER
- the echo is “brighter” when the precipitation is more intense
- free water that is beneath Earth's surface o Red Warning
- surface or near-surface can be dry, but deeper parts are saturated - more than 30 mm rain
with water - observed in 1 hour and expected to continue in the
next 2 hours
- torrential rain
OCEAN VS. SEA: - serious flooding is expected in low-lying areas
- evacuation
- Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land o Orange Warning
and ocean meet. - 15 – 30 mm rain
- Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land. - observed in 1 hour and expected to continue in the
next 2 hours.
- intense rain
IMPORTANT REOLES OF HYDROSPHERE: - flooding is threatening
- alert for possible evacuation
1. Moderate climate
o Yellow Warning
2. Heat transfer
- 7.5 – 15 mm rain
3. Organisms need water to transport nutrients and waste
- observed in 1 hour and expected to continue in the
4. Water is essential in many of Earth’s processes (mineral formation,
next 2 hours
erosion, weathering)
- heavy rain
 - flooding is possible o wave height: more than 14.0 meters
- monitor the weather condition o Storm surge of 3 meters is possible along coastal areas.

LOW PRESSURE AREA (CYCLONE) HURRICANE VS. CYCLONE VS. TYPHOON:

- a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of • Hurricane – Atlantic Ocean
surrounding locations. • Cyclone – Indian Ocean
- form under areas of wind divergence that occur in the upper levels • Typhoon – Pacific Ocean
of the troposphere

TORNADO
TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING SYSTEM SIGNALS (TCWS)
• Twisters develop in thunderstorms on hot days, often in spring or
• TCWS NO. 1 summer.
o wind impact: no to very light damage 1. Warm, most air rises from the ground.
o expect impact of: 30 – 60 kph winds in 36 hours 2. Warm air meets cold dry air, a vortex is created, descending
o wave height: 1.25 – 4.0 meters from a storm cloud.
• TCWS NO. 2 3. Vortex contacts with ground.
o wind impact: light to moderate damage 4. Updraft draws in more air, rises upwards while rotating.
o expect impact of: 61 – 120 kph winds in 24 hours 5. Tornado spins at a speed, creating a destructive force in its
o wave height: 4.1 – 14.0 meters path.
o Storm surge is possible along coastal areas. • Most tornadoes travel at 16 – 32 kph, wind speeds can reach up to
• TCWS NO. 3 400 kph.
o wind impact: moderate and heavy damage
o expect impact of: 121 – 170 kph winds in 18 hours
o wave height: 14.0 meters OTHER HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL HAZARDS:
o Storm surge is possible along coastal areas.
• TCWS NO. 4 • Floods
o wind impact: heavy and very heavy damage • Storm Surges
o expect impact of: 171 – 220 kph winds in 12 hours • Landslides
o wave height: more than 14.0 meters • Mudflows
o Storm surge of 2 – 3 meters is possible along coastal areas. • Strong Winds
• TCWS NO. 5
o wind impact: very heavy and widespread damage,
phenomenal
o expect impact of more than: 220 kph winds in 12 hours
HAZARD MAP FLOOD HAZARD MAP OF METRO MANILA:

- refers to a map describing the areas at risk of natural disasters such

as earthquake ground motion, flooding, landslides, liquefaction, and
tsunami and more

STORM SURGE PRONE AREAS:

