The Planet Earth

Group 2
Members:

 Santaan, Mike Clint John

 Tutor, Justine Drae
 Yaoyao, Vincent
Introduction

Earth, the planet on which we dwell; it’s one of eight planets in our solar
system and the only known place in the universe where life may exist. Earth
wouldn’t be the floating blue rock we know as today if it wasn’t for the
journey it went through for the last 4 billion years. This report will not only
be detailing the creation of the Earth. But also, its structure and processes.
Then lastly, further discussing about the concepts of Uniformitarianism and
Catastrophism.
Creation of the Earth

 Heavy elements collided and

bound together to create the
Earth's rocky core initially.
Dense matter sunk to the core,
while lighter matter formed the
crust.
Creation of the Earth
 Around this period, the planet's magnetic field
most likely developed. Some of the gases that
made up the planet's early atmosphere were
trapped by gravity. Earth was hit by a massive
body early in its history, which launched chunks of
the newborn planet's mantle into space. Because of
gravity, several of these fragments drew together to
create the moon, which took up orbit around its
creator.
Creation of the Earth

 Plate tectonics, or the movement

of massive rock plates on the
Earth's surface, is caused by the
flow of the mantle under the
crust.
 Earth’s Structure

Atmosphere
• Atmosphere is a protective layer of gases
that shelters all life on Earth, keeping
temperatures within a relatively small
range and blocking out harmful rays of
sunlight
 Earth’s Structure
Features of the Atmosphere:
 Helps retain the sun’s heat and prevents it
from escaping back into space.
 Protects life from harmful radiation from
the sun.
 Plays a major role in Earth’s water cycle.
 Helps keep the climate on Earth
moderate.
 Earth’s Structure
• The first layer is called the
troposphere. This is the lowest
part of the atmosphere - the part
we live in. It contains most of our
weather - clouds, rain, snow.
• The most abundant gas is
Nitrogen which comprises 78% of
the component and Oxygen 21%
with other gases taking up 0.9%
argon and 0.04% carbon dioxide
with small traces of other gases.
 Earth’s Structure
• The next layer called the stratosphere.
The ozone layer is found within the
stratosphere between 15 to 30 km (9
to 19 miles) altitude.
• The ozone layer protects us from
ultraviolet light rays given off from
the Sun. By absorbing dangerous UV
radiation, the ozone in the
stratosphere protects us from skin
cancer and other health damage.
Earth’s Structure
• At 50 kilometers above the earth,
we move to the next layer called
the mesosphere.
• This is the densest layer of
atmosphere amongst the top three
layers. Because of this density, this
layer is responsible for the burning
of the meteors and other objects
falling from space due to the
gravitational force of the Earth.
 Earth’s Structure
 The thermosphere layer is called
the thermal layer as it is the hottest
layer of the atmospheric envelope.
The temperature of the
thermosphere layer increases at a
high rate as we go up until it
reaches 1200° Celsius.
 Within the thermosphere is the
ionosphere. The ionosphere gets its
name from the solar radiation that
ionizes gas molecules to create a
positively charged ion and one or
more negatively charged electrons.
Earth’s Structure
 The region above about 500 km is
called the exosphere. The highest
region of the atmosphere, where the
air density is so low that a fast-
moving air molecule is more than
50 percent likely to escape from the
atmosphere instead of hitting other
molecules.
 Satellites and the International
Space Station are located in two
regions: the thermosphere and
exosphere.
Earth’s Structure

 Crust
 Oceanic Crust
 Continental Crust
 Mantle
 Core
 Inner Core
 Outer Core
 Earth’s Structure
 The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. It is the
familiar landscape on which we live: rocks, soil, and
seabed.
 Oceanic crust is composed of magma that erupts on the
seafloor to create basalt lava flows or cools deeper
down to create the intrusive igneous rock gabbro.
 Continental crust is made up of many different types of
igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The
average composition is granite, which is much less
dense than the mafic igneous rocks of the oceanic crust.
 Earth’s Structure

