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SGES 1201
INTRODUCTION
TO EARTH
 Course Info
Course Code : SGES 1201
Course Title : Introduction to Earth
Credit Hours : 2
Learning At the end of this course it is expected that students would:
Outcomes : 1) know the properties and internal structure of the Earth in relation to the
processes behind the formation of the earth
2) understands the concept of rock cycle and identify different types of rocks
3) understand the relationship between plate tectonics theory with the
formation of volcanoes, earthquakes and mountain ranges

Synopsis of Origins and structure of the Earth. Mineral and rocks. Rock cycle and geological
Course Contents : time. Plate tectonics as a force in the formation of earthquakes, volcanoes,
mountain ranges and continental drift.

Assessment : Continuous Assessment : 40%

Final Examination : 60%

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SGES 1201
INTRODUCTION TO EARTH
 PART 1: 7 WEEKS (DR. AYE KO AUNG)
 Room , Tel:79674117, email:akageol@um.edu.my

 PART 2: 7 WEEKS (DR. AYE KO AUNG)

Room , Tel:79674117, email:akageol@um.edu.my

 TEST (Part 1, 20%):

 TEST (Part 2, 20%):
 FINAL EXAM (60%): Condition – 80% attendance

 REFERENCES:
 Skinner and Porter (2004), The Dynamic Earth (5th Ed.), John Wiley and Sons Inc.
 Lutgens and Tarbuck (2006). Essentials of Geology (9th Ed.), Pearson Prentice Hall.

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Course Content
PART 1 (AKA) PART 2 (AKA)

1 Introduction 8 Introducion
Universe Internal Structure of the Earth

2 Solar System 9 Continental Drift

3 Planet Earth 10 Plate Tectonics

Minerals Test 1
4 Test 1 11 Earthquakes
Rock Cycle & Igneous Rocks
5 Sedimentary Rocks 12 Volcanism
Metamorphic Rocks
6 Geological Structures 13 Mountain Building
Geological Time Scale- Relative age

7 Geological Time Scale- Absolute age 14 Test 2

Test 2

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Scales of Space & Time in Earth Science
 Earth science involves investigation of phenomena that range in size from
atoms to galaxies and beyond; and range from recent phenomena to the
early evolution of the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago.

Atom
Mineral
Rock
Mountain
Tectonic plates
Earth
Solar system
Milkyway
Universe

 Some of the phenomena are easy to comprehend in terms of scales of size

and time, while others are difficult to imagine.

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THE UNIVERSE, GALAXY & SOLAR SYSTEM

Our Solar System

(Sun, planets, moons
& other smaller
The Milky Way orbiting bodies)
(billions of stars)

The Universe
(billions of galaxies)

EARTH 6
 The Big Bang
 The Universe is defined as the summation of all particles
and energy that exist and the space-time in which all
events occur. This include all the stars, galaxies, and
our solar system.

 The Big Bang is a cosmological model in which the

universe has been expanding for around 13.7 billion
years, starting from a tremendously dense and hot state.

 The Big Bang release all known energy in the Universe,

which began to spread from a central point. As energy
spreads wider, it cooled to form clumps of matter, in the
form of elements such as H and He.

 Energy and matter continue to spread apart and the universe grew
larger, clumps of dust and gas (molecular cloud) began to form.
The clouds collapse to form galaxies, each with millions or billions of stars.

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 Galaxies
 A galaxy is a grouping of millions or billions of
individual stars, each of which sprang from the
gaint molecular clouds or stellar nebulae.

 Galaxies appears as a faint clouds of light when

viewed through the telescope but their amazing
forms are revealed by powerful telescopes.

 There are 3 main types of galaxies: spiral,

elliptical and irregular.

 Spiral galaxy appears like a pin wheel surrounded

by spiral arms. The nucleus appears like a large
bulge of light (halo) which conststs of millions of
stars. The spiral arms are composed of stars that
rotate around the halo.

 Elliptical galaxy has a nucleus and halo but no

spiral arms. They are the most common type of
galaxy.

 Irregular galaxy has no well defined shape.

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 The Milky Way

 The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy.

 The main disk of the Milky Way Galaxy is about 80,000 to 100,000 light-
years in diameter, about 250,000 to 300,000 light-years in circumference,
and outside the Galactic center, about 1,000 light-years in thickness. (1
light years = 9.5x1012 km)

 The galaxy is estimated to contain 200 billion stars but this number might
reach 400 billion if small-mass stars predominate. All the stars we see at
night are located within the Milky Way.

 As a guide to the relative physical scale of the Milky Way, if the galaxy were
reduced to 65 km in diameter, the solar system would be a mere 1 mm in
width.

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 The Milky Way

 The term "milky" originates from the hazy band of white light appearing
across the celestial sphere visible from Earth, which comprises stars and
other material lying within the galactic plane. The galaxy appears brightest
in the direction of Sagittarius, towards the galactic center.

 The fact that the Milky Way divides the night sky into two roughly equal
hemispheres indicates that the solar system lies close to the galactic plane.
The Milky Way's visual absolute magnitude is −20.9

 Milky Way's mass is thought to be about 5.8×1011 solar masses.

 It is extremely difficult to define the age of the Milky Way, but the age of the
oldest stars in the Galaxy is currently estimated to be about 13.6 billion
years, which is nearly as old as the Universe itself.

 Many astronomer believe that there is a black hole at the center of the Milky
Way.

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Next Lecture
SOLAR SYSTEM