- a rising of the sea as a result of atmospheric pressure changes and

TROPICAL INCIDENCE: wind associated with a storm

______________________________________________________________
BIOSPHERE - causes the movement of plate tectonic
2. Mantle
- set of all life forms on Earth
- middle layer of the earth
- covers all ecosystem
- composed of dense rocks largely made of the mineral
- most important subsystem on Earth
olivine
- drives us to be in constant need of interaction with the planet
- makes up 16% of the Earth’s interior
- coined by geologist Eduard Suess in 1875
- 2,900 km thick
o Gutenberg Discontinuity – boundary between outer
core and lower mantle
GEOSPHERE o Mohorovicic Discontinuity – boundary between
- solid state of Earth crust and upper mantle
- includes the structure, composition, minerals and processes of Earth 3. Core
- includes the rocks of the crust and mantle, the metallic liquid outer - the innermost portion of the Earth
core, and the solid metallic inner core - believed to be metallic
- composed primarily of:
o Iron – 5%
LITHOSPHERE o Nickel – 10%
o Silicon – 5%
- a part of the geosphere that is composed of the solid outermost - 3,400 km thick
part of the planet - 6,000°C
o Outer Core – made up of molten rock about 2,250
km thick
LAYERS OF THE EARTH o Inner Core – solid about 1,150 km thick with an
extremely high temperature at 2,200°C
1. Crust
o Lehmann Discontinuity – boundary between the
- the rocky outermost layer of lithosphere
outer and inner core
- composed mainly of:
o silicon
o aluminum – the upper layer of the Earth’s crust
ROCK-FORMING MINERALS
- made up largely of granitic rocks which are lighter in color
and weight - over 2000 minerals known
- 35 km thick - not always large crystals
o Asthenosphere • Mineralogy – the study of minerals and their properties
- can be found between the lithosphere and
the upper mantle
- constantly moving or flowing because it is
melting
IDENTIFICATION BY INSPECTION
- simple observations made by looking
• Color – most easily observed but least useful
o Impurities change mineral’s colors
o Mineral’s colors are similar
o Color change / react in air
• Luster – the way a mineral shine
o Metallic Luster
- shines like a polished metal
o Nonmetallic Luster
- vitreous (shining glass), pearly, resinous
(like wax), greasy and oily, dull and earthy,
and brilliant and adamantine (unbreakable)
IDENTIFICATION BY SAMPLE TESTS:
• Crystal System (Shape) – shape of the crystal
o Isometric or Cubic
- all 90°, all lengths equal
- All three axes are equal in length, and all
are perpendicular to one another
o Orthorhombic
- all 90°, no lengths equal
- All three axes are unequal in length, and all
are perpendicular to one another.
o Tetragonal
- all 90°, some lengths equal
- Two of the three axes are perpendicular to
one another.
o Triclinic
- none at 90°
- All three axes are unequal in length, and
none is perpendicular to another.
o Monoclinic
- some at 90°
- All three axes are unequal in length, and
two axes are perpendicular to each other.
o Hexagonal
- 3 axes at 60°
- Of four axes, three are of equal length, are
separated by equal angles, and lie in the
same plane. The fourth axis is perpendicular
to the plane of other three axes. Hexagonal
cells have lattice points in each of the two
six-sided faces.
o Rhombohedral or Trigonal
- All three axes are equal length, and none of
the axes is perpendicular to another, but
the crystal faces all have the same size nd
shape.
• Streak
- color of a mineral’s powder by rubbing a mineral on
unglazed white tile
o Dark Streak – metallic mineral
o Colorless to Light Streak – non-metallic mineral
• Fracture or Cleavage
- minerals split along flat surfaces, some do not cleave but
they break
• Hardness
- minerals resistance to being scratched
• Acid Test
- weak acid will release bubbles of CO2
o Calcium carbonate fizzes in acid (HCI)
• Special Properties
o Double Diffraction – calcite / Iceland par splits images into 2
o Phosphorescence – glows even after ultraviolet off
o Smell – Sulphur (gives off foul odor
o Fluorescence - calcite and fluorite glow under ultraviolet
light
o Optical Properties – a thin, clear piece of calcite placed over
an image will cause a double image
 o Magnetism – both magnetite and pyrrhotite are natural GEOSPHERE
magnets that attract iron
- the skeleton of our planet
o Radioactivity – minerals that contain radium or uranium
- the solid Earth that includes the continental and ocean crust as well
can be detected by a Geiger counter
as the various layers of Earth’s interior
o Taste – Halite has a salty taste
- not static (unchanging)
- surface (crust) is in a constant state of motion
- where mineral resources are mined
THREE MAIN TYPES OF ROCK:

• Sedimentary Rocks
- formed from particles of sand, shells, pebbles and other COMPOSITION OF EARTH’S CHEMICAL LAYERS:
fragments of material
Layer Percent of Mass Main Rocks
- fairly soft and may break apart or crumble easily
• Metamorphic Rocks Continental Crust .35%
Granite, Andesite,
- formed under the surface of the Earth from the Basalt
metamorphosis (change) that occurs due to intense heat
and pressure (squeezing) Ocean Crust .15% Basalt, Gabbro
• Igneous Rocks
Asthenosphere <.05% Peridotite, <2% water
- formed when magma (molten rock deep within the Earth)
cools and hardens
Peridotite, Eclogite,
- sometimes magma cools inside the Earth and other times it Mantle 66%
Dunite, Pyrolite
erupts onto the surface from volcanoes (in this case, it is
called lava)
Core-mantle Boundary 2% Pyrolite-iron mixture

Liquid iron, ~10%

THE ROCK CYCLE: Outer Core 30% unknown light
elements

Solid Iron, possibly

Inner Core 2% ~5% unknown light
elements

EARTH’S CORE

- inaccessible
- studied through seismic information and computer models
- composed of Fe and Ni
 - Divided into Two: - 2,240 km
• Inner Core - soft / magma
- hot solid spherical • Upper Mantle
- 1,240 km thick - lithosphere
- consists of iron-nickel alloy - rigid / solid
- magnetic - 660 km
- 6,000°C almost as hot as the surface of the sun • Gutenberg Discontinuity
- high pressure (alloy cannot melt) - boundary between outer core and lower mantle
• Outer Core • Mohorovicic Discontinuity
- mostly made of iron and nickel - boundary between crust and upper mantle
- 2,300 km thick
- very hot
- 4,000°C-5,000°C EARTH’S CRUST:
- liquid
- magnetic • Continental Crust
- cause of Earth’s magnetic field - light-colored
• Lehmann Discontinuity - rock sample: Granite
- boundary between the outer and inner core - less dense
- coarse textured
- thick layer
- 40-70 km
EARTH’S MANTLE
• Oceanic Crust
- intermediate layer (longest part) - dark-colored
- made up of molten rocks (magma) - rock sample: Basalt
- 2,900 km thick - more dense
- 70% of Earth’s volume - thin layer 50 km
- composed primarily of peridotite
- Divided into Two:
• Lower / Middle Mantle TECTONICS
- Asthenosphere
- Plate Tectonic Theory - process that deforms the Earth’s crust
- balances temperature and pressure
- hot
- exhibits plasticity TECTONIC PLATE
- produces high pressure - plates that move around top of asthenosphere
- causes formation of minerals that are different from - large scale movements of Earth’s lithosphere
the upper layer
SEVEN LARGE PLATES OF THE EARTH’S LITHOSPHERE:
Type of Margin Divergent Convergent Transform
1. Eurasian Plate
2. Indo-Australian Plate Motion Spreading Subduction Lateral Sliding
3. Pacific Plate
4. North American Plate Constructive Destructive Conservative
5. South American Plate (oceanic (oceanic (lithosphere
Effect
6. African Plate lithosphere lithosphere neither created
created) destroyed) nor destroyed
7. Antarctic Plate