 The mantle is the layer of the earth that lies

below the crust and is by far the largest layer
making up 84% of Earth's volume.
 The mantle extends down to 2,890 km into
the Earth's surface Temperatures that range
from 500 to 900 degrees Celsius in the
upper portion to over 4,000 degrees
Celsius near the core boundary.
 Earth’s Structure
 At the center of the Earth is the core.
 6800 km in diameter (3,500 km from outside
edge of core to center of core).
 Temperature ranges from 2,000 ºC to
7,000ºC
 The solid, inner core of iron has a radius of
about 760 miles (about 1,220 km), according
to NASA. It is surrounded by a liquid, outer
core composed of a nickel-iron alloy.
Internal & External Processes

 The earth’s surface has been subjected to numerous changes and

phenomena known as geological processes. Cliff erosion, a volcanic
eruption, or sedimentation at a mouth of a river are examples of these
geological processes. The geological agents responsible for these
processes are: waves, the internal heat of the earth, or rivers.
 The earth is a dynamic body that has undergone various changes,
These changes are both of Internal and External Processes, These
processes cause stress and deformation on earth materials and finally
bring changes on the surface of the earth.
 Internal Processes
 are referred to as diastrophism and they tend to elevate the earth’s surface.
 are drive by the heat that is stored in earths interior.
 They usually occur far from the surface.
 The main internal geological agent is the movement of the lithospheric plates.
 The most evident and catastrophic events caused by this movement are Earthquakes and
Volcanic eruptions. Others are the movements of continents, the opening of new seas and
the closing of old ones, or the formation of mountain ranges.
 The internal processes generate heat and eject materials from deep below the earth’s crust.
 Internal radioactivity is the principal source power for this process.
 It tends to lift and build the earths relief from the interior, or it is said that internal
processes build the Earth’s relief.
 It is a result of the earths internal heat.
External Processes

 External processes affects the Earth’s surface.

 It is powered by solar energy.
 It shape the relief created by internal processes.
 It carry out this processes: water, ice, wind, atmosphere, and human
being.
 They include all the changes that alter or wear down the rocks and
deposit materials resulting from erosion.
 are result of gravitational forces and solar energy.
 External processes tend to destroy and shape the earth’s relief.
The Engine of Interval & External Geological
Processes

 The Earth’s Internal heat

The internal heat stored in the Earth is responsible for our planet being geologically active
This internal heat generates convection currents in the mantle, which behaves like an
extremely thick liquid.
 Solar Energy
External agents that shape the relief are driven by solar energy that arrives at the Earth’s
surface.
 Gravity
Gravity also has an important role in both external and internal geological processes.
We can therefore conclude that all earth processes are manifestations of energy
and these processes are responsible for sculpturing the land surface.
Concept of Uniformitarianism
• This theory was offered in 1785 by a
geologist and physicist named James
Hutton. He believed that most of the
characteristics on Earth's surface were
produced by slow, continuing geologic
processes rather than by abrupt
catastrophic catastrophes.
Concept of Uniformitarianism
• Hutton's idea was a major
turning point in the field of
geology. He called it
uniformitarianism: the theory
that Earth's features are mostly
accounted for by gradual, small-
scale processes that occurred
over long periods of time.
Concept of Catastrophism
• Georges Cuvier was the French
naturalist and zoologist who
came up with this theory.
Cuvier's observations made him
believe that most of Earth's
history was characterized by
geologic catastrophe. This idea
emerged and spread among
scientists as the theory of
catastrophism.
Concept of Catastrophism
• Catastrophism is the belief that
most of Earth's characteristics may
be attributed to catastrophic, large-
scale catastrophes that happened in
a very short period of time. As a
result, an extinct species was most
likely wiped off by a massive
natural calamity. Worldwide
earthquakes and volcanoes most
likely produced an amazing
mountain range.
Thank You
That’s all