EARTH SCIENCE

STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH[1]

Crust
➔ the outside layer of the earth
➔ made of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite
➔ Two Types of Crust
1. Oceanic crust – denser and thinner; mainly composed of basalt
2. Continental crust – less dense and thicker; mainly composed of granite

Mohorovičić discontinuity[2]
➔ usually referred to as the Moho
➔ the boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle

Mantle
➔ lies below the crust
➔ up to 2900 km thick
➔ consists of hot, dense, iron and magnesium-rich solid rock
➔ The crust and the upper part of the mantle make up the lithosphere, which is broken
into plates, both large and small.

Gutenberg Discontinuity – the boundary between the mantle and the core.[3]

Core
➔ the centre of the earth
➔ Two Parts of the Core:
1. Liquid outer core – made of nickel, iron and molten rock
2. Solid inner core – Temperatures here can reach up to 50,000 Co.
Theory of Continental Drift[4]
• Proponent: Wegener – German meteorologist, geophysicist and polar researcher
 In 1915, he published ‘The Origin of Continents and Oceans’, which outlined his theory
of Continental Drift, which was met with skepticism by many scientists. Although he had
a lot of evidence to support the theory, he could not explain how the plates moved simply.
• Wegener’s 5 Lines of Evidence of the Continental Drift Theory:
1. Jigsaw Fit
 The similarity in outline of the coastlines of
eastern South America and West Africa had
been noted for some time. The best fit is
obtained if the coastlines are matched at a
depth of 1,000 metres below current sea level.
 Any areas where there are gaps or overlaps
may be explained by :
• Coastal erosion since continental
separation
• Coastal deposition since continental
separation
• Rises in sea level (eustatic change) since
continental separation
• Changes in land level (isostatic change)
since continental separation
2. Tectonic Fit
 Fragments of an old fold mountain
belt between 450 and 400 million
years ago are found on widely
separated continents today. Pieces
of the Caledonian fold mountain belt
are found in Greenland, Canada,
Ireland, England, Scotland and
Scandinavia. When these land
masses are re-assembled the
mountain belt forms a continuous
linear feature.
3. Geological Fit
 When the geology of eastern South America
and West Africa was mapped it revealed that
ancient rock outcrops (cratons) over 2,000 million
years old were continuous from one continent to
the other.
 4. Glacial Deposits
 Today, glacial deposits
formed during the Permo-
Carboniferous glaciation
(about 300 million years ago)
are found in Antarctica,
Africa, South America, India
and Australia. If the
continents haven’t moved,
then this would suggest an ice
sheet extended from the south
pole to the equator at this time
- which is unlikely as the UK at
this time was also close to the
equator and has extensive coal and limestone deposits. If the continents of the
southern hemisphere are re-assembled near the south pole, then the Permo-
Carboniferous ice sheet assumes a much more reasonable size.
 More evidence comes from glacial striations – scratches on the bedrock made by
blocks of rock embedded in the ice as the glacier moves. These show the direction of
the glacier, and suggest the ice flowed from a single central point.
5. Fossil Deposits
 Fossils of the same species are found on different continents suggesting continental
drift occurred.

• Evidence after Wegener’s Death

❖ Magnetic Polarity
 Scientists used magnetometers, devices capable of measuring the magnetic field
intensity, to look at the magnetic properties of rocks in many locations.
 They found out that rocks of different ages on the same continent point at different
poles but the rocks of the same age concur with each other. The rocks of the same age
worldwide point at different poles. This suggest that the continents moved.
SEAFLOOR SPREADING[5]
Sea-floor spreading is what happens at the mid-oceanic ridge where a divergent boundary is
causing two plates to move away from one another resulting in spreading of the sea floor. As the
plates move apart, new material wells up and cools onto the edge of the plates.