Topography Ridge / Rift Trench No major effect

CONTINENTAL DRIFT Volcanic
Yes Yes No
Activity?
- 1912 by Alfred Wegener
- a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth’s
surface SEISMIC WAVES
- explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock
formations are found on different continents • Body Waves
- under the Earth’s surface
- higher frequency
TECTONIC PLATE MOVEMENTS: - arrive before the surface waves
- Two Types:
• Convergent o P-wave – fastest wave; can travel through solid
- when two plates slide towards each other (fast) and liquid (slow)
- trenches, mountains, volcanic arcs o S-wave – cannot travel through liquid
• Divergent • Surface Waves
- when two plates slide apart from each other - on the Earth’s surface
- seafloor spreading, oceanic ridges, continental rifting - lower frequency
• Transform - recorded last on seismographs
- when plates slide - responsible for damage and destruction
- earthquake - Two Types:
o Rayleigh Wave (R) – vibration in horizontal and
vertical plane
o Love Wave (L) – back and forth vibration
HOW TECTONIC PLATES ARE MOVED AROUND THE GLOBE? GEOMORPHIC PROCESS:

- In the mantle, hot material rises towards the lithosphere. - physical processes which create and modify landforms on the
- The hot material reaches the base of the lithosphere where it cools surface of the Earth
and sinks back down through the mantle. The cool material is • Exogenous Process
replaced by more hot material, and so on forming a large - external processes
“convection cell.” - transforms rocks to sediment
- This slow but incessant movement in the mantle causes the rigid - weathering, mass wasting, erosion, deposition
tectonic plates to move (float) around the Earth’s surface at an - also called Gradational Processes
equally slow rate - carried through Geomorphic Agents: gravity,
flowing water (rivers), moving ice (glaciers), waves
and tides (oceans and lakes), wind, plants,
THE ROCK CYCLE: organisms, animals and humans
- compromises:
• Degradation Processes
• Aggradation Processes
• Endogenous Process
- internal process
- reshaping of the Earth’s landforms
- volcanism, folding, faulting, earthquake,
diastrophism
- large-scale landform building and transforming
processes
- create relief
• Igneous Processes
• Tectonic Processes (Diastrophism)

DEGRADATION PROCESSES:

• Weathering
FACTORS THAT AFFECT MAGMA FORMATION: - disintegration and decomposition of rocks – no
transportation involved
• Temperature – increase with depth
- Types of Weathering:
• Pressure – increase with depth
o Physical or Mechanical Weathering
• Water Content – decrease melting pot
- disintegration, exfoliation, frost action
• Mineral Composition – different minerals, melting points
 o Chemical Weathering TECTONIC PROCESSES:
- oxidation, carbonation, hydration, solution
• Folding
o Biological Weathering
- two forces push towards each other from opposite sides,
- plants, animals, humans
the rock layers will bend into folds
• Mass Wasting
- There are large-scale and small-scale folds. Large-scale folds
- process by which soil, sand and rock move downslope
are found mainly along destructive plate boundaries.
typically as mass, largely under the force of gravity but
- bends or wave-like features in layered rocks
frequently affected by water
- compressional forces
• Soil Erosion
- tensional, compressional, shearing stress
- removal of material from one place to another at a greater
- anticline and syncline
rate than its replacement
• Faulting
- Agent of Erosion:
- fracturing and displacement of more brittle rock strata
o Wind
along a fault plane either caused by tension or compression
o Water
- line of which appears on land surface is known as fault line
o Air
(allow molten rock to rise up onto the Earth’s surface when
- Types:
there is active volcanic activity nearby)
o River carving a valley
- rupture on Earth’s crust
o Waves cutting back cliffs
- footwall vs. hanging wall
o Wind blowing topsoil
- Three Types of Fault:
o Glacier moving rocks
o Normal Fault
o Reverse Fault
o Transform Fault
AGGRADATION PROCESS

