Л .Д .Д о л и н с к а я , Н .

Г К и т к о в а

КУРС
АНГЛИЙСКОГО
ЯЗЫКА
ДЛЯ СТУДЕНТОВ ГЕОЛОГОВ И ГЕОГРАФОВ

ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО
МОСКОВСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА
1991
Б Б К 81.2. Англ-923
Д М

Р ецензенты
кандидат филологических наук Т П .Ш иш кина,
кандидат филологических наук М .А .Е ф им ова

П ечатается по постановлению
Р едакционно-издательского совета
М осковского университета

Долинская Л.Д., Киткова Н.Г.

Д 64 Курс английского языка: Учебное пособие. - М.:
Изд-no МГУ, 1991. - 176 с.
ISBN 5-211-01065-5
П особи е представляет собой комплексны й Kyjx: английского языка,
направленный на ф ормирование и р а з н и т е у обучаю щ ихся навыков различных
видов речевой деятельности. И спользованы новейш ие изыскания в области м ето ­
дики и п сихол о 1Т1и обучения П р едн азн ач ен о как ,и я аудию ри ы х занятий, так и
для сам остоятел ьной работы
Д ля студен тов , аспирантов и научны х работников, связанных с науками о
З ем л е (геология, география, мелиорация, инж енерная г с о л о т я . экология)

4 6 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 (4 3 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 ) - 102
Д — ----------------------------------------- 1 7 9 -9 0 ВВК 81.2 А пгд>923
0 7 7 (0 2 )-9 1

IS B N 5-211-01065-5 о 11зла Iельст во М осковского

университета, 1991

У ч ебн ое издание
Долинская Лю бовь Дм итриевна. Киткова Наталья Г е о р т с в н а
К урс английскою я лака
Зав. редакцией И .И Щ еххри Р едак тор Э .М .Н ш ш еви Х удож еств ен н ы й редактор
Н. 1 0 .К а л м ы к о ва О блож ка худож ника Ю И .Л р т ю х о в а Т ехнический редактор
И .И .Ф и л и м о н о в а О п ер атор Т В В али т ова
И Б N 3373
С дано в н абор 06.07.90. П одпи сан о в печать 29.08.91. Ф орм ат 60x90 1/16. Б умага
тип. N 1. О ф сетная печать. Гарнитура Т ай м с. У ел. п еч. л. 11,0. Уч.-изд. л. 9,99
Т и р аж 14000 экз. Заказ Й о . И зд . N 853. Ц ен а 1 р. 20 к.
О р дена "Знак Почета" издательство М оск овского университета.
103009, М осква, ул. Г ерцена, 5 /7 .
Типограф ия ор ден а "Знак Почета" изд-ва М ГУ.
119899, М осква, Л енинские горы
 ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Комплексный курс английского языка направлен на ф орм ирование и разви­

