CE301-

ENGINEERING
GEOLOGY
SIZE, FORM
AND EARTH
STRUCTURE
 SIZE OF THE EARTH
Mean Radius 3,959 miles (6,371
kilometers)
Equatorial Diameter 7,926 miles (12,756 km)
Pole to Pole Diameter 7,898 miles (12,714 km
Circumference of the Earth 24,874 miles (40,030 km)
at the Equator
Meridional Circumference 24,860 miles (40,008 km)
around
 SIZE OF THE EARTH
Density  5.513 grams per cubic
centimeter
Mass 6.6 sextillion tons (5.9722 x
1024 kilograms
Volume 260 billion cubic miles (1
trillion cubic kilometers)
Total Surface Area  197 million square miles
(510 million square km)
 THE EARTH FORMS
• The age of Earth is approximately one-third
of the age of the universe.
• When the universe began, around 10 billion
years ago, Earth wasn't around. Neither was
our solar system. Our solar system, the Milky
Way, was formed in a perfectly ordinary
place in the universe in the normal way. 
 THE EARTH FORMS
• Solar systems and the planets within them
form from the spinning disks of matter.
• Slowly, the grains of matter come together to
form clumps, then boulders, and eventually
balls big enough to have their own gravity
coalesce. At this point, these clumped matter
are called planetesimals, which just means a
small, irregular-shaped body formed by
colliding matter.
 THE EARTH FORMS
• Eventually, the planetesimals grew larger by
colliding and combining with other bodies of
matter. As the planetesimals grew larger,
their gravity was greater, and they collected
even more matter. Some of the planetesimals
began to orbit the main star, our Sun. When
they do this, they are considered to be
a planet, an astronomical object that orbits a
star and does not shine with its own light.
 THE EARTH FORMS
• Earth formed this way about 4.6 billion years ago
and was mostly done in about 10-20 million years
• Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago from the
same nebula cloud of gas and dust that formed the
Sun and other planets.
• Volcanic out gassing probably created the
primordial atmosphere and then the ocean; but
the atmosphere contained almost no oxygen and
so would have been toxic to most modern life
including humans.
 THE EARTH FORMS
•  Much of the Earth was molten because of
frequent collisions with other bodies which
led to extreme volcanism.
• A "giant impact" collision with a planet-sized
body is thought to have been responsible for
forming the Moon. Over time, the Earth
cooled, causing the formation of a solid crust,
and allowing liquid water to exist on the
surface.
 THE EARTH FORMS
• Living forms derived from photosynthesis
appeared between 3.2 and 2.4 billion years
ago and began enriching the atmosphere with
oxygen.
• Life remained mostly small and microscopic
until about 580 million years ago, when
complex multicellular life arose, developed
over time, and culminated in the Cambrian
Explosion about 541 million years ago.
 THE EARTH FORMS
• This event drove a rapid diversification of life forms on
Earth that produced most of the major phyla; and it
marked the end of the Proterozoic Eon and the beginning
of the Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era.
• More than 99 percent of all species, amounting to over
five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated
to be extinct. Estimates on the number of Earth's current
species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which
about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86
percent have not yet been described.
 THE EARTH FORMS
• Geological change has been a constant of
Earth's crust since the time of its formation,
and biological change since the first
appearance of life.
• Species continue to evolve, taking on new
forms, splitting into daughter species or going
extinct in the process of adapting or dying in
response to ever-changing physical
environments.
 THE EARTH FORMS
• The process of plate tectonics continues to play a
dominant role in the shaping of Earth's oceans and
continents and the living species they harbor.
• Changes in the biosphere—now dominated by
human activity—continue, in turn, to produce
significant effects on the atmosphere and other
systems of the Earth's surface, such as the integrity
of the ozone layer, the proliferation of greenhouse
gases, the conditions of productive soils and clean
air and water, and others.
Structures of the Earth
 CORE
The core is a layer rich in iron and nickel that is
composed of two layers: the inner and outer cores.
The inner core is theorized to be solid with a
density of about 13 grams per cubic centimeter
and a radius of about 1220 kilometers.
The outer core is liquid and has a density of about
11 grams per cubic centimeter. It surrounds the
inner core and has an average thickness of about
2250 kilometers.
 MANTLE
• 2900 kilometers thick
• comprises about 83% of the Earth's volume
•  It is composed of several different layers.
– The upper mantle exists from the base of the
crust downward to a depth of about 670
kilometers.
– This region of the Earth's interior is thought to be
composed of peridotite, an ultramafic rock made
up of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. 
• ASTHENOSPHERE
– The top layer of the upper mantle.
– 100 to 200 kilometers below surface.
– The rocks in this upper portion of the
mantle are more rigid and brittle
because of cooler temperatures and
lower pressures. 
 LITHOSPHERE
• The lithosphere is a layer that includes the crust and the
upper most portion of the mantle.
• 100 kilometers thick
• has the ability to glide over the rest of the upper mantle.
• Because of increasing temperature and pressure, deeper
portions of the lithosphere are capable of plastic flow
over geologic time.
• The lithosphere is also the zone
of earthquakes,mountain building, volcanoes,
and continental drift.
 CRUST
• The topmost part of the lithosphere
• This material is cool, rigid, and brittle.
• Two types of crust can be identified: oceanic
crust and continental crust.
– Ocean crust is thin and measures between 5 to
10 kilometers thick. It is also composed
of basalt and has a density of about 3.0 grams
per cubic centimeter.
– The continental crust is 20 to 70 kilometers
thick and composed mainly of
lighter granite.
– The density of continental crust is about
2.7 grams per cubic centimeter.
– Continental crust is thickest beneath
mountain ranges and extends into the
mantle.
• Both of these crust types are composed of
numerous tectonic plates that float on top of
the mantle.
• Convection currents within the mantle cause
these plates to move slowly across the
asthenosphere.
 ISOSTACY
• The continental and oceanic crust (tectonic
plates) have the ability to rise and sink.
• This phenomenon is known as ISOSTACY.
• Occurs because the crust floats on top of the mantle
like ice cubes in water.
• When the Earth's crust gains weight due to mountain
building or glaciation, it deforms and sinks deeper
into the mantle. If the weight is removed, the crust
becomes more buoyant and floats higher in the
mantle.
The addition of glacial
ice on the Earth's surface
causes the crust to
deform and sink
(a).When the ice melts,
isostatic rebound occurs
and the crust rises to its
former position before
glaciation (b andc). A
similar process occurs
with mountain building
and mountain erosion