• Deposition
- process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a IMPORTANT ROLES OF GEOSPHERE:
landform or land mass
1. Contributor of particular matter (e.g. volcanic ash to atmosphere
2. Ultimate contributor of salts to the ocean (ions released from
weathered rock and minerals
IGNEOUS PROCESS
3. Ultimate source of nutrients for all living things
• Volcanism 4. Important contributor of atmospheric gases (volcanoes)
- eruption of molten rock (magma) onto Earth’s surface 5. Movement of plates that serve as barriers in the isolation of
- mostly focused at plate margins population of organisms (influences evolution)
- Pacific Ring of Fire
GEOSPHERE INTERACTIONS: - Top Ten Provinces at Risk:
1. Surigao del Sur
• Atmosphere
2. La Union
- volcanism spews significant amount of gases into the
3. Benguet
atmosphere
4. Pangasinan
- ex: volcanoes eject large amounts of Sulphur dioxide to the
5. Pampanga
upper atmosphere, resulting in global cooling
6. Tarlac
• Hydrosphere 7. Ifugao
- formation of many mineral involves incorporate release of 8. Davao Oriental
water 9. Nueva Vizcaya
- water speeds up chemical reactions that produce or destroy 10. Nueva Ecija
minerals and aids in the melting of rock
• Biosphere
- nutrients released from rocks during their breakdown are
LANDSLIDES:
dissolved in water (to be used by aquatic plants)
• Earthquakes (geosphere) can damage buildings which may kill - usually induced b Earthquakes
people (biosphere), as well as cause fire which release gases into - greater risk in manmade embankments and mountainous areas
the air (atmosphere). Earthquakes in the ocean may cause tsunami - Top Ten Provinces at Risk:
(hydrosphere) which can eventually hit land and kill both animals 1. Ifugao
and people (biosphere) 2. Lanao del Sur
3. Saranggani
4. Benguet
GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS 5. Mountain Province
6. Bukidnon
- due to the movement of plates and local concentrations of geologic 7. Aurora
heating 8. Davao del Sur
9. Davao Oriental
10. Rizal
MITIGATION

- understanding these hazards to decrease damages and casualties

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
EARTHQUAKES:
- Pacific Ring of Fire – lots of volcanoes
- 12 destructive earthquakes - Mt. Pinatubo (1991)
- except Palawan, there have been earthquakes in the whole - 22 historically active volcanoes
Philippines - Top Ten Provinces at Risk:
- Pacific Ring of Fire 1. Camiguin
2. Sulu
 3. Biliran CHANGING PLANET: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
4. Albay
- “The present is the key to the past.” – Charles Lyell
5. Bataan
6. Sorsogon
7. South Cotabato
8. Laguna UNIFORMITARIANISM
9. Camarines Sur • Major Assumption in Geology:
10. Batanes - events in the past occurred the same way that they are
occurring today
- ex: weathering / erosion, deposition, volcanism, plate
TSUNAMIS tectonics
- caused by earthquake and other seismic activities in bodies of water
- Mindoro (1994) – 41 dead
- Top Ten Provinces at Risk: GEOLOGIC DATING
1. Sulu • Absolute
2. Tawi-tawi - know dates
3. Basilan - determines how many years old something is
4. Batanes - radiometric
5. Guimaras • Relative
6. Romblon - know order of events but not dates
7. Siquijor - used to determine if one thing is younger or older than
8. Surigao del Norte another
9. Masbate - superposition, index fossils, correlation of rock layers
10. Camiguin

