ST01502

EARTH SCIENCE
(SAINS BUMI)

THE EARTH
 *ZI – DR ZULHERRY ISNAIN
*MAY : MR MOHAMED ALI YUSOF MOHD HUSIN

Lecture Syllabus Lecturer

1 The Earth ZI
2 Plate Tectonics ZI
3 Minerals and Rocks ZI
4 Igneous Rocks ZI
5 Volcanism ZI
6 Metamorphic Rocks ZI
7 Mid Term ZI
7 Sedimentary Rocks, Weathering and Erosion MAY
9 Earthquakes and Seismology MAY
10 Faults and Folds MAY
11 Relative and Absolute Dating MAY
12 Surface Water MAY
13 Groundwater MAY
14 Case study MAY
http://arboleda2016.blogspot.com/2010/09/social-studies-global-grid.html
• The earth mass: 5.976 X 1024 kg.
• Earth's average distance from the Sun is 1.496 X 1011m,
a distance known as the astronomical unit.
• The Earth is the third planet from the sun, certainly the most
familiar planet, the average density is 5.52 g/cc.
• Solar day is 24 hours or 86,400 sec.
• The sidereal day, which is the Earth's rotational period relative
to the "fixed" stars, is 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds
(or 86164.10 seconds)
• Earth's atmosphere is divided into five layers: exosphere (500
km and up), thermosphere (80-500 km; which includes the
ionosphere), mesosphere (50-80 km), stratosphere (10-50 km)
and troposphere (0-10 km).
The atmosphere is composed of the following gases:
Nitrogen, Oksigen, Argon, Water, Carbon dioxide, Neon, Ozone,
Helium, Methane, Crypton, Helium, Hydrogen, Nitrogen dioxide,
Carbon monoxide.
 Chemical composition of the Earth

• The overall composition of the Earth is dominated by the

elements iron (Fe), oxygen (O), silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg),
nickel (Ni) and sulfur (S).

• This is because most of the mass of the Earth occurs within the
mantle which is composed largely of the ferromagnesium silicate
minerals olivine and pyroxenes.

• The overall composition of the Earth is very similar to that of

meteorites, and because of this, it is thought that the Earth
originally formed from Planetesimals composed largely of
metallic iron and silicates.
Bulk composition of the Earth

Element Symbol Percent

Iron Fe 34.6
Oxygen O2 29.5
Silica Si 15.2
Magnesium Mg 12.7
Nickel Ni 2.4
Sulfur S 9.0
Titanium Ti 0.05

• the solid earth composed principally of rock at and below the Earth surface.
• Consists of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
– Igneous - formed by cooling of magma
– Sedimentary - formed by consolidation of loose sediment or by chemical
precipitation from water
– Metamorphic - igneous or sedimentary rocks that have been subjected to
high temperature and/or pressure
The Earth's Internal Structure
• Evidence from seismology tells us that the Earth
has a layered structure.
• Seismic waves generated by earthquakes travel
through the Earth with velocities that depend on the
type of wave and the physical properties of the
material through which the waves travel.

Types of Seismic Waves

– Body Waves - travel in all directions through the body
of the Earth. There are two types of body waves, P-
waves and S- waves
– Surface Waves - Surface waves differ from body waves
in that they do not travel through the Earth, but instead
travel along paths nearly parallel to the surface of the
Earth.
Body Waves

P - waves - are Primary waves. They travel with a velocity that

depends on the elastic properties of the rock through which they
travel.
Vp =  [(K + 4/3µ )/ρ]
• Where, Vp is the velocity of the P-wave, K is the incompressibility of
the material, µ is the rigidity of the material, and ρ is the density of the
material.
• P-waves are the same thing as sound waves.
• They move through the material by compressing it, but after it has been
compressed it expands, so that the wave moves by compressing
and expanding the material as it travels.
• Thus the velocity of the P-wave depends on how easily the material
can be compressed (the incompressibility), how rigid the material
is (the rigidity), and the density of the material.
• P-waves have the highest velocity of all seismic waves and thus will
reach all seismographs first.
Body Waves

S-Waves - Secondary waves, also called shear waves. They

travel with a velocity that depends only on the rigidity and density
of the material through which they travel:
Vs =  [( µ )/ρ ]
• Where, Vs is the velocity of the S-wave, µ is the rigidity of the
material, and ρ is the density of the material.
• S-waves travel through material by shearing it or changing its
shape in the direction perpendicular to the direction of travel.
• The resistance to shearing of a material is the property
called the rigidity.
• It is notable that liquids have no rigidity, so that the
velocity of an S-wave is zero in a liquid.
• S-waves travel slower than P-waves, so they will reach a
seismograph after the P-wave.
Surface Waves –