тие навыков различных видов речевой деятельности (Р Д ) на основе языкового м ате­
риала, представляющ его стиль научного общ ения.
О бучение студентов практическим навыкам владения языком требует с у щ е­
ственной интенсиф икации всей учебной деятельности, создания принципиально н о­
вых коммуникативно направленных учебны х комплексов и пособий , ориентирован­
ных на максимальное использование творческого потенциала учащ ихся. В книге
предпринята попытка создания такого рода пособия для студентов, сп ец и ал и зи р ую ­
щ иеся в области наук о Зем л е. Основная цель - показать возмож ны й путь обучения
становлению и развитию навыков Р Д , натолкнуть преподавателя и студента на твор­
ческое осмы сление стоящ их перед ними задач и способов их разреш ения.
Курс не содер ж и т грамматических правил и описан и й. П редполагается, что
преподаватель дает необходим ы е пояснения в том объем е, в каком он считает это
нужным для данной группы учащ и хся, и переходит к обучен ию непосредственно ч е­
рез ф ункционирование этого материала в речи. Соблю дая основные принципы с о ­
временной методики обучения - п оддер ж ани е мотивации речи, интерес к предм ету,
- мы сознательно отказались от включения м еханических тренировочных у п р а ж н е­
ний на лексико-грамм атический материал, что позволило высвободить значительное
количество времени, зачастую непродуктивно расходуем ого на занятиях, и тем с а ­
мым интенсиф ицировать учебный процесс.
В то ж е время курс предполагает ш ирокое привлечение и иепользование по
усмотрению преподавателя дополнительны х сопроводительны х материалов, сбор н и ­
ков тестов, уп р аж н ен ий и задан ий для лабораторной и самостоятельной работы ст у ­
дентов и т.д. Тем самым перед преподавателем и студентам и открываются ш ирокие
возможности для р еализации своего творческого потенциала, ф ан тазии , и нди ви ду­
альности.
Курс состоит из нескольких частей и содер ж и т тщ ательно отобранный и о со ­
бым образом организованный учебны й материал. На I этапе обучения (разделы 1,2)
он представлен преим ущ ественно схем ам и , таблицами, графиками и другими ср ед ­
ствами внеш ней наглядности, сопровож даемы м и системой уп р аж н ен и й , сти м ули р у­
ющ их высказывания репродуктивно-продуктивного характера. П редлагаемы е за д а ­
ния служ ат выработке навыков и ум ений правильного построения коммуникативно­
значимого высказывания на уровне слова - словосочетания - простого п р едлож ения -
сложного предлож ения - сверхф разового единства. И звестно, что в п роцессе п ор ож ­
дения речи наблю даю тся два типа действий: воспроизведение готовых еди н и ц и кон ­
струирование своих собственных. Воспроизводимы е единицы требуют запом инания,
конструируемы е - осмысления и понимания их внутренней устроенности. Мы идем
по второму пути, поскольку усвоение готовых еди н и ц (структур) сам о по себе не
обеспечивает владения речью: учащ иеся остаются "привязанными" к тем контек­
стам, в которых ими заучены структуры и лексика. На наш взгляд, ф орм ирование
речевой компетенции долж н о происходить на основе творческого самостоятельного
конструирования высказывания.
П редполагается, что после I этапа обучения учащ ийся м ож ет давать сверну­
тое и развернутое оп ределен и е предметов и объектов ок р уж аю щ ей действительно­
сти, а такж е описывать процессы и явления, используя разнообразны е языковые
средства выражения таких категорий, как качественная и количественная хар ак те­
ристика, сравнение, установление сходств и различий, классиф икация, выявление
причинно-следственны х связей и т.д.

3
 Работа с разделом “Reading Matter" предусматривает, с одной стороны, за­
крепление и контроль усвоения пройденного м атериала, а с другой - способствует
постепенном у становлению и развитию навыка чтения.
Н а II этапе обучения (раздел 3) в качестве стимула для п орож дения высказы­
вания используется текстовой материал, взятый из оригинальных источников и н аи ­
более полно охваты ваю щ ий все аспекты обучения. В результате учащ ийся долж ен
свободно ориентироваться в связном тексте данного объема, вычленяя соответствую­
щ ие понятийно-тем атические категории, и активно использовать заявленный языко­
вой материал для построения собственных письменны х и устны х высказываний по
аналогичной тематике. О собое внимание уделяется развитию способности видеть и
использовать в собственной речи разнообразны е способы выражения языковых свя­
зей м еж д у описы ваемыми явлениями действительности. С истема заданий ор и ен ти ­
рует студента на извлечение и самостоятельное использование языкового материала
в речевой деятельности, минуя перевод на родной язык.
Н а заверш аю щ ем этапе обучения (раздел 4) студенты работают с текстами
значительной протяж енности, переходят собственно к чтению неадаптированной л и ­
тературы по специальности на базе выработанного навыка структурно-смысловой
интерпретации научного текста.
Сознавая слож ность поставленных задач, авторы не стремились дать и сч ер ­
пы ваю щ ие ответы на все вопросы, связанные с обучением Р Д . Предлагая свое в и д е­
ние одного из возмож ны х подходов к обуч ен ию иностранному языку на основе р ан ­
ней сп ец и ал и зац и и , авторы надею тся, что этот путь пом ож ет сделать процесс об у ч е­
ния более плодотворным и интересным.
Авторы выражают благодарность рецензентам настоящ ей работы доц.
Т Н Ш иш киной и доц . М .А .Е ф им овой, своим коллегам - преподавателям каф едры
английского языка геологического и географического факультетов МГУ за п остоян­
ный интерес к работе и ее обсуж ден и е на всех этап ах, а такж е студентам, активная
п оддерж ка которых во многом помогла в работе.
 SECTION I

Scientist studies Science

GEO SCIEN RIO HYDRO MORPH

ЛТМО METER LOGY GRAPH
SPHERE PHYS PIION DEM(O) ECO
(0 )
PLA­ COSMO ASTRO CIIRON
NET (0 )
CYTO GEN SEDI­ LiTHO SEISMO
(E) MENT
CRYO PETRO OCEAN PALEO
MINE­ CRYS­ STOAT ANTH- ZOO
RAL TAL ROPO
CLIM(A) METE- TELE MICRO
ORO
PHOTO THERM< ) SOCIO PSYCIIC SOPHY

PHILO

•Identify the morphemes. Match up the morphemes to form

words.
•Pronounce the following:

[ae] [e] 111_________ [ai] [ou] [a .]