______________________________________________________________
RELATIVE DATING:

- comparing of rock units to decipher their age relative to one

WHY IS THE GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE IMPORTANT? another
• Approximately 4.6B years old • Principle of Original Horizontality
• Rocks record geologic and evolutionary changes throughout Earth’s - sedimentary layers are deposited in approximately
history horizontal sheets.
• Without time perspective, events have little meaning - if layers are folded, episode of deformation must
have occurred after rocks formed
- age of folding is younger than youngest deformed
rock unit.
 • Principle of Superposition
- rock layer above is younger than the ones below it
(oldest on bottom, youngest on top)
- may not apply to rock that have been folded (can
get turned upside-down)
- Nicolas Steno
• Principle of Crosscutting Relationships
- any feature (e.g. fault or intrusion) that cute across
rock is younger that youngest rocks that is cut
• Principle of Inclusion
- objects enclosed in a rock must be older than the
time of rock formation
ABSOLUTE DATE: RADIOMETRIC
• Radioactive decay (half-life)
- occurs when the nuclei of unstable atoms break down,
changing the original atoms into atoms of another element
- half-life – the amount of time it takes for half the atoms of a
substance to decay into another element
- different substances have different half-life
- ex: Uranium 238 and Carbon 14
FOSSILS
- remains of ancient plants and animals, evidence of life
- preserved remnant, remains or impression of a prehistoric organism
- classified based on their formation
• Commonly Preserved (Hard Parts of Organisms)
o Bones
o Shells
o Hard Parts of Insects
o Woody Material
• Rarely Preserved (Easily Decayed Parts of Organisms)
o Internal Organs
o Skin
o Hair
o Feathers
- preserved remnant, remains or impression of a prehistoric organism
- classified based on their formation
TYPES OF FOSSILS:
• True Fossil
- fossils of the actual animal or animal part
- formed when the tissues of animals didn’t decay over the
years
- commonly found in ice, tar (natural asphalt) and amber
(tree resin)
• Mold Fossil
- hollow impressions of living thing in a rock
- formed when sediments fill the inside or outside the dead
organism
- the organism's remains will not persist
• Cast Fossil
- created when minerals and sediments enter a cavity or a
mold (sometimes from a mold fossil) and hardens, creating
a cast
• Trace Fossil or Ichnofossil
- impressions of rocks that showed various activities
- fossils of footprints, burrow, trail and or other trace of the
animals (but not the animal itself)
WHERE FOSSILS OCCURS:
- almost exclusively in sedimentary rocks
- heat of melting or metamorphism would destroy almost every type
of fossil
 - to be preserved, Organisms Have to Be: - Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) used photosynthesis and released
o buried rapidly after death oxygen.
o preserved from decay - Oxygen began to accumulate in the atmosphere about 2.5 billion
years ago.
• Hadean Era
GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE: - unseen era
- The Sculpting of Earth
• Earth is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old - 4.6 – 4.0 billion years ago
• Oldest living things were one-celled organisms at about 3.5 billion o Earth Coalescing
years o Water
• Humans show up only about 100,000 years ago o Moon Formation
o Core Accretion
o Magnetic Field
FOUR MAJOR DIVISIONS OF GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE: o Late Bombardment Stage
• Archean Era
• Precambrian Era
- ancient
- represents the first 85% of Earth’s history
- Earth Cooling and Primitive Life
- mostly devoid of fossils
- 4.0 – 2.5 billion years ago
• Paleozoic Era
o First Oceans
- represents ~8.5% of Earth’s history
o DNA
- invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, vertebrates and land
o Tectonic Activity
plants first appear
o First Continent
• Mesozoic Era
o Prokaryote Bacteria
- represents ~3.5% of Earth’s history
o Branded Iron Formation
- dinosaurs, earliest birds and mammals
o Great Oxygenation Event
• Cenozoic Era
• Proterozoic Era
- represents ~1.4% of Earth’s history
- earliest life
- humanoids show up late ~0.04% of history
- An Oxygenated Atmosphere
- 2,500 – 541 million years ago
o Oxygen Crisis
PRECAMBRIAN PERIOD:
o First Eukaryotes
- spans ~4.1 billion years in the geologic timeline o Snowball Earth
- Earth’s atmosphere evolves. o Multicellular Life
- Earth’s original atmosphere was made up of gases similar to those o Ozone Stabilization
released in volcanic eruptions today – water vapor, carbon dioxide,
nitrogen and several trace gases, but no oxygen.
PHANEZEROIC - Timeline:
o Triassic
- visible life
o Jurassic
• Paleozoic Era
o Cretaceous
- The Cambrian Explosion and Fossil Records
- 541 – 245 million years ago)
o Cambrian Explosion
CENOZOIC ERA:
o Age of Invertebrates
o Age of Fist - new life
o Fungi - The Age of Mammals and Homo Sapiens
o Land Plants - 66 million years ago – now
o Age of Amphibians o Dinosaur extinction
o Insects o Age of Mammals
o Coal Deposits o Primates
o Extinction o Grass
- Timeline: o Modern Earth
o Cambrian o Apes
o Ordovician o Stone Age
o Silurian o Homo Sapiens
o Devonian o Cities
o Carboniferous - Timeline:
o Mississippian o Tertiary
o Pennsylvanian o Paleogene
o Permian o Paleocene
o Eocene
o Oligocene
MESOZOIC ERA o Neogene
o Miocene
- middle era
o Pliocene
- The Age of reptiles and Dinosaurs
o Quaternary
- 245 – 66 million years ago
o Pleistocene
o Age of Reptiles
o Holocene
o Pangea
o Age of Conifers
o Age of Dinosaurs
o Birds
o Small Mammals
o Flowering Plants
MASS EXTINCTION: THE FIVE BIGGEST DYING EVENTS IN HISTORY PRECAMBRIAN PERIOD