PLATE TECTONICS[6]
 • Plate tectonics is the theory that the outer rigid layer of the earth (the lithosphere) is
divided into a couple of dozen "plates" that move around across the earth's surface relative
to each other, like slabs of ice on a lake.
• The drawing above is a cross section of the earth showing the components that lie within
plate tectonic theory. The cross section should really be curved to correspond to the earth's
curvature, but it has been straightened out here.
 Note the continental craton (stable continent) in the middle of the drawing. Note the
line under the craton; that is the lower boundary of the plate. Everything above that line
is the plate. All similar lines in the cross section mark the bottom of the plates.
Technically, everything above that line is lithosphere, the rigid, brittle shell of the earth.
Everything below is asthenosphere, the hot, plastic interior of the earth.
 Within the asthenosphere are convection cells, slowly turning over hot, plastic rock.
The convection cells bring heat from the earth's interior out to the surface, but slowly.
Movement is about 10 centimeters a year. When the convection cells reach the base of
the lithosphere they release heat to the surface at the divergent plate boundary to
escape to space. The cooled plastic rock then turns sideways and moves parallel to
the earth's surface before descending back into the earth at subduction zones to
become reheated. It is this turning over of the convection cells the drives the plate
movements.

PLATES
➔ combinations of two units, continents and ocean basins
➔ may be an ocean basin alone, or a continent alone, or a combination of ocean basin +
continent (common).

PLATE BOUNDARIES
➔ those zones where the plates contact and interact
➔ Three Kinds of Plate Boundaries:
1. Convergent Boundary
Types :
➢ Oceanic-Continental
- oceanic plates sink under continental plates
- subduction zone, volcanic arcs
- Example: Juan de Fuca Plate and North American Plate
➢ Oceanic-Oceanic
- older plates are colder and have tendency to sink
- subduction zone, island arcs
- Example: Philippine Sea Plate and Eurasian Plate
➢ Continental-Continental
- mountain belts
- Example: Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate
2. Divergent Boundary
➢ Mid-Oceanic Ridges
- Example: Mid-Atlantic Ridge
 ➢ Rift Valleys
- Example: East African Rift
3. Transform Boundary
- places where plates slide past each other
- conservative boundary
Driving Mechanisms
• Convection current
• Slab Pull and Ridge Push
Hotspots - relatively small, long-lasting, and exceptionally hot regions
-Thermal plumes sustain volcanism
- Example: Hawaiian Island-Emperor Seamount Chain

PLATE COLLISIONS
The essence of plate tectonic theory is that the plates (ocean basins plus or minus
continents) slide around over the earth surface, interacting as they do at the plate boundaries. Thus,
any time there is a divergent plate boundary where two plates are separating, there must be a
convergent plate boundary (subduction zone) where the earth comes together again. And
convergent boundaries always, eventually, lead to collisions between continents, or continents and
terranes (island arcs plus or minus microcontinents).
It is common for a divergent plate boundary to come into existence and create a new ocean
basin, and then for that ocean basin to close again along a convergent plate boundary until two
continents collide. This opening and closing of ocean basins is the Wilson Cycle, and is the
simplest model we have of how the earth operates historically.

Philippine Setting
“The Philippine Archipelago is at the junction of
major plates.”
Tectonic Features of the Philippines
➢ Philippine Mobile Belt
- a complex portion of the tectonic boundary
between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea
Plate, comprising most of the country of the
Philippines. It includes two subduction zones, the
Manila Trench to the west and the Philippine Trench
to the east, as well as the Philippine Fault System.

Image of the Philippine Fault Setting

MINERALS
Naturally Occurring
Inorganic
Homogenous Solid
Definite Chemical Composition
Ordered Internal Structure
✓ Naturally Occurring
- must be made from geologic processes
✓ Generally Inorganic
- coal and pearl are not minerals, but some minerals can be from biogenic of origin
(biogenic minerals)
✓ Homogenous Solid
- whole mineral is composed of the same substance that cannot be broken down into
simpler substances
- cannot be liquid or gas
✓ Definite Chemical Composition
- determinable and precise formula
- each unique chemical formula pertains to a unique mineral except for some
minerals
- can exist as
o Single Element – Au
o Simple Salts – NaCl
o Complex Compounds
Exceptions:
A. Polymorphism – ability of a chemical substance to crystallize in more than one
configuration
Examples:
Pyrite
FeS2
Marcasite
Calcite
CaCO3
Aragonite
B. Isomorphism – many minerals have identical structures but compositions
Example:
Halite (NaCl) and Galena (PbS)
- different physical property
- identical symmetry, cleavage, and habit
✓ Ordered Internal Structure
- atoms are arranged in an orderly structure with repeating structural unit
Quartz - crystalline
SiO2 (due to different rates of cooling)
Glass - amorphous
Mineraloid – complied all mineral characteristics except ordered structure

