Earth and Life

Sciences
Layers of the Earth
The Subsystems of the Earth
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
 Transpiration

is the process of water vapor being released from plants and

soil.

Precipitation

is water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet,
snow, or hail. 

Evaporation

is the process of a liquid's surface changing to a gas. In the water cycle,

liquid water (in the ocean, lakes, or rivers) evaporates and becomes water
vapor.
 Geologic Time Scale

• Relative dating: able to

place events in their
proper order, but unable
to precisely identify the
number of years.

• Marker fossils/ Index

fossils.
PALEOZOIC ERA
• The first were marine reptiles, including lizards and snakes. The
second were the archosaurs, which would give rise to crocodiles,
dinosaurs and birds.

MESOZOIC ERA
• The dominant land animals were reptiles. The first dinosaurs, marine reptiles,
lizards, and tortoises appeared. Mammals appeared during the Triassic, but
they remained insignificant until their competitors, the dinosaurs, became
extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

CENOZOIC ERA
• Bovids, including cattle, sheep, goats, antelope and gazelle, flourish during
this period. Cave lions, saber-toothed cats, cave bears, giant deer, woolly
rhinoceroses, and woolly mammoths were prevailing species of the
Quaternary period.
 Formation of Stratified Rocks
• Stratification process:
• Results from changes in composition or texture of the
rocks during deposition.
• May be composed of both fine and coarse particles.
• The age of the solar system is
estimated to be ~4.6 billion
years old.

• The age of the universe is

~13.8 billion years old.
Natural Hazards,
Mitigation and
Adaptation
 Geologic Processes and Hazards

• The earth is a dynamic planet. The very forces that created

the earth still act at or beneath its surface.
• Even with the present state of technology today, geologic
hazards often cannot be predicted or prevented with precision.
The exception to this are landslides, which are preventable.
• Areas prone to such hazards can be identified through
earthquake fault lines, coastal areas susceptible to tsunamis,
and areas near active volcanoes.
Geologic Processes and Hazards

Earthquake & Volcanic

Landslide Eruption
 Earthquakes and Landslides

• Earthquakes are caused by strain energy underneath a

fault line within the earth’s crust.
 There are three effects of earthquakes:

Ground shaking, or ground motion, is the primary cause of the

partial or total collapse of structures on the earth’s surface.
 Surface faulting
• is the tearing or
offset of the ground
surface caused by
the differential
movement that
occurs along a fault
line.
Earthquake-induced
• Ground failure occurs in
land that is sloped steeply,
and land that is flat. The
principal criteria for
classifying landslides are
the types of materials and
the types of movement.
The types of landslides
that occur can be in the
form of slides, falls, flows,
spreads, or a combination
of these.
 Landslides
• Occur in a sloping terrain. It
can be triggered by rainfall or
earthquake.

• Rainfall induced-cause by
heavy rains that can loosen soil
and makes the foundations of
the structures weak.

• Earthquake induced occurs

during or after earthquake due
to gravity.
 PREVENTION
MANAGEMENT OF
GEOLOGICAL HAZARDS
 Volcanic Eruptions

• Lahars and floods – a lahar is a

flowing slurry of volcanic debris and
water that originates on a volcano.
• Lava flows and domes – fluid lava
forms a long thin flows on slopes
and flat-topped lava lakes in flat
areas and topographic depressions,
while viscous lava forms short
slubby flows on slopes and steeps
sided domes around their vents.
 Hydrometeorological Phenomena
and Hazards

Floods Cyclones Tornadoes

Tides & Sea-Level Crustal

Waves Changes Movement
 Floods
• One of the most common hydrometeorological hazards
is flooding. They are common and very costly for the
community.

• Flash floods, on the other hand, occur due to the sudden

overflowing of rivers along a stream or a low-lying area.

• There are several types of floods: flash floods, river

floods, coastal floods, urban floods.
 Cyclones
• A cyclone is characterized by a center that is large and of low
pressure.

• It also has numerous thunderstorms that produce flooding rain

and strong winds. When moist air rises, cyclones feed on the air,
which results in the condensation of water vapor in the air moist
air.

• The term “tropical” refers to the geographic origin of these

systems, since they form almost exclusively in certain parts of the
globe. The term “cyclone” on the other hand, refers to their
counter-clockwise movement from the Northern Hemisphere,
and the clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere.
 Tornadoes

• Are rotary storms that

appear as a whirling and
advancing funnel of wind
extending downward from a
cloud. Tornadoes can occur
in any part of the world.
 Tides
• The moon and the sun have gravitational
pulls on the ocean, which created
oscillations called tides.

• As the earth spins, the position of the

moon overhead sweeps across all the
latitudes. The gravity from the moon,
when it is overhead, produces a high
tide.

• In every 24-hour period, there are two

low tides and two high tides. When the
sun and moon are lined up together,
and the moon is closest to the earth, the
high tides are maximum (spring tides)
 Sea-Level Changes

• Sea-level changes typically

occur as a result of increases
in water temperature, which
increases its volume. The
effect of sea-level changes
can be local or global.
 Crustal Movements
• The real cause of crustal activity can
be ascertained from the movement of
the crust and the crustal structure.
Real-time observations of the crustal
movement have been generated by
observations by geologists.

• These forces include gravity, the

expansion and contraction of rocks,
the forces produced by the rotation of
the earth, and by the density currents
found in the mantle of the earth.
These many forces are called stress.
ANY QUESTIONS
CLASS????