• Earth Formation – 1.5 billion years ago - spans ~ 4.1 billion years ago in the geologic timeline
• Cambrian Explosion – 341 million years ago • Hadean Eon (Chaotic Eon)
• Ordovician-Silurian Extinction – 450 million years ago - lasted 800 million years ago
• Late Devonian Extinction – 375 million years ago - Earth’s surface was continually bombarded by
• Permian-Triassic Extinction – 252 million years ago meteorites and the very hot mantle caused severe
• Triassic-Jurassic Extinction – 201 million years ago volcanism
• Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction – 66 million years ago - Ocean and atmosphere were formed and the core,
• Current as well as the crust were stabilized
o Stromatolites
- the most common Precambrian
fossils
- distinctively layered mounds or
columns of calcium carbonate
- not the remains of actual organisms
but are material deposited by algae
• Archean Eon
- lasted for 1.3 billion years
- Earth was warm and the atmosphere contained
mostly methane and little to no oxygen
- most of Earth was covered with ocean
- continent formation began
• Proterozoic Eon
- lasted for 1.9 billion years
- longest period that lasted almost half the age of the
Earth
- atmosphere became oxygenated
- eukaryotic life began and diversified
(multicellularity)
- motion of continental drift
PALEOZOIC ERA
• Ancient Life
- succession of marine organisms (clams and fishes)
- appearance of amphibians – the first animal to succeed in
adapting itself to breathe air
- appearance of land plants
- succession of reptiles
- During the Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian periods, the
vast southern continent of Gondwana encompassed the five
continents: South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and
part of Asia
o Laurasia – continental mass that formed the
northern portion of Pangaea, consisting of present-
day North America and Eurasia
o Pangaea – “all land”; all continents have fused by
the end of the Paleozoic
o Panthalassa – “all sea”
• Life Explodes
- Some 400 million years ago, plants that had adapted to
survive at the water’s edge began to move inland, becoming
land plants.
- The amphibians rapidly diversified because they had
minimal competition from other land dwellers.
• The Great Dying
- The world’s climate became very seasonal plus a series of
volcanic eruptions, probably caused the dramatic extinction
of many species.
- The late Paleozoic extinction (Permian Period) was the
greatest of at least five mass extinctions to occur over the
past 500 million years
MESOZOIC ERA:
- age of reptiles
- formation of several continents
- age of the dinosaurs (believed to be descendants of primitive
reptiles; current theory suggests that they were ancestors of birds)
- existence of reptiles (first true terrestrial vertebrates) flourished
- breakup of Pangaea – major event
• Dinosaurs – land-dwelling reptiles that thrived during the
Mesozoic Era
• Gymnosperms – seed bearing plants that do not depend on
free standing water for fertilization; enabled them to be
dominant plants
CENOZOIC ERA:
- age of mammals
- mountains were uplifted and volcanic activity was widespread
- succession of warm-blooded animals (kangaroo) and primitive
mammals
- development of the modern horse, modern birds and deciduous
trees
- marks the existence of man
- Two Periods of Very Unequal Duration:
• Tertiary Period
• Quaternary Period
- Plate interactions caused many events of mountain building,
volcanism and earthquakes in the west.
• Mammals
- animals that bear live young and maintain steady
body temperature
- replaced reptiles as the dominant land animals in
the Cenozoic Era
• Angiosperms
- flowering plant with covered sees
- replaced gymnosperms as the dominant land plant
 - Adaptations like warm blooded, developing insulating body hair and TIMELINE OF THE BIG BANG THEORY:
having more efficient heart and lungs allow mammals to lead more
1. Singularity Era
active lives than reptiles.
- 0 to approximately 10-43s
______________________________________________________________ - also known as Planck Era
- earliest known period of the universe
- All matter was condensed on a single point of infinite
BIBLICAL CREATION density and extreme heat
2. Inflation Era
1. On the first day, God separated the light from darkness. - 10-36 to 10-32s
2. On the second day, God made a dome and separated water under it - The universe expanded from the size of an atomic nucleus
from the water above it. to 1035 meters in width.
3. On the third day, God made earth. He named the water sea. He 3. Formation of the Universe
then made fruits to grow on Earth. - 10-6s
4. On the fourth day, God made lights to shine throughout the day. - The universe was made up of fundamental particles: quarks,
5. On the fifth day, God filed the air and sea with creatures. electrons, protons, and neutrons.
6. On the sixth day, God placed animals of many kinds on the land of 4. Formation of the Basic Elements
the Earth. - 3s
7. Then God looked over all he had made, and He saw that it was very - Protons and neutrons combined to form hydrogen nuclei.
good. - Pairs of hydrogen nuclei from helium nuclei, the process is
called nucleosynthesis.
5. Radiation Era
THE BIG BANG THEORY (1920) – ALEXANDER FRIEDMAN & GEORGES - 10,000 years
LAMAITRE - Energy was in the form of radiation (wavelengths)
- All the matter and energy in the universe are crammed into a tiny - Cosmic microwave background radiation.
compact called singularity. then suddenly, from this singularity, 6. Matter Domination
expansion or explosion took place sending space, time, matter, and - Matter began to dominate.
energy in all directions. - Electrons joined with hydrogen and helium nuclei to make
small neutral atoms.
7. Birth of Stars and Galaxies
- 300 million years
- Slightly irregular areas of gas cloud gravitationally attracted
nearby matter and become denser.
- Gained enough mass to ignite and produce light.
FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS: - The Hooker 100-inch telescope atop Mt. Wilson near Pasadena, CA.
It was the largest telescope in the world from 1917-1947.
• Strong Nuclear Forces
- force that binds nucleus
• Electromagnetic Force
DEEP HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE
- can be attractive of repulsive
• Weak Nuclear Force - A deep image of an “empty” portion of the sky with the Hubble
- short ranged forced present in radioactive decay Space Telescope reveals that the universe is filled with galaxies –
• Gravitational Force many just like our own. The light we see from the most distant
- attractive force that binds the solar system galaxies has traveled approximately 10 billion years to reach us.

