Physical Geology

Introduction
Geowetenschappen 2022-2023

fydji.sastrohardjo@uvs.edu

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Welkom bij het vak Fysische Geologie!
Naam cursus Fysische Geologie
Vak Code DP101
Opleiding Geowetenschappen
Aantal studenten 55
Semester en studiefase Semester 1, B1-fase
Docent + contactgegevens Fydji Sastrohardjo
fydji.sastrohardjo@uvs.edu
Spreekuur docent Woensdag 12:00 – 13:00,
Of op afspraak
Aantal studiepunten 2
Datum tentamen en Nog te bepalen
hertentamen
College periode: 4-Nov-2022 t/m 17-Mar-2023

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Vakomschrijving
• Fysische Geologie gaat over de studie van de aarde, de exogene
(externe) en endogene (interne) processen die de uiteindelijke
opbouw en uiterlijk vorm van de aarde hebben bepaald, en de
studie van aardmaterialen (mineralen en gesteenten). Deze
cursus biedt een inleiding tot de geologie als wetenschap en geeft
een overzicht van de basisprincipes van de mineralogie,
petrologie, plaattectoniek, vulkanisme, gebergtevorming, energie
en minerale hulpbronnen
• De curses bestaat uit hoorcolleges en werkcolleges. De
werkcolleges zijn bedoelt om studenten te trainen in het
toepassen van wetenschappelijk onderzoek op aarde en om
analytisch en probleemoplossend te denken. Studenten vergroten
de kennis van de fysieke wereld en ontwikkelen vaardigheden
zoals kritisch denken, schriftelijke communicatie, technisch
schrijven, teamwork en problem solving.
Het vak fysische geologie is een verplicht vak voor alle eerstejaars
studenten.
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Relatie Fysische Geologie met
eindtermen van de studierichting
• (1) basiskennis en inzicht in de ontwikkelingsgeschiedenis en
de natuurlijke processen van het systeem Aarde;
• (2) kennis van en beheerst technieken die gebruikt worden
bij het integraal beschrijven en interpreteren van de
geologie;
• (9) inzicht om met de verkregen kennis, vanuit een
geowetenschappelijk perspectief een gedefinieerd
probleem op te lossen;
• (13) vaardigheden om zowel zelfstandig als in
groepsverband werken binnen het vakgebied en verwante
disciplines;
• (14) vaardigheden om wetenschappelijk onderzoek zowel
mondeling als schriftelijk te rapporteren aan vakgenoten en
een algemeen publiek;

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 Onderwijsvorm
• De onderwijsvorm voor het vak Fysische Geologie
bestaat uit docentgestuurde hoorcolleges

• Vrijdag 10:00 – 12:00

• Bespreken onderwerpen
• Q&A
• Werkopdrachten: kunnen bestaan uit denkvragen die de
student klassikaal/plenair zal bediscussieren,
groepsopdrachten en huiswerkopdrachten.

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Vereiste voorkennis
Fysische Geologie is een inleidende cursus zonder
vereiste voorkennis, maar er wordt verwacht dat
studenten de basiskennis zullen bezitten die van een
afgestudeerde van de middelbare school wordt
verwacht, inclusief bekwaam Engels, elementaire
algebra en scheikunde en algemene kennis van de
wereldgeografie en aardrijkskunde.

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Datum Onderwerp
4-Nov-22 Introducing Geology
11-Nov-22 Plate Tectonics
18-Nov-22 Atoms, Elements and Minerals
25-Nov-22 Independence Day
2-Dec-22 Igneous (Intrusive) rocks, Volcanic (Extrusive) rocks
9-Dec-22 Weathering and Soil, Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks
16-Dec-22 Moodle quiz
Christmas Break
6-Jan-22 Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks
13-Jan-22 Time and Geology
20-Jan-22 Earth History
27-Jan-22 Crustal Deformation and Earthquakes
3-Feb-22 Earth’s Interior and Geophysical properties
10-Feb-22 Mountain Belts and the Continental Crust
17-Feb-22 Global Climate Change
24-Feb-22 Energy and Mineral Resources
3-Mar-22 3-Day Fieldtrip

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Wat wordt er verwacht van jou
• Maak gebruik van Moodle en uvs-mail
• Creatief denken
• Participeren / stel vragen
• Optijd komen afmelden als het niet lukt
• Respecteer elkaars mening, geef de ander de
ruimte om te praten

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Geology as a career

geolsoc.org.uk 9
 Geology and Other Sciences
Physics Chemistry Biology
•Geophysics •Mineralogy •Paleontology
•Seismology •Petrology
•Geochemistry