PLAN ET DEMO PIIYS BIO CIIRO NO THERM O
ASTRO ECO PHILO HYDRO PH O T O
ANTHR OPO PETRO CRYSTAL MICRO OCEAN
STRAT TELE MINERAL SEISM O SOCIO
ATMO SEDIM ENT LITHO SCIEN PHONO

5
№ ff] [k] [s] 19] Й m
G EO PH Y S CH RO NO CYTO LITHO SOCIO zoo
G EN G R A PH EGO SO C IO A N T H R O - OCEAN PH Y S
PO
LOGY M ORPH CRYO P SY C H O TH ERM O
SPH E R E PSY C H O SCIEN
SO PH Y COSMO

SCIENCE-?
CY BERNETIC S CHEM ISTRY CH RO NO LO G Y PHO N E TIC S

G EO G R A PH Y TECTO NICS HYSTORY

P H Y SIC S ASTRONOM Y ELECTRONICS BIOLOGY

ECONOM Y PLANETOLOGY BOTANY

PSYC O LO G Y P H ILO SO PH Y DYNAM ICS ZOOLOGY

STRA TIG RAPH Y G EN E TIC S SEISMOLOGY

CYTOLO G Y MATHEMATICS PETRO LOGY M ECHANICS

IC HTH YO LO G Y O CEA N O G R A PH Y ANTHROPO LO GY

ECO LO G Y PALYNOLOGY HYDROLO GY

ASTRO NA UTICS SPELEO LO G Y PHY SIO LOG Y

GEO M ETRY GLACIOLOGY CLIMATOLOGY ARCH AEOLO GY

• Identify the sciences.

•Group the words with identical: phonemes, morphemes,

suffixes.

•The Odd-man Out.

(phonemes): hydrology, biology, cybernetics, history,
crystallography, oceanography, chronology, ecology
(morphemes): cosmology, ecology, economy, geology,
paleontology, palynology, paleobotany, paleoecology
•Split the words to find out what morphemes they consist of.
Mind the phonemes.
Petrochemistry, paleogeography, biostratigraphy, paleoceanography,
chronostratigraphy, geostatistics, geochronology, lithostratigraphy,
paleobiogeography, magnetostratigraphy, paleozoogeography,
ecostratigraphy, biogeography, climatochronology, paleoecology,

6
microbiology, paleogeomorphology, hydrography, sedimentology,
hydrology.
•Identify the GEO- / BIO- sciences.
Paleoichthyology, phot®botany, primatology, exobiology,
ethnomusicology, hydronautics, cytochemistry, crystallography,
bioenergetics, astronautics, biospeleology, cryobiology, astrodynamics,
paleoanthropology, radioecology, morphophysiology,
paleobiochemistry, psychopharmacology, ecophysiology, cytogenetics,
endocrinology, immunobiochemistry.
Ш IS A SCIENCE
IT IS A NATURAL SCIENCE
THERE ARE (1,2,3...) many in IT .-IT H A S (1,2,3...)
BRANCHES many BRANCHES.

THEY ARE ? ? ?

JfT IS A NATURAL SCIENCE HAVING (1,2,3...) many

BRANCHES,
NAMELY ? ? ?

•Draw a tre e /tre e s to illustrate the information below

Describe the tree / trees in 1) separate sentences; 2) one sentence.

