Post on 19-Dec-2015
Our spheres of study:
Lithosphere lots
Hydrospheresome
Pedosphere little
Atmospheresome
Biosphere little
Noösphere no
Credit where credit is due:
I’ve gotten most of this material from web sources and textbooks resources, and from other Earth Science courses available on the Web. I will give the web addresses and proper credit as the course moves along.
Rocks
Igneous
Sedimentary
Metamorphic
Volcanoes
Intrusions
Weathering
SoilsErosion
WaterUnderground Surface
Oceans
Wind
Glaciers
Fossils
Earth History
Earth’s Interior
Earthquakes
Mountains
Plate Tectonics
Other Planets
Mineral Resources
What is Physical Geology?
But first…
If these rocks could talk, what would they tell us?
~14.9 GA (GigaAnnum, i.e,
Billion Years)
today
~ 300,000 years after the Big Bang
The first map of the Universe. Not homogeneous.
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. First detected by the COBE DMR instrument.
Typical spiral galaxy. Similar to ‘our’ Milk Way Galaxy’
http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/NebandStar.htm
Star Birth and Formation
Magnetic fields around a sunspot
SUN Rocky inner planets
The giant Gas planets of the outer solar system
Hydrogen, Helium, methane, water, ammonia
Silicates with Iron/Nickel cores
Hyd
rog
en (74%
), so
me h
elium
(24%)
Our moon: Luna
Current hypothesis: Luna was formed as a result of an impact by a Mars-sized object in the early stages of Solar System formation.
Lunar impact craters
Crater Tycho
Close up of Tycho
The lunar interior: crust, mantle core
Mostly rock, very small iron core; cooled and tectonically inactive
Mars
Craters on Mars
The Martian ice cap
Frozen water?
View of the surface of Mars from the Martian lander
Wind-formed dunes on MarsAtmosphere: 0.7% of the Earth’s atmospheric pressure; 95%
Carbon Dioxide (CO2), 3% Nitrogen (N2); 1.7% Argon, 0.1% Oxygen (O2)
Olympus Mons
The largest mountain in the Solar System
Why is it so big?
~ 625 km (324 miles) diameter
Scarp Height ~ 6 km (4 miles)
Olympus Mons on an overcast day
Evidence for water on mars