Geology for Engineers

Planet Earth

Organisation
30 Lectures: Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday 10-11am, M17
4 Practicals: Tuesday afternoon, Main Lab
Geology
Field Trip: Killiney (date to be confirmed),
full afternoon
See course website for full details!

Assessment
3 hour exam
All the material taught in the course,
including practicals and field-trip, is
examinable!!!
Answer 5 out of 7 questions
6 set by PB + QC, 1 by BM
See past exam papers for examples!

Course Notes

Recommended Texts
Course web-site
Understanding Earth (2nd edition), Press &
Siever
The Solid Earth (2nd Edition), Fowler
Introducing Groundwater (2nd Edition),
Price
Water wells and boreholes, Misstear, Bank
& Clark

Formation of the Solar System

The stages of solar system formation start
with a protostar embedded in a gas cloud,
then to an early star with a circumstellar
disk, to a star surrounded by small
"planetesimals" that are starting to clump
together to a solar system like ours today.

Formation of the Solar System

protostar

planetesimals

www.jwst.nasa.gov/birth.html

circumstellar disk

home

Credit: Shu et al. 1987

Composition of the Solar System

Jovian planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune
Large masses & low densities.
Mainly composed of gaseous H & He and
frozen C-H-N volatiles.
Interiors may be similar to that of Earth

Composition of the Solar System

The inner, terrestrial planets: Small
masses & high densities.
Mercury: No atmosphere. Similar in
composition to Earth.
Venus: Dense atmosphere of CO2 & N.
Similar in composition to Earth.
Earth: More about us later.
Mars: Polar ice caps in winter water?
Uniform chemical composition i.e. no iron
core and silicate mantle as in Earth.

The Asteroids

www.aerospaceweb.org/

Composition of the Solar System

The asteroids: Located in a belt between
the terrestrial and Jovian planets.
Meteorites: Most are probably fragments
from the asteroid belt of our solar system.
Siderites, or irons (98% metal)
Siderolites, or stony irons (50% metal, 50%
silicate)
Aerolite, or stones (silicate > metal)