Geology, biogeography, geometry, astrophysics, biology

paleontology, biochemistry, oceanography, physics, cryology
chronology, cytology, hydrogeology, geography, geophysics, algebra
cybernetics, meteorology, radiophysics, paleogcography, crystal­
lography, geomorphology, geochemistry, climatology, zoology
biophysics, mechanics, electronics, genetics, lithology, hydrology,
mineralogy, optics, petrography, programming, physiology, botany,
immunogcnctics, cryobiology, cytomorphology, seismology.

evolutionary processes
volcanic activity
living organisms
GEOLOGY chemical reactions
GEOGRAPHY climatic changes
CHEMISTRY deals with evolution of animals and plants
BIOLOGY distant galaxies and stars
PHYSICS energy resources
ASTRONOMY radioactive elements
mechanical systems
elementary particles
crystal structures

8
 •Using the above information say what GEOLOGICAL,
GEOGRAPHICAL PHYSICAL, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES deal with.
Use connectives: first, second, moreover, as well as, not only... but

•Give a possible definition of:

MICROBIOLOGY
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
MINERALOGY
CLIMATOLOGY

•Compare any two of the sciences / branches of science. Use

connectives: like, unlike, while, whereas.

SCIENTIST - ?

BIOLOGIST CHEM IST GEOGRAPHER

PALEO NTO LO GIST PETR O G R A PH ER

ASTRONOM ER PHILO LOG IST G EO L O G IST

G EN E TIC IST STRATIG RAPIIER

MATHEMATICIAN PH Y SIC IST HISTO RIAN

BO TANIST MINERALOGIST

CRYSTALLOGRAPHER HYDRO LO G 1ST

CYBERNETICIAN M O RPH OLO G IST

•All the above words denote scientists. Group them according to

their common suffix. Identify the corresponding sciences.
•Fill in the table. Mind ihe correlation between the word-
building elements.

SCIENCES SCIENTISTS-?
hydrography ?
cosmography ?
. _ ie o jo g y .. ?
 mineralogy ?
geomorphology ?
paleogeography ?
seismology ?
seismography ?
•Say what scientists study GEO- / BIO- sciences.
Hydrographer, physicist, psycologist, cybernetician,
petrographer, endocrinologist, psycopharmacologist,chronobiologist,
astronomer, economist, philologist, historian, chemist.

TH US,
G E O — ► G E O L O G Y — * G EO LOG ICAL— ► G EO L O G IST - G EO LOG Y
STU D E N T

G EO LO G Y S T U D E N T - ST U D E N T OF GEO LO G Y 1 NATURE
G EO G R A PH Y S T U D E N T - ST U D E N T OF G EO G R A PH Y 4 STU D E N TS
BIOLOGY S T U D E N T - S T U D E N T OF BIOLOGY

DOES Л
GEOLO­ GEO LO G Y
G IST
DOES DO ES
GEOGRA­ GEOGRA­ r A SC IE N - A SCIENCE
PH E R PHY TIST
DO ES
BIO LO G IS' BIOLOGY

THUS, a SC IE N TIST is one who DOES a science.

To DO a science is to STU D Y a science.
TO S T U D Y - ?

IDENTIFY FACTS
ACCUMULATE FIGURES
SYSTEMATIZE DATA

SPECIFY INFORMATION
GENERALIZE IDEAS

TYPIFY OBSERVATION

DEMONSTRATE CONCLUSIONS
SUMMARIZE TENDENCIES

VARIFY CORRELATIONS

10
 •Identify the words in both columns. List the verb-forming
suffixes.

•By correlating the words on the left with those on the right say
what a SCIENTIST DOES.

THUS,
TO STU D Y IS TO OBSERVE
TO ANALYSE
TO SYSTEMATIZE
TO GENERALIZE
• • •

•Now say what scientists study the following:

Evolutionar processes ^
Constructive forces
Industrial complexes
Volcanic activity
Statistical data STUDIED
Polar regions CLASSIFIED
Marine organisms ' ARE (IS) ANALYSED BY?
Atmospheri conditions OBSERVED
Primitive atmosphere IDENTIFIED
Migratory processes
Distant galaxies
Elementary particles J

•The guess-game. (Make use of the above information.)

I classify...
I observe...
What am I?
1 am a student.
I study...
What am I?
My friend (mother, father,
wife, husband...) ?___
What is she(he) ?

You are..., aren’t you?

u
•Using the information below answer the questions.

- What kind of science is it?

- What does it study?
- Does it have any branches?
- What are they?
- What objects, processes, phenomena arc studied
by these branches?

•Write a mini-text on any natural science. Use connectives:

F IRST , S E C O N D , M O R E O V E R , AS WELL A S , N O T O N L Y ...

B U T , O N T H E O N E H A N D ... O N T H E O T H E R H A N D , AS
WELL , T O O , B E S I D E S , B O T H . , . AND.

