1- The Earth Inside and Out

I) The Solar System

A) consists of the sun (Sol) and 8 regular plants
a) also includes other celestial bodies, like dwarf planets, moons, comets, asteroids, etc
(i) all held together by gravity
b) terrestrial planets
(i) rocky planets
1 Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
c) gaseous planets
(i) core of rock, but mostly made of gases
1 Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
d) dwarf planets
(i) 3 in system, but Pluto is the only one with its own orbit around the sun
e) all planets have moons except Mercury and Venus
II) The Structure of Earth
A) Inside
a) core- made of iron
(i) inner is solid, outer is liquid
b) mantle
(i) many layers, top is magma (molten rock)
c) crust
(i) rocky, thinnest layer
B) On and Above
a) atmosphere
(i) layer of gases containing our air, space debris, and where weather and climate
happen
b) lithosphere
(i) the rock portion of earth
c) hydrosphere
(i) all water on earth, including oceans, rivers, clouds, etc
d) biosphere
(i) the areas where life exists
C) Continental Drift
a) theory that all continents were once connected, but have slowly drifted apart over
millions of years
(i) supercontinent was Pangaea
b) discoveries in the ocean suggest new rock is added at the cracks in the ocean floor as
continents move
2- Bodies of Water and Landforms

I) Bodies of Water
A) Oceans and Seas
a) salt water covers 71% of Earth
b) divided into 4, largest is Pacific
B) Motion
a) currents act like rivers carrying water from one place to another
(i) mixed with tides and waves, the movement helps distribute heat across the planet
(ii) when warm waters enter cool, the heat rises, then wind carries the warmth onto
land
C) Hydrologic Cycle
a) aka water cycle
b) refers to the continuous circulation of water between the atmosphere, oceans, and
land
c) evaporation- liquid water turns to water vapor
(i) mostly caused by sun
d) condensation- excess water vapor in the air gathers together (natural for water)
(i) gives us clouds
e) precipitation- clouds too large the vapor turns to liquid
(i) depending on air temperature gives us rain, snow, or sleet
D) Lakes, Rivers, and Streams
a) Lakes hold 95% of the earth’s fresh water supply
(i) largest is Lake Baikal
b) freshwater lakes formed by glaciation
(i) ex: Great Lakes basins were carved by moving glaciers, then filled by the glaciers
melting
c) saltwater lakes form when salted earth is carried into water stream with no outlet
(i) ex: Dead Sea
(ii) largest is Caspian Sea
E) Ground Water
a) small amount of water held in the pores of rock
b) includes aquifers
(i) Edwards Aquifer stretches from Austin to San Antonio
F) Water Facts
a) of all the water on Earth, only 3% is freshwater
b) the amount of water on Earth doesn’t change, it simply moves
c) Seas, Gulfs, Bays vs. Lakes
(i) seas (etc) are bodies of water mostly enclosed by land
(ii) lakes are bodies of water entirely enclosed by land
d) desalination
 (i) process of making saltwater into freshwater
II) Landforms
A) Oceanic Landforms
a) sea floor looks much like land above water
(i) can have mountains (and ranges), plains, canyons, plateaus, etc
b) continental shelf
(i) edge of the continent above water to the deep part of the ocean
B) Continental Landforms
a) any shape or pattern in land that occurs naturally
b) highest point
(i) on land is Mount Everest
(ii) in water is Hawaii
c) lowest point
(i) on land is the Dead Sea
(ii) in water is Mariana Trench
d) topography
(i) combination of surface shape and composition of landforms and where they are

3- Internal Forces Shaping the Earth

I) Plate Tectonics
A) Plate Movement
a) spreading- moving away from each other
b) subduction- one plate pushes under another
c) collision- two plates hit each other
d) sliding- moving across each other in opposite directions
e) boundaries
(i) divergent- plates spread
(ii) convergent- plates collide or undergo subduction
(iii)transform- plates slide
B) Folds and Faults
a) where plates meet, most rock folds and creates ripples in the ground
b) when the rock isn’t flexible enough, it cracks, forming a fault
(i) San Andreas Fault Line
II) Earthquakes
A) caused by plates grinding together, especially at faults
a) hundreds happen a year, but most are too small to feel
B) Locations
a) epicenter- where the earthquake begins
b) 95% occur near the boundaries of plates
C) Damage
 a) small ones don’t cause damage, but many can trigger landslides
(i) if this happens within a city, it can cause damage to buildings and streets
1 can also break gas lines, which leads to fires
b) Richter scale
(i) measure of the strength of earthquakes
(ii) increase exponentially
D) Tsunami
a) giant destructive wave caused by coastal and underwater earthquakes
b) can travel across entire oceans and gain energy the farther they move
III) Volcanoes
A) mostly found along tectonic plate boundaries
B) Action
a) when magma forces its way above ground, it is reclassified as lava
(i) over time, lava builds up and hardens to form a hill or mountain
b) some volcanoes are active and constantly erupt, but don’t cause much damage
(i) Hawaii
c) dormant volcanoes that erupt occasionally cause massive damage and loss of life
(i) Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Vesuvius
C) Ring of Fire
a) located in the Pacific Ocean
(i) area where 8 plates meet
b) contains most of the world’s active volcanoes
D) Facts about Volcanoes
a) areas where there are hot springs and geysers are indicators of high temperatures in
earth’s crust
(i) Yellowstone has many geysers, including “Old Faithful,”
1 also is a “supervolcano” that is 200 million years overdue to erupt...
b) volcanoes, while destructive, also provide ash that helps fertilize soil, and provides
new rocks, like obsidian

4- External Forces Shaping the Earth

I) Weathering
A) refers to the physical and chemical processes that change characteristics of earth’s surface
a) when rock becomes very fine, it is called sediment
B) Mechanical
a) physical processes that break rocks down, but don’t change their composition
(i) can be done by water, wind, plants, and human activity
C) Chemical
a) processes that change the properties of minerals
 (i) can happen with exposure to oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, etc
(ii) location and climate play a large part- warm wet climates affect chemical change
more than dry
II) Erosion
A) occurs in mechanical weathering
a) involves a transporting agent, like wind or water
b) over a long period of time, this can change how a landscape appears
B) Water
a) very common and recognizable form of erosion
b) the faster the water, the faster the erosion
(i) can change a landscape, the shape of a river, or the look of individual rocks
c) when rivers deposit their sediment, this can over time make the river look as if it is
fanning out when it meets a larger body of water
(i) this is called a delta
(ii) generally the area has very healthy soil from the deposits left
d) ocean waves can change beaches or cut into cliffs
(i) in some locations, feet of beach is lost per year
C) Wind
a) similar to water erosion because of how sediment moves
b) must reach 11 miles an hour to affect rock, and the faster it is the more is eroded
(i) wind also carries other sediment, which can wear down rock even faster
c) in deserts, this can form sand dunes
d) wind can carry healthy soil deposited by water to fertilize other areas
D) Glacial
a) more common during the Ice Age, but still occurs in the extreme north and south
b) glaciers slowly move across land, and are so heavy they flatten land and carve basins
(i) Great Plains and Great Lakes
c) rocks left behind by glaciation can form a ridge or hill called a moraine
d) glaciers constantly melt and refreeze, so tunnels can be formed by liquid water
underneath and can change the shape of the land
III) Soil Building
A) weathering and erosion build soil that combines with organic material
a) the combination allows for plant life, and by extension animal life
b) the more weathering, the better the soil
(i) early civilizations learned this and used that knowledge to first begin to settle in
easy to farm areas
c) geographers study regions’ soil for agricultural uses, like growing crops and herding