Physical Properties of Minerals

➢ Color – caused by absorption or reflection of various wavelength of light
- unreliable diagnostic property
o Idiochromatic – mineral color is observed as shades of one color
Examples: sulfur and hematite
o Allochromatic – mineral color may be varied
Examples: fluorite and quartz
• Influence of elements
▪ Copper – blue/green
▪ Iron – dark red/brown
▪ Manganese and Cobalt – pink
▪ Chromium – deep green
• Tarnished and Oxidized
▪ Silver – tarnishes to black, yellow, and brown
▪ Copper – green
• Opalescence – play of color
• Iridescence – lustrous rainbowlike play of color
▪ Bornite

➢ Luster – ability to reflect light

• Metallic
• Sub-metallic
• Non-metallic

➢ Streak – color of mineral in powdered form

- not always identical to color
- metallic-lustered minerals usually have dark-colored streak
- non-metallic usually have white streak

➢ Hardness – resistance of mineral to abrasion or scratching

Mohs’ Scale of Hardness (softest to hardest)

➢ Crystal Habit – shapes and aggregates that a certain mineral is likely to form
- a single mineral can have different habits
- some habits are distinct in certain minerals
➢ Cleavage – tendency of a mineral to break in particular directions due to zones of weakness
in the crystal structure.
- Fractures or irregular breakages occur when bond strengths in a crystal structure
is equal in all directions
o Conchoidal fractures – curved breakages

➢ Diaphaneity – describes how well light passes through a mineral

- Degree of transparency
• Transparent
• Translucent
• Opaque

➢ Specific Gravity
▪ Normal rock – 2.5 g/cm3

➢ Other Properties
• Magnetism
• Fluorescence
• Reaction to chemicals - e.g. effervescence
• Taste
• Odor - e.g. sulfur

Silicates
- largest group of minerals
- Silicon + Oxygen
- building block:
MINERAL Silica (Si-O) tetrahedron (SiO4 )-4

Silicate Group Silicon to Oxygen Ratio

Nesosilicate 1:4
Sorosilicate 2:7
Silicates Non-silicates Inosilicate 1:3; 4:11
Crystal Structure Composition Cyclosilicate 1:3
Phyllosilicate 2:5
Tectosilicate 1:2
Non-silicates
Non-silicate Metal + Characteristic
Anion
Carbonates CO32- Effervesces in
HCl
Sulfates SO42- Usually
composes non-
metallic
minerals
Sulfides S2- Usually has a
rotten egg smell
Oxides O2- Usually metallic
Hydroxides OH-
Halides Halogen (X-1) Strong
chemical bonds
Phosphate (PO43-)
Native Elements

VOLCANISM

Volcano – mountainous accumulation of materials resulting from successive eruptions of lava from
a central vent

Distribution of Volcanoes
• Pacific Ring of Fire
• Spreading Centers
• Hotspots

Types of Volcanoes
1. Shield – slopes are gentle (15° or less)
- shapes resemble a Roman shield lying on the ground
- made up of successive lava flows
- large
- basaltic type of lava

2. Cinder Cone – relatively small (<300 m high)

- steep slopes (30°- 40°)
- made up of pyroclastic material
- frequently occur in groups
- short duration of activity
e.g. Binintiang Malaki
 3. Composite/Stratovolcano – a.k.a. stratovolcano
- layered structure (tephra and lava flows)
- some of the most beautiful and well-formed volcanoes
- most violent type of activity

Why do volcanoes erupt?

1. Influx of magma
2. Melting of surrounding rock
3. Exsolution of gas – vesiculation or degassing
4. Contact with water – steam

Factors affecting the violence of an eruption

• Composition of magma
• Temperature of magma
• Dissolved gases in magma
• Viscosity

Special Types
➢ Domes – roughly circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of
viscous lava from a volcano
e.g. Mt. St. Helens
➢ Maars – volcanic crater that forms when magma gets in contact with groundwater to produce
a steam explosion
e.g. Seven Lakes of San Pablo Laguna
➢ Calderas – when an erupting volcano empties a shallow-level magma chamber, the edifice of
the volcano may collapse into the voided reservoir, thus forming a steep, bowl-shaped
depression called caldera.
e.g. Yellowstone, Taal Caldera