SUPPORTING EVIDENCE FOR BING BANG: HUBBLE’S LAW: ANALOGY FOR AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE:

• Galaxies Moving Away (Edwin Hubble, 1924) - As the dough rises, raisins (galaxies) originally farthest apart travel
- The distance between galaxies is increasing with time. greater distances than those located close together. Thus, in an
• Presence of Cosmic Microwave Background CMB (Arno Penzias & expanding universe (as with the raisins) more space is created
Robert Wilson, 1960) between two objects that are farther apart than between to objects
- CMB is speculated to be he remnant energy left over from that are close together.
the formation of the universe.
• Abundance of Light Elements
- Massive amounts of He and H, with trace amounts of Li and
Be.

HUBBLE’S LAW (EDWIN HUBBLE)

- states that the galaxies are retreating from the milky way at a speed
that is proportional to their distance
- The universe is expanding.
RED SHIFT (DOPPLER SHIFT)

EDWIN HUBBLE AT MT. WILSON:
- Hubble’s observations at the 100-inch during the 1920’s led him to
the conclusion that the universe is expanding, and that an object’s
recession velocity is proportional to its distance from the observer.
- Red Shift, or a Doppler Shift toward the red end of the spectrum,
occurs because the light waves are “stretched,” which shows that
earth and the source are moving away from each other.
- As a car moves, sound waves in front of it get squished up while
those behind get spread out. This changes the perceived frequency
and we hear the pitch change as the car goes by.
 - Just like sounds from a moving car, as a star moves away from us,
the light becomes redder. As it moves towards us, the light becomes
bluer.
STEADY STATE THEORY (BONDI, GOLD, HOYLE, 1948)
- The universe doesn’t change in its appearance and is homogeneous.
When an old star dies, new star replaces it. So, everything remains
the same. The universe has neither any beginning nor any end.
Universe was and will always be the same through the whole time.
______________________________________________________________
INFLATION THEORY (EXTENSION OF THE BIG BANG THEORY)
- offers solution to unresolved problems of the big bang theory:
• Flatness
- Big Bang states there should be curvature.
- Things will appear flat even though it is curved.
• Monopole
- Big Bang predicts production of magnetic poles.
- Monopoles dropped exponentially to undetectable
level during rapid expansion.
• Horizon
- Big Bang states that space in opposite direction are
so far apart they could never have contact with
each other.
- Exponential expansion in early universe
presupposes that the distant regions were much
closer to each other prior to inflation.
SOLAR SYSTEM
MESSAGES FROM EARTH
- The Voyager Golden Record contains 116 images plus a calibration
image and a variety of natural sounds, such as those made by surf,
wind, and thunder, and animal sounds including the song of birds
and whales. The record, which is carried on both the Voyager 1 and
Voyager 2 spacecrafts, additionally, features musical selections from
different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in 59 languages, other
human sounds, like footsteps and laughter (Carl Sagan’s), and
printed messages from President Jimmy Carter and U.N. Secretary-
General Kurt Waldheim. The items were selected for NASA by a
committee chaired by Carl Sagan of Cornell University.
SLINGSHOT, GRAVITY ASSIST MANEUVER OR SWING-BY
- The use of relative movement (e.g. orbit around the Sun) and
gravity of a planet or other astronomical object to alter the path and
speed of a spacecraft, typically to save propellant and reduce
expense.
OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE
- contains a very large number of superclusters of clusters of galaxies
and other matter that can be observed from Earth’s vantage point
at the present time
- our current view of the Observable Universe extends more than ten
billion light years in all directions
- estimated diameter is about 28.5 gigaparsecs (93 billion light-years,
8.8 x 1026 metres or 5.5 x 1023 miles)
- many astronomers believe that all the planets, stars, galaxies and
clusters in our observable universe, is but one tiny bubble in an
infinite ocean of other universes.
- we could be living in a “multiverse”
VIRGO SUPERCLUSTER (LOCAL SUPER CLUSTER)
- contains thousands of clusters of galaxies, including the Local group
as one of its smaller members
- called the “Virgo” Supercluster because its cluster is one containing
thousands of individual galaxies which we see in the direction of the
constellation Virgo roughly a hundred million light years away
LOCAL GALACTIC GROUPS
- a cluster of galaxies which includes the Milky Way and about a
dozen other galaxies, most of which are rather smaller than the
Milky Way.
- represents a “clump” of galaxies, separated from each other by a
few hundred thousand to few million light years
ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM: EARLY THEORIES
• Early Astronomy
o Geocentric Model
- the moon, sun and the known planets – Mercury,
Venus, Mars, and Jupiter – orbit Earth
- Greeks’ model
o Heliocentric Model
- Earth and the other planets orbit the sun
• Descartes’ Vortex Theory
- Solar System was formed into bodies with nearly circular
orbits because of the whirlpool-like motion of the pre-solar
system
• Buffon’s Collision Theory
- Planets were formed by the collision of the sun with a giant
comet. The debris formed into planets that rotate in the
same direction as they revolve around the sun.
• Jean-Jeffrey’s Tidal theory
- James Jeans and Harold Jeffrey suggested that planets were
formed from the substances that was torn out of the sun. As
 a speeding massive star passed near the sun, it pulled off
material due to gravitational attraction. The torn-off
material condensed to form the planets.
• Kant-Laplace Nebular Theory
- The great cloud and duct nebula collapses because of
gravitational pull and contracts as it spins becoming a
pancake-shaped object with a bulge at the center. As the
collapse continues, the bulges became the sun and planets.
• Solar Nebular Theory
1. Collapse
- High temp gas ball collapse, then heat up, and then
become disk shape
2. Spinning
- Disk spins faster and faster and temp decreased
3. Flattening
- Disk become sphere due to rotation, because of fast
rotation, some of the fog escape
4. Condensation
- Some fog formed the core off the largest mass in
the middle, while small part formed around cooling
process
5. Accretion
- cores of smaller mass turns into planets, while most
remain in a high-temp flare
ORBITS OF THE PLANETS
• The Sun
- The sun’s energy comes from nuclear fusion (where
hydrogen is converted to helium) within its core. This
energy is released from the sun in the form of heat and
light.
- Sun produce light. Planets absorb / reflect light.
• Solar Winds
- The solar wind is primarily composed of roughly equal
numbers of protons and electrons, as well as a few heavier
ions.
- Particles flow out more slowly near the Sun’s equator,
where magnetic field lines loop back on themselves and
trap coronal material.
• Auroras
- Following a strong solar flare, Earth’s upper atmosphere
above the magnetic poles is set aglow for several night
o Aurora Borealis – northern lights
o Aurora Australis – southern lights
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
• The Interiors of the Planets
- The substances that make up the planets are divided into
three groups:
o Gases
o Rocks
o Ices
• The Atmosphere of the Planets
• Jovian Planets
- have very thick atmospheres of hydrogen, helium,
methane and ammonia
• Terrestrial Planets, including Earth
- have meager atmospheres at best
WHY PLANETS MOVE IN AN ELLIPTICAL MANNER
- The force of gravity, combined with the tendency of a planet to
remain in straight-line motion would result in a planet having an
elliptical orbit.
- The combination of Earth’s forward motion and its “falling” motion
that defines its orbit.
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANETS BY COMPOSITION:
• Terrestrial Planets
- Earth-like planets or inner planets
- composed mostly of dense, rocky and metallic materials
- formed within the frost line where rocks and metals
condense, and hydrogen compounds remain as gas
• Earth: The Home Planet
- Only world in our solar system with liquid
water on the surface
- Just slightly larger than nearby Venus, Earth
is the biggest of the four planets closest to
the Sun.
- Surface Features: 70% is covered with
water. The remaining 30% is made up of the
seven continental landmasses.
• Jovian Planets
- Jupiter-like planets or gas planets
- composed mostly of H and He
- formed outside the frost line where light elements
condense into ice
WHAT HAPPENED TO PLUTO?
- Today, Pluto is called a “dwarf planet.” A dwarf planet orbits the sun
just like other planets, but smaller. A dwarf planet is so small it
cannot clear other objects out of its path.
- In 2003, an astronomer saw a new project beyond Pluto. The
astronomer thought he had found a new planet. The object he saw
was larger than Pluto. He named the project Eris (EER-is).
- Finding Eris caused other astronomers to talk about what makes a
planet a “planet.” There is a group of astronomers that names
objects in space. This group decided that Pluto was not really a
planet because of its size and location in space. So, Pluto and
objects like it are now called dwarf planets.
DWARF PLANET
- celestial body that has the following characteristics:
• is in orbit around the sun
• has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid
body forces
• has not cleared the neighborhood around it
• is not a satellite
PLANETS’ INTERNAL STRUCTURES
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM:
• Asteroids
- small, rocky objects that orbit the sun
- much smaller than planets
• Comets
- cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit
the Sun
• Shooting Stars
- a streak of light in the sky
ASTEROIDS: LEFTOVER PLANETISSIMAL COMETS: DIRTY SNOWBALLS