Astronomy Geology •Historical Geology

•Planetary Geology •Economic Geology •Geomorphology
•Helioseismology •Hydrology •Oceanography
•Engineering •Structural Geology
Geology
•Volcanology
 Let’s begin!
• Geology: What? Why? How?
• Practical aspects
• Geologic concepts:
• Earth’s heat engines
• Earth’s Interior
• Theory of Plate Tectonics
• Geologic Time

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 Understanding Science
What is Science?
It’s more than just a body of knowledge. It provides a means
to evaluate and create new knowledge without bias

Objective vs Subjective
evidence

Quantitative vs Qualitative
measurements

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 Understanding Science
What is Science?
Establishing truth in science is difficult because all scientific
claims are falsifiable, which means any initial hypothesis
may be tested proven or false

Only after exhaustively eliminating false results, competing

ideas, and possible variations does a hypothesis become
regarded as a reliable scientific theory.

Proving current ideas are wrong has been the driving

force behind many scientific careers

Falsifiability not to be mistaken with pseudoscience! 13

 Understanding Science
What is Science?
Science is also a social process

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Which of the following is an objective statement?

1. Everyone should take a geology class.

2. I observed that it rained yesterday

3. Geology is an important science

4. My father is a good man

5. The blue cupcakes taste better

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Why is science normally a slow process?

1. Because their work is intense, scientists require

lengthy vacations

2. Scientific meetigs are usually drawn out arguments

3. Arguing with pseudoscientists consumes scientists

4. The process of weeding out misinformation and

verifying results takes time

5. All experiments take a long time to complete

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What distinguishes science from pseudoscience?

1. Concepts must be falsifiable to be considered science

2. Pseudoscience uses experimentation to objectively reach

conclusions

3. Science deals with the mainstream ideas, pseudoscience

does not

4. Measurements can prove a concept to be correct and

scientific

5. In science, we just know that things are the way they are

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Understanding Science

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 Understanding Science
Foundations of Modern Geology

Nicolaus Steno (1638-1686): Earth’s

surface could change overtime. He
suggested sedimentary rocks, such as
sandstone and shale, originally formed
horizontal layers with the oldest on the
bottom and progressively younger layers
on top

Illustration by Steno showing a

comparison between fossil and
modern shark teeth.

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 Understanding Science
Foundations of Modern Geology
James Hutton (1726-1797): hypothesized the ancient rocks
must have been formed by processes like those producing
the features in the oceans and streams. Hutton also
proposed the Earth was much older than previously
thought. Modern geologic processes operate slowly. Hutton
realized if these processes formed rocks, then the Earth
must be very old, possibly hundreds of millions of years old.

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 Understanding Science
Foundations of Modern Geology

The principle of uniformitarianism: natural processes

operate the same now as in the past, i.e. the laws of nature
are uniform across space and time.

“the present is the key to the past”

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 Understanding Science
Uniformitarianism vs Catastrophism

Catastrophism: rocks and landforms were formed by great

catastrophic events. Processes that operate today did not
operate in the past

Uniformitarianism hypothesis or scientific theory?

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Geology in Today’s World

• Geology - The scientific study of the Earth

• Physical Geology is the study of Earth’s materials, changes
of the surface and interior of the Earth, and the forces
that cause those changes

• Practical Aspects of Geology

• Natural resources
• Geological hazards
• Environmental protection
 Practical Aspects of Geology
• Natural Resources
– All manufactured objects
depend on Earth’s resources
– Localized concentrations of
useful geological resources
are mined or extracted
– If it can’t be grown, it must
be mined
– Most resources are limited in
quantity and non-renewable
 Geologic Hazards

• Earthquakes
– Shaking can damage buildings and
break utility lines; large undersea
quakes may generate tsunamis
• Volcanoes
– Ash flows and mudflows can
overwhelm populated areas

• Landslides, floods, and wave

erosion
 Resource Extraction and
Environmental Protection
• Coal Mining
– Careless mining can release acids
into groundwater

• Petroleum Resources
– Removal, transportation and waste
disposal can damage the
environment Alaska pipeline

• Dwindling resources can encourage disregard for

ecological damage caused by extraction activities
 Earth Systems
To understand Geology
we must understand the
interaction between the
• Atmosphere solid earth and other
– Gasses that envelope the Earth systems
• Hydrosphere
– Water on or near Earth’s Surface
• Biosphere
˗ All living or once living material on Earth
• Geosphere
˗ Rock and other inorganic Earth material
 Physical Geology Concepts