Eruption Styles
A. Effusive Eruption
1. Hawaiian – calm, curtain of fire, fluid basaltic lava, fire fountains
B. Explosive Eruption
2. Strombolian – short-lived, multiple times, fireworks-like
3. Pelean – pyroclastic materials in high volume
4. Phreatic – water without contact to magmatic material
- steam explosion
5. Phreatomagmatic – direct interaction of magma and water
- lava and steam
- usually in underwater volcanoes
6. Vulcanian – large plume height
- velocity of the materials is high pushing them upward
- booming blast
 7. Plinian – stronger than vulcanian
- Plume height exceeds 45 km

Philippine Volcanoes
- 23 active, 27 potentially active, and >400 inactive
- 7 active volcanoes are being monitored by PHIVOLCS

• Mayon Volcano – most active with 50 historical eruptions

➢ Active Volcanoes – have erupted in the last 10, 000 years
- Local seismic activity
➢ Inactive Volcanoes – no record of eruption and its form is beginning to change by agents of
weathering and erosion

➢ Potentially Active Volcanoes – geologically young (erupted <10, 000years and for calderas
and large systems, <25, 000 years)
- Young-looking geomorphology
- Suspected seismic activity
- Documented local ground deformation

➢ Decade Volcano – 16 volcanoes in the world which have been designated for particular study
- These volcanoes pose various hazards, are located near populated areas, and show
recent activity.
- Taal Volcano is a decade volcano.

Monitoring Volcanic Activity

➢ Increase in CO2 and SO2 concentrations
➢ Increase in the frequency of volcanic quakes
➢ Ground deformation

Volcanic Hazards
1. Lava Flow
Types of Lava
▪ Aa – stony rough lava
▪ Pahoehoe – smooth, billowy, undulating, or ropy surface
▪ Pillow – formed when lava emerges from underwater
- fluffy and pillowy
2. Pyroclastic Flow
3. Tephra Fall/Ash fall
- collapse of roofs
- crop damage
- eye irritant
- danger to aviation
- global cooling
4. Volcanic Gases – CO2 and SO2
 5. Lahar- burial and erosion
- rate of movement is fast
6. Tsunami – generated during volcanic eruption
- release of energy offshore causing displacement of water
7. Debris Avalanches/Landslides

EARTHQUAKE

Earthquake is a term used to describe both a sudden slip on a fault, and the resulting ground shaking
and radiated seismic energy caused by the slip, or by volcanic or magmatic activity, or other sudden
stress changes in the earth (7)

Types of Earthquake
➢ Tectonic Earthquake - produced by sudden movement along faults or plate boundaries
➢ Volcanic Earthquake - produced by movement of magma or magmatic fluids OR rock-
fracturing beneath volcanoes
➢ Volcanic-tectonic (VT) - type of volcanic earthquake associated with failure or breakage of
rock material along faults & fractures beneath active volcanoes.
- Normally triggered by excess heat & pressure OR adjustment of the crust around a
magmatic body.

Elastic Rebound Theory

A. Plate movements lead to stress on rocks
B. When rocks are subject to stress, they build up strain, and they start to deform.
C. When rocks can no longer deform elastically, they will start to “break”. This rupture creates
slippages along faults, and release the pent-up energy => this creates the ground shaking
D. After the slippage along the fault, strain is released and rocks go back to a state ‘A’, where it
is again subject to stress -> then strain build up -> and so on.
Describing an Earthquake
➢ Epicenter - the point on the earth's surface vertically above the hypocenter (or focus)
- Described by geographic coordinates (Latitude & Longitude)
➢ Focus - the point within the earth where an earthquake rupture starts
- Described by geographic location (epicenter) and focal depth / hypocenter (depth
in km)
➢ Magnitude – energy released by an earthquake at the focus.
- recorded by seismographs
➢ Intensity – strength of an earthquake perceived and felt by people in a certain locality.
- generally higher near the epicenter

Seismic Waves
➢ P-waves - “Primary waves” “Push-pull”
-> may be transmitted through gases, liquids, or
solids
➢ S-waves - “secondary waves” “shear waves”
-> cannot travel through fluids (gases and liquids)
➢ Surface (seismic) waves - travel across the Earth's
surface propagate more slowly than seismic body waves
(P and S)
▪ Love wave
▪ Rayleigh wave

Secondary Hazards of Ground Shaking

1. Damages and fatalities
2. Landslides and rockfalls
3. Volcanic eruptions
4. Soil liquefaction
5. Tsunami – series of big waves that are usually generated by earthquakes under the sea
ROCKS[7]

