GEOLOGY
 Main difference of earth before and now
o Did not have water, plants, living
things
o Geosphere is exposed
o High temperature (earth was a hot
ball of molten rock)
 4.5 b years – accepted age of earth
 Basis of the Earth’s age
o Oldest rocks or minerals (zircon) –
4.3 b years of age
o Moon rock
o Meteorites
 Age determination
o Earth’s rocks reset their ages
o Moon is younger than the earth –
formed a few million years after
earth was formed
o Rocks in the outer space do not
undergo geologic processes same
as earth
o Meteorites are used because they
are the terminals of planet
formation in the past. All rocks in
the solar system have the same
similar age because of their
formation
 The spheres
o Hydrosphere
o Geosphere
o Atmosphere
o Biosphere
o Cryosphere- ice/glacier part
 Separated with hydro
because it reacts differently
with sun and energy
 Interaction of earth systems
o Water cycle
o Desert
o Rain shadow effect
o Rock cycle – volcanic gases
lowered the earth’s temperature
 Age of the Universe – 13.8 b years old
o Basis : NASA and EUROPEAN
SPACE STATION
 Studying the oldest objects
 Redshift (how fast it
expands)
 Nebular Hypothesis – widely accepted
theory of solar system formation
o Inner planets- terrestrial/rocky
 Heavy elements
 High temperature
o Outer planets – gas and liquid
 Lighter elements
 The assumption was that everything in
the solar system was formed at the same
time
 Planetary accretion – planet formation;
same as nebular hypothesis but on a local
scale
 Solar system by mass: SUN-JUPITER-
OTHER PLANETS
 Asteroid Belt – exists between Mars and
Jupiter
 Planets rotate clockwise except Venus
 All planets have a tilt
 22 – 24 degrees = earth’s tilt (23.5)
 METEOROID-METEOR-METEORITE
Early Earth
 Homogenous composition
 Faster rotation: 1 day = 6 hrs
 Proto-Earth= partially melted (molten
surface)
 Big lava ball with some solid materials
 Heavily bombarded with extraterrestrial
objects
 High temperature
The Moon
 2nd brightest object in the sky after the
sun
 7.35 x 1022 kg
 3476 km in diameter
 384, 400 km away from earth
 Formation of the moon:
o GREAT IMPACT HYPOTHESIS-
Theia Impact
 The moon formed out of the
debris left over from the
collision b/n earth and an
astronomical body, the size
of Mars (Theia)
  Direct hit; rich in C and S
 Enriched the C in our planet
which cause d the
formation of diamonds
o Planetary Capture – moon was
already formed and the earth’s
gravity captured the moon
o Part of earth that broke off due to
fast spinning
o Moon was forming alongside earth
 Hadean Eon – 4.5 b years ago; 20-100 m
years after the solar system was formed
 The moon composition is similar to the
mantle composition of earth
 Planet segregation into different layers of
the earth was caused by the Theia impact
 LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT
o 3.9-4.1 b years ago
o spike in the collision of asteroids
and meteorites to inner plantes
o caused by the orbit migration of
Jupiter and Saturn
o formed the craters of the moon
and other planets
o Earth’s craters? Lost due to rock
renewal
SUMMARY OF FORMATION
- formation of the universe
- formation of the solar system
- early earth and the moon
THE EARTH
Iron Catastrophe
 denser, heavier elements (iron) – sank
 lighter elements floated into the surface
 created a differentiated earth
Consequence of differentiation and segregation
 layers (internal structure; outer core)
 magnetic field
 atmosphere
 liquid existed
Earth’s Vital Statistics
 Chemical composition by mass – Iron
 Oceanic Crust – S ; Mg
 Continental Crust – S ; Al
 Core – Fe ; Ni
o Fe = 34.6
o O = 29.5
o Si = 15.2
o Mg = 12.7
 Size – circumference (calculated by
Erastosthenes)
o Summer Solstice in Alexandria and
Syene (notice of no shadow)
o ~40 000 km
Measurements
 Equatorial = 40 075 km
 Polar = 40 008 km
 Oblate spheroid – shape of the earth
o Flat at 2 poles
o Bulging equator
 Rotation – counter clockwise
 Obliquity – axial tilt (22-24 degrees)
 Milancovich Cycle – change of season;
climate change
 Density – 5.513 g/cm3
 Densest planet in the solar system
o Jupiter is 318 times more massive
but it is less dense due to gas
 Mass=6.6 sextillion tons
(5.9722 x 1024 kg)
 Volume = 260 b m3
 Fixed density = 5.5 g/cm3
Hypsometry
 Measurement of land elevation in relation
to sea level
 Continents and ocean contrast
 70% land mass = below sea level
 Bimodal distribution = 2 diff crust types
 Earth’s large scale features
o 7 continents
 Mountains – elevated
features
 Mountain Range
 Mountain Belt
o 5 Oceans- Ocean basins
 Ridge
 Sea Mounts (geysers)
 Trench – destroy materials
 2 plates colliding –
denser gets
destroyed
 Mariana’s Trench;
PH trench – PH dip
 Continental Shelf – beach level
 Continental Slope – Steep slope
 Continental Rise – bulging
 Volcanic Plates – below sea level
Formation of the Crust (Condies, 1989)
1. Inhomogeneous Model – formation of the
crust came from the condensation of light
elements; requires that all materials were
formed at the same time
2. Impact Model – asteroids that hit the
earth has the same composition to the
earth’s crust; moon is basaltic but the
crust is not
3. Terrestrial Model – differentiation; lighter
elements float, denser sank
Mantle – 82% of the earth’s volume (Fe and Mg)
Core – Fe and Ni

Accdg to Rigidity
1. Litosphere – tectonic plates
- brittle; non flowing; rigid
- upper crust - brittle; 4.25 km in depth
- ductile deformation
- floats above the asthenosphere
2. Asthenosphere – solid but flowy/liquid in
movement
- small (2% of magma)
- location of magma chambers
3. Mesosphere – rocks
4. Outer core – liquid; melting
- geothermal gradient
- decay of radioactive elements – added
more heat to the core
- melting in the core – radioactive element
+ heat of the earth
- Higher temp, pressure, density as you go
deeper
5. Inner core – solid ; high pressure –
melting ; high temp – stops melting

Discontinuities
1. Mohorovicic – crust – mantle
2. Gutenberg – mantle – core
3. Lehmann – outer core – inner core

Are they physically occurring layers? No

*Using seismic waves

- Body and Surface waves
- Body waves: P (Solid and liquid) and S
(solid)
- Velocity increases as material becomes
more rigid (solid) – markers of
discontinuities