• Earth’s Heat Engines

– External (energy from the Sun)
• Primary driver of atmospheric (weather) and
hydrospheric (ocean currents) circulation
• Controls weathering of rocks at Earth’s surface

– Internal (heat moving from hot interior to

cooler exterior)
• Primary driver of most geospheric phenomena
(volcanism, magmatism, tectonism)
 Earth’s Interior
• Compositional Layers
– Crust (~3-70 km thick)
• Very thin outer rocky shell of Earth
– Continental crust - thicker and less dense
– Oceanic crust - thinner and more dense
– Mantle (~2900 km thick)
• Hot solid that flows slowly over time;
Fe-, Mg-, Si-rich minerals
– Core (~3400 km radius)
• Outer core - metallic liquid; mostly iron
• Inner core - metallic solid; mostly iron
 Earth’s Interior
• Mechanical Layers
– Lithosphere (~100 km thick)
• Rigid/brittle outer shell of Earth
• Composed of both crust and
uppermost mantle
• Makes up Earth’s tectonic “plates”
– Asthenosphere
• Plastic (capable of flow) zone on
which the lithosphere “floats”
 Theory of Plate Tectonics
• Continental Drift Hypothesis
– Originally proposed in early 20th century to
explain the “fit of continents”, matching rock
types and fossils across ocean basins, etc.
– Insufficient evidence found for driving
mechanism; hypothesis initially rejected
• Plate Tectonics Theory
– Originally proposed in the late 1960s
– Included new understanding of the seafloor
and explanation of driving force
– Describes lithosphere as being broken into
plates that are in motion
– Explains origin and distribution of volcanoes,
fault zones and mountain belts
 Tectonic Plate Boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
– Plates move apart
– Magma rises, cools and forms new lithosphere
– Typically expressed as mid-oceanic ridges
• Transform boundaries
– Plates slide past one another
– Fault zones, earthquakes mark boundary
– San Andreas fault in California
• Convergent boundaries
– Plates move toward each other
– Mountain belts and volcanoes common
– Oceanic plates may sink into mantle along a subduction
zone, typically marked by a deep ocean trench
 Tectonic Plate Boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
– Plates move apart
– Magma rises, cools and forms new lithosphere
– Typically expressed as mid-oceanic ridges
• Transform boundaries
– Plates slide past one another
– Fault zones, earthquakes mark boundary
– San Andreas fault in California
• Convergent boundaries
– Plates move toward each other
– Mountain belts and volcanoes common
– Oceanic plates may sink into mantle along a subduction
zone, typically marked by a deep ocean trench
 Tectonic Plate Boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
– Plates move apart
– Magma rises, cools and forms new lithosphere
– Typically expressed as mid-oceanic ridges
• Transform boundaries
– Plates slide past one another
– Fault zones, earthquakes mark boundary
– San Andreas fault in California
• Convergent boundaries
– Plates move toward each other
– Mountain belts and volcanoes common
– Oceanic plates may sink into mantle along a subduction
zone, typically marked by a deep ocean trench
 Geologic Time
• “Deep” Time
– Most geologic processes occur gradually
over millions of years
– Changes typically imperceptible over the
span of a human lifetime
– Current best estimate for age of Earth is
~4.56 billion years
• Geologic Time and the History of Life
– Complex life forms first became abundant about
544 million years ago
– Reptiles became abundant ~230 million years ago
– Dinosaurs became extinct (along with many other
organisms) ~65 million years ago
– Humans have been around for a few million years
• “Nothing hurries geology”
Mark Twain
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Geologic time

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1 Second = 1 Year
• 35 minutes to birth of Christ
• 1 hour+ to pyramids
• 3 hours to retreat of glaciers from Wisconsin
• 12 days = 1 million years
• 2 years to extinction of dinosaurs
• 14 years to age of Niagara Escarpment
• 31 years = 1 billion years
Some Unique Aspects of Geology
Importance of Relationships
• Sequential
• Spatial
Importance of Time
Distinctive Problems of Evidence
• Slow Rates
• Rare Events
• Destruction of Evidence
• Inaccessibility
How to start thinking like a Geologist
• Focus on questions
• Conduct investigations and use your senses and
tools to make observations
• Record data
• Engage in critical thinking
• Engage in discourse
• Communicate inferences

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Some questions to think about
• What is the most likely geologic hazard in
Suriname?
• What are the relationships among the mantle, the
crust, the asthenosphere, and the lithosphere?

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