THE ROCK CYCLE

IGNEOUS ROCKS
o Magma – molten rock most often generated by melting of rocks in Earth’s mantle,
although some melted crustal rock generates some magma. Once formed a magma
body rises toward the surface.
o Lava – magma that reached the surface
• From Magma to Crystalline Rock
o Crystallization – the process in which the once-mobile ions in the magma begin to
arrange themselves into orderly patterns as the magma cools down.
o The rate of cooling strongly influences the crystal size. Slow cooling results in the
formation of fewer, larger crystals, while rapid cooling results in the formation of a
solid mass of small, intergrown crystals.
o Crystallization is also influenced by the magma’s composition and the amount of
dissolved gases.
• Igneous Compositions

o Silicon and oxygen are the most abundant constituents of igneous rocks.
o Dark silicates – rich in iron and/or magnesium and relatively low in silica (SiO2)
o Light silicates – contain greater amounts of potassium, sodium, and calcium and
richer in SiO2
Classification Composition Notes
Granitic (felsic) - Composed of entirely light- - Major
colored silicates (quartz and constituents of
potassium feldspar) the continental
- Contains about 10% of dark crust
silicates (usually biotite mica
and amphibole)
Basaltic (mafic) - Contain at least 45% of dark - Make up the
silicate materials and ocean floor
calcium-rich plagioclase and many of
feldspar the volcanic
- No quartz islands located
 - Typically darker and denser within the
than granitic rocks ocean basins
Andesitic - Contain at least 25% dark - Associated
(intermediate) silicate minerals (mainly with volcanic
amphibole, pyroxene, and activity that is
biotite) and plagioclase typically
feldspar confined to the
seaward
margins of the
continents and
on volcanic
island arcs
Ultramafic - Contains mostly olivine and - Rare at the
(ex.: peridotite) pyroxene Earth’s surface

• Igneous Textures

Texture Crystallization Process Notes

Fine-grained Relatively rapid Characterized as being light,
intermediate, or dark in color
Coarse-grained Slow
Porphyritic Since different minerals crystallize Phenocrysts – larger crystals
under different conditions, one Groundmass – matrix of smaller
mineral may become large before crystals
the others form. If a molten rock
containing some large crystals
 move to a different environment,
the remaining liquid portion may
cool more quickly.
Vesicular Forms in the upper version of lava
flow, where cooling occurs rapidly
enough to preserve the openings
produced by expanding gas
bubbles
Glassy Rapid, almost instantly
Pyroclastic - -
(fragmental)

• Common Igneous Rocks

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
• Process of Sedimentation
1. Sediments brought by weathering and erosional agents accumulate into layers.
2. The materials near the bottom are compacted by the weight of the overlaying layers.
3. Over long periods, these sediments are cemented together by mineral matter deposited
from water in spaces between the particles, forming a solid sedimentary rock.
• Notes on Sedimentary Rocks
- Account for only about 5% (by volume) of Earth’s outer 16 km
- About 75% of all rock outcrops on the continent are sedimentary.
- Rock layers eventually formed through sedimentation hold many clues to past surface
environments, which may show information about the method and distance of sediment
transport.
- Contain fossils
- Coal is classified as a sedimentary rock. Petroleum and natural gas occur in pores within
sedimentary rocks. Iron, aluminum, manganese, fertilizer, and numerous materials
essential to the construction industry are sourced in other sedimentary rocks.
• Classification of Sedimentary Rocks

o Detrital Sedimentary Rocks

➔ Composed mainly of clay minerals and quartz
➔ Angular fragments indicate that the particles were not transported very far from their
source prior to deposition.
 o Chemical and Biochemical
Sedimentary Rocks
➔ Chemical sediments – derived
from material (ions) that is carried in
solution to lakes and seas, which
precipitates and forms sediments
resulting from physical processes
(e.g. salt left behind as saltwater
evaporates)
➔ Biochemical sediments – the
precipitation process occurred
indirectly through life process of
water-dwelling organisms

Lithification of Sediment
- Lithification – the processed by which sediments are
transformed into solid sedimentary rocks
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
• Process of Metamorphism
1. Pre-existing rock is subjected to a physical or chemical environment significantly different
from that in which is initially formed.
2. In response to these new conditions, the rock gradually changes until a state of
equilibrium with the new environment is reached.

Note: During metamorphism, the rock

must remain essentially solid. If complete
melting occurs, it has entered the realm of
igneous activity.