▪ Surface waves differ from body waves in that they do not travel
through the Earth, but instead travel along paths nearly
parallel to the surface of the Earth.
▪ Surface waves behave like S-waves in that they cause up and
down and side to side movement as they pass, but they travel
slower than S-waves and do not travel through the body of the
Earth.
▪ Thus they can give us information about the properties of rocks
near the surface, but not about the properties of the Earth deep
in the interior.
▪ Once we know the seismic wave velocities throughout the Earth,
then we can perform experiments on different possible materials
and make estimates of what the chemical composition. Thus,
we can also divide the Earth into layers of differing chemical
composition
This table of depths, densities, and composition is derived mostly from information in a textbook by
Don L. Anderson (see Suggested Reading). Scientists are continuing to refine the chemical and
mineral composition of the Earth's interior by laboratory experiments, by using pressures 2 million
times the pressure of the atmosphere at the surface and temperatures as high as 20000 C.
 The Crust
• The crust makes up only 0.5 % of the Earth's total mass
• Can be subdivided into two main parts, continental and oceanic.
• Both differ in thickness, density and composition.
• The oceanic crust covers approximately 61 % of the Earth's
surface, but only comprises some 30 % of the crustal mass,
• The continental crust is much thicker, up to 70 km.
• Because the crust is accessible to us, its geology has been
extensively studied, and therefore much more information is
known about its structure and composition compare to the mantle
and core.
• Within the crust, intricate patterns are created when rocks are
redistributed and deposited in layers through the geologic
processes of eruption and intrusion of lava, erosion, and
consolidation of rock particles, and solidification and
recrystallization of porous rock.
 The Mantle
• As seismic velocity change through the mantle, we can subdivide it into an
upper mantle, transition zone, and lower mantle.
• There is also a zone in the upper mantle that we call the low velocity
zone (located at depths of 70 km to 250 km) where S-wave speeds
decrease rapidly to a minimum and then gradually increase again.
• We believe that most magmas (molten rock) are generated in this zone.
– Upper mantle (measured from the base of the crust down to 400 km).
10 % of the Earth's total mass.
• Density of 3.25 gm/cm3 to 3.40 gm/cm3
• Composition:
– Peridotite (e.g. olivine + pyroxene) along with plagioclase (< 30
km depth),
– spinel (30 km - 70 km depth) and garnet (> 70 km depth).
• In tectonically active regions, eclogite (amphibole + garnet) is a
major component.
• Although it is thought that almost all basalts are derived from the
upper mantle, experiments have shown that their compositions
cannot be formed by the partial melting of peridotite alone.
• The upper mantle therefore is probably composed of two main
zones: an upper peridotite zone and an underlying primitive
mantle or pyrolite zone composed of pyroxene, olivine, and/or
garnet and/or plagioclase, where basaltic magmas are generated.
– Transition zone (400 km - 1000 km below the Earth's surface). 17 % of the
Earth's total mass.
• The top of the transition zone is marked by the phase transformation of
normal olivine to a proto-spinel structure polymorph of olivine which is a
higher pressure phase and is 9 % denser than normal olivine and by the
phase transformation of normal pyroxene to a garnet-structure polymorph of
pyroxene.
• Within the transition zone itself, there are a number of irregular seismic
velocity changes including a major one at 680 km which is marked by the
breakdown of olivine into its constituent oxide components of periclase
(MgO) and stishovite (SiO2).
• Also, garnet is broken-down to its component oxides from 680 km - 1000
km.
– Lower mantle (1000 km - 2900 km below the Earth's surface). 41 % of the
Earth's total mass.
• The lower mantle is a region of relatively low seismic velocity gradients.
• It most likely consists of mixed oxides of pyrolite composition but with an
increased iron content.
 Core
• The core was the first internal structural element to be identified by R.D. Oldham in
1906 from his study of earthquake records, and it helped to explain Newton's
calculation of the Earth's density.
• The outer core is presumed to be liquid because it does not transmit shear (S)
waves and because the velocity of compressional (P) waves that pass through it is
sharply reduced.
• The inner core is considered to be solid because of the behavior of P and S waves
passing through it.
• The earthquake waves paths curve because the different rock types found at
different depths change the speed at which the waves travel.
• Solid lines marked P are compressional waves; dashed lines marked S are shear
waves. S waves do not travel through the core but may be converted to
compressional waves (marked K) on entering the core (PKP, SKS).
• Waves may be reflected at the surface (PP, PPP, SS).
• The core is presumed to be composed principally of iron, with about 10 percent alloy
of oxygen or sulfur or nickel, or perhaps some combination of these three elements.
• Outer core (2900 km - 5000 km below the Earth's surface). 30 % of the Earth's total
mass.
• Inner core (5000 km - 6370 km below the Earth's surface). 2 % of the Earth's total
mass.