- “star-like” - loose collections of rocky material, dust, water ice and frozen gases
- small bodies (planetissimals) remaining from the formation of the (ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide)
solar system - leftover material from the formation of the solar system
- leftover debris - surfaces are dry and dusty
- 4.6 billion years old • Short-period Comets
- 2,000 Earth-crossing asteroids - orbital periods of less than 200 years
• Guiseppe Piazzi of Italy o Halley’s Comet – 76 years
- discovered the very first asteroid (Ceres) in 1801 o Encke’s Comet – 3 years
• NEAR – Shoemaker • Long-period Comets
- Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker - take hundreds of thousands of years to complete a
- renamed after Eugene Shoemaker single orbit around the Sun
- Monitors near-Earth asteroids • Kuiper Belt
- landed successfully on Eros - Gerald Kuiper
- hosts short-period comets
• Oort Cloud
METEOROIDS: VISITORS OF THE EARTH - Jan Oort
- cosmographical boundary of the solar system
- interplanetary debris left from the formation of the solar system
- source of long-period comets
- material that is continually being ejected from the asteroid belt
• Meteoroids
- objects floating around in outer space, asteroid or
comet origin
• Meteors
- space object burning up in the atmosphere
(shooting stars)
• Meteorites
- space object that made impact with the surface of
another place
- remains of meteoroids, when found on Earth
• Meteor Showers
- swarm of meteoroids traveling in the same
direction at nearly the same speed as Earth