Agents of Metamorphism
1. Heat
2. Confining pressure
3. Differential stress
4. Chemically active fluids

Most metamorphism occurs in one of two settings:

(1) Contact or thermal metamorphism – when rock is intruded by magma, change is caused by
the rise of temperature within the rock surrounding the mass of molten material.
(2) Regional metamorphism – a large-scale deformation subjecting great quantities of rock to
pressures and high temperatures during mountain building

Common Metamorphic Rocks

Foliated – any nearly flat arrangement of mineral grains or

structural features within a rock.
- a fundamental characteristic of regionally
metamorphosed rocks
- Ultimately driven by compressional stresses

Non-foliated – typically develop in environments where

defamation is minimal and parent rocks are composed of
minerals that have a relatively simple chemical composition
WEATHERING & EROSION

Weathering[8] – the physical breakdown (disintegration) and chemical alteration (decomposition)

of rocks at or near Earth’s surface
• Mechanical weathering – accomplished by physical forces that break rock into smaller
pieces without changing the rock’s mineral composition
o Mechanical weathering increases the surface area available for chemical weathering.
(a) Frost wedging – After water works its way into the cracks in rock, the freezing water
enlarges the cracks, and angular fragments are eventually produced.
(b) Salt crystal growth – begins when seawater or salty groundwater penetrates crevices
and pore spaces in rock. As this water evaporates, salt crystals form. These crystals
grow larges, thus weakening the rock by pushing apart the surrounding grains or
enlarging tiny cracks.
(c) Sheeting - Concentric slabs begin to break loose when large masses of igneous rock
are exposed by erosion (unloading).
(d) Biological Activity
• Chemical weathering – involves a chemical transformation of rock into one or more new
compounds
o Chemical weathering weakens the outer portions of some rocks, making them more
susceptible to break down through mechanical weathering.
o The products of chemical weathering will remain essentially unchanged as long as they
remain in an environment similar to the one in which they formed.
o The optimal environment for chemical weathering is a combination of warm temperatures
and abundant moisture.

Factors Influencing the Type and Rate of Rock Weathering

1. Rock characteristics
2. Climate
3. Differential weathering

Erosion[9] – the physical removal of material by mobile agents such as water, wind, or ice
(a) Water erosion
➔ Raindrops may strike the land at velocities approaching 35 km per hour, splashing up soil
particles as high as one meter and land more than a meter away from the point of the
raindrop impact.
➔ Water flowing across the surface carries away the dislodged soil particles.
(b) Wind erosion
➔ When dry conditions prevail, strong winds can remove large quantities of soil from
unprotected fields.
(c) Rates of erosion
➔ Natural rates of erosion vary greatly from one place to another and depend on the soil
characteristics as well as factors such as climate, slope, and type of vegetation.
 ➔ In the past, soil erosion occurred at slower rates than today because most of the land
surface is protected by plants.
➔ Human activities such as farming, logging, and construction, remove or disrupt natural
vegetation, thus increasing the chances for soil to be eroded.

EARTH’S HISTORY[10]
BIRTH OF A PLANET
EARTH’S TIMELINE[11]

Pre-Cambrian History: The Formation of Earth’s Continents

➔ Precambrian – Earth’s first 4 billion years; represents nearly 90% of Earth’s History
➔ Divided into the Archaean eon (“ancient age”) and the Proterozoic eon (“early life”)

Phanerozoic Eon: Formation of Earth’s Modern Continents

• The beginning of the Phanerozoic is marked by the appearance of the first life-forms with
hard parts.
Era Events
Paleozoic Formation of Pangaea

Mesozoic Changes in Sea Levels

- Lasted for about 186 million Breakup of Pangaea
years
- Divided into three periods:
Triassic, Jurassic, and
Cretaceous
Cenozoic Physical landscapes and life-forms of our
- “era of recent life” modern world came into existence.
- Encompasses the past 65.5
million years of Earth’s
history
EARTH’S FIRST LIFE
• Prokaryotes
➔ Began to inhabit Earth 3.5 billion years ago
➔ Simple single-cell bacteria
➔ Their DNA is not separated from the rest of the cell by a nucleus.
➔ Employed anaerobic metabolism
➔ Their food source was likely organic molecules in their surroundings.
➔ Later evolved to bacteria that used solar energy to synthesize organic compounds
 Photosynthesis by ancient cyanobacteria contributed to the gradual rise in the level of
oxygen.
• Eukaryotes
➔ About 2.1 billion years
➔ Contain nuclei
➔ Multi-celled eukaryotes evolved 1.2 billion years ago.
 Green algae contained chloroplasts and were the likely ancestors of modern plants.
 The first primitive marine animals did not appear until somewhat later, perhaps 600
million years ago.
PALEOZOIC ERA
• Cambrian – golden age of trilobites
• Ordovician – marked the appearance of abundant cephalopods, whose descendants include
squid, octopus, and chambered nautilus
• Devonian – “Age of Fishes;” lobe-finned fish began to adapt to terrestrial environments,
evolving into the first amphibians
• Mississippian – amphibians further evolved to having improved lungs and “waterproof” skin
and became the first reptiles, the first true terrestrial vertebrates

• The Great Permian Extinction

 70% of all land-dwelling
vertebrate species and perhaps 90% of
all marine organisms were obliterated
 Driven mainly by volcanic activity
which lasted roughly 1 million years

MESOZOIC ERA: AGE OF THE DINOSAURS

• Gymnosperms were the dominant trees.
• Reptiles readily adapted to the drier Mesozoic environment, some evolving rapidly into larger
forms and became dinosaurs.
 Some reptiles evolved specialized characteristics that enabled them to occupy
drastically different environments, some becoming airborne or returned to sea.
• Dinosaurs ruled the Earth for nearly 160 million years, until another mass extinction occurred
by the close of the Mesozoic era caused by a large asteroid colliding with Earth.

CENOZOIC ERA: AGE OF MAMMALS

“Age of Mammals”
• Mammals replaced reptiles as the dominant land animals.
 The many forms that exist today evolved from small primitive mammals that were
characterized by short legs, flat five-toed feet, and small brains.
 Their development and specialization took four principal directions:
(1) Increase in size
(2) Increase in brain capacity
(3) Specialization of teeth
(4) Specialization of limbs
 Two Groups of Mammals
a. Marsupial
b. Placental
  Human Evolution
❖ 4.2 million years ago – genus Australopithecus came into existence
❖ 2.4 to 1.5 million years ago – genus Homo including the Homo habilis (“handy
man”) existed
❖ 200,000 years ago – Humans (Homo sapiens) originated in Africa and began to
spread around the globe.
❖ 11,500 years ago – All prehistoric populations, except for modern humans, died
out.
 Large Mammals and Extinctions
❖ Many large mammals were common as recently as 11,000 years ago.
❖ A wave of late Pleistocene extinctions rapidly eliminated these animals.
❖ Some scientists hypothesize that early humans hastened the decline of these
mammals by selectively hunting large forms.
“Age of Flowering Plants”
• Angiosperms replaced gymnosperms as the dominant plants.

ATMOSPHERE[12]

WEATHER VS CLIMATE
o Weather – state of the atmosphere at a given time and place; constantly changes (from
hour to hour, other times from day to day)
o Climate – “average weather;” sum of all statistical weather information that helps
describe a place or region
Note: Climate data CANNOT predict the weather. “Climate is what you expect, but
weather is what you get.”
o Elements of Weather & Climate
1. Air temperature
2. Humidity
3. Cloudiness
4. Precipitation
5. Air pressure
6. Wind speed and direction

COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Gases Proportional Volume
Nitrogen (N2) 78.084%
Oxygen (O2) 20.946%
Argon (Ar) 0.934%
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 0.0397%
Others (in ppm)
- Neon (Ne) - 18.2
- Helium (He) - 5.24
- Methane (CH4) - 1.5
- Krypton (Kr) - 1.14
- Hydrogen (H2) - 0.5
 o Although nitrogen and oxygen make up 99% of the volume of clean, dry air, and are of
great significance to life on Earth, they are of minor importance in affecting weather.
o Carbon dioxide is an efficient absorber of energy emitted by Earth, thus influencing
the heating of the atmosphere.
o Variable Components
a. Water vapor – source of all clouds and precipitation; absorbs solar energy and
energy given off by Earth
b. Aerosols – solid and liquid particles suspended in the air (e.g. sea salts, pollen,
ash, dust); Roles: (1) act as surfaces on which water vapor can condense in order
to form clouds, (2) absorb, reflect, and scatter incoming solar radiation, and (3)
contribute to the varied hues or red and orange at sunrise and sunset.
c. Ozone (O3) – absorbs much of the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun
➔ Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which make their way to the ozone layer breaks up
the some of the ozone molecules, thus permitting more solar UV rays to reach
Earth’s surface. Skin cancer, cataracts, and impairment of the human system are
among the health threats brought by ozone depletion.

VERTICAL STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE

• Air pressure is inversely proportional with altitude. Higher altitudes have lower air pressure.
• Layers

o
 Layer Thickness/Height Temperature Notes
Changes
Troposphere Varies with latitude Temperature - The lowermost layer in which
( the region where and season; about decreases as we live
air “turns over”) 12 km (7.4 miles) on altitude - Water vapor is highly
average increases. concentrated in the lower
troposphere.
- All important weather
phenomena occurs in this
layer.
- Its outer boundary is called
the tropopause.
Stratosphere About 38 km (22 Temperature - Ozone is concentrated in this
miles) remains layer.
constant to a - The boundary between the
height about 8 stratopause and the
km (4.6 miles) mesosphere is the
from the stratopause.
tropopause,
then
increases
until the
stratopause.
Mesosphere About 30 km (20 Temperature - The coldest temperatures
miles) decreases as anywhere in the atmosphere
height occur at this layer.
increases. - The boundary between the
mesosphere and
thermosphere is the
mesopause.
Thermosphere No well-defined Temperature - Contains only a tiny fraction
upper limit increases as of the atmosphere’s mass
height
increases,
due to
absorption of
solar radiation
by oxygen and
nitrogen
atoms.
EARTH-SUN RELATIONSHIPS
o Earth’s Motions
a. Rotation – spinning of the Earth about its axis. The Earth rotates once every 24
hours.
➔ Circle of illumination – the line separating the dark half of Earth from the
lighted half
b. Revolution – Earth’s movement in a slightly elliptical orbit around the Sun
➔ Perihelion – Earth is closer than at any other time from the Sun, at a distance
of about 147.3 million km, which occurs on about January 3 every year
➔ Aphelion – Earth is farther away at any other time from the Sun, at a distance of
about 152 million km, which occurs on July 4 every year
Note: The distance from the sun only plays a minor role in producing seasonal
temperature variations.
o What causes the Seasons?
1. Length of daylight

2. Change in the angle (altitude) of the Sun above the horizon

➔ When the Sun is directly overhead (90o), the solar rays are most concentrated
and most intense. The longer the angle, the more spread out and less intense is
the solar radiation that reaches the surface.

➔ When the Sun is directly overhead, the rays strike the atmosphere at 90-degree
angle and travel the shortest possible route to the surface. When the sun is
situated at angles less than 90 degrees, the rays will travel through more
distance, thus increasing the chances that the sunlight will be dispersed bu the
atmosphere. That is why we cannot look at the Sun at noon, but we can enjoy
the sunset.
 o Earth’s Orientation
❖ inclination of the axis – Earth is tilted 23 ½ degrees from the perpendicular to
the plane of its orbit around the Sun.

➔ Since the axis remains pointed toward the

North Star, the orientation of Earth’s axis to
the sun’s rays is constantly changing, thus
causing seasons.

HEATING THE ATMOSPHERE: THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT[13]

o Approximately 50% of the solar energy that
strikes the atmosphere reaches the Earth’s surface
and is absorbed. Most of this energy is reradiated
skyward in longer wavelengths (terrestrial
radiation), to be absorbed by the atmosphere.
o Water vapor and carbon dioxide are the
principal absorbing gases, with water vapor
absorbing roughly five times than all the other
gases combined, thus accounting for the warm
temperatures in the lower troposphere.

o Since the atmosphere is quite transparent to shorter-

wavelength solar radiation and more readily absorbs
the longer-wavelength terrestrial radiation, the
atmosphere is heated from the ground. That is why
the temperature decreases as altitude increases. The
farther from the “radiator,” the colder it becomes.

o When the atmosphere absorbs terrestrial radiation,

they warm up; but they eventually radiate the energy
away. Some energy may travel skywards to be
reabsorbed by other gas molecules, a less likely
possibility with increasing height given that water
vapor concentration decreases with altitude. Thus,
the remainder travels back to Earth to be reabsorbed
by the planet.
o Therefore, Earth’s surface is continually supplied
with heat from the atmosphere and the Sun, making
the planet a suitable habitat for life-forms.
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