12
 Astronomy
1. The Sun as a star. Physical properties of stars. Double stars.
Variable stars. Stellar motions and distribution. Physical properties of
stellar material. Structure and evolution of stars.
2. Milky Way system. External galaxies. Expanding universe.
Cosmic time scale.
3. Earth as a planet. Moon. Planets and satellites. Comets.
Meteors. Origin of solar system.
4. Solar activity. Effect of Sun on the Earth.
5. Atmosphere and interior of planets in the solar system.
Interplanetary matter.

Physics

1. Atomic and nuclear physics. Kinetic theory. Relativity.

Elementary particles.
2. Electricity and magnetism. Thermodynamics and statistical
physics.
3. Electromagnetic fields. Electronics, dielectric materials,
currents and magnetic fields. Motion of charged particles.
Etectrdmagnetic waves.
4. Radiation.
5. Structure of multi-electron atoms, periodic table, atomic
transition.
6. Mechanical, thermal, electric, and magnetic properties of
solids; crystal structure; semiconductors; superconductivity;
superfluidity.

Chemistry

1. Synthesis of organic compounds. Degradation reactions.

2. Recovery of rarer elements from minerals.
3. Arrangement of atoms in inorganic molecules.
4. Influence of arrangement and electronic structure of the atoms
upon physical and chemical properties of molecules.

Biology

1. Principles of biological organization, from molecules through

cells and organism to populations.

13
 2. Fundamental principles of biology as illustrated by plants.
Characteristics of living matter.
3. Distribution and abundance of animals and plants.
Interactions of organisms and environment.
4. Interrelationships between plants and animals. Identification
and classification of plants and animals. Life histories. Characteristics
of living world in water, field, and woodland.
5. Population ecology and population genenics. The integration
of quantity and quality on natural populations. Distribution of
organisms, evolutionary mechanics of population.
6. Plants used by man: their origin, history, botany, distribution,
and role in development of ancient and modern civilization.
7. Plant life of the past, including types of plant fossils, kinds of
fossilization, geologic history, and distribution.
8. Viruses of plants, animals and bacteria. Viruses as models of
life processes.
9. Major groups of bacteria; their occurrence, biochemical
properties, and role in nature.

Geography

1. Physical characteristics of earth’fc surface and their

interrelation. Landforms, vegetation, soils, weather, climate.
2. Earth and its atmosphere. Interrelationships between
elements of physical environment.
3. Systematic and regional study of world climates. Physical and
dynamic climatology. Climatic classification.
4. Surface water characteristics of selected climatic regions.
5. Economic nature of resources.
6. Rational use of soils and land, waters, minerals, forests,
and wildlife. Land use planning.
7. Industrial location.
8. Location and distribution of urban centers, urban land use,
geographical aspects of city planning.
9. Transport facilities and patterns of movement. Location
theory. Interaction of transportation and regional development.
10. Mapping. Topographic, thematic maps. Map classification.

Geology

1. The Earth in the Solar System. Craters, astroblems, their

origin and distribution.
14
 2. Earth materials. Earth processes. Nature and origin of
structural features- of the earth’s crust. Mechanics of deformation.
Geomorphic processes, evolution and classification of landforms.
3: Relationships between geologic time, earth materials, and
geologic forces that create and modify minerals, rocks, landforms,
continents, and ocean basins.
4. Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks: physical and
chemical properties, origin, classification.
5. Formation of minerals and mineral deposits. Origin, geologic
occurrence, and distribution of important mineral deposits of the world.
Description, identification, occurrence, and use of common and
important minerals. World’s major mineral resources presented on a
geological, historical, and economic basis.
6. Physics in the study of the earth’s origin, history, internal
constitution, and mineral resources. Earthquakes, propagation of
earthquake waves. Interpretation of seismological data.
7. Origin, characteristics, and distribution of glaciers and
associated land forms aed deposits. Stratigraphy and chronology of
glacial deposits.
8. Water resources. Occurrence, regulation, and management of
water. Hydrologic cycle. Water movement; water quality and pollution.
Surface and subsurface water.
9. Physical, chemical, biological, and geological features and
processes operating in the oceans. Waves, currents, sea-water
chemistry.
10. Continental shelf, slope, and ocean-basin geomorphology.
Structure and composition of sediments. Origin and geologic
history of sea water and ocean basins.
S E C T I O N II

This is our Home

We are plan n in g a trip in to the E arth 's history.

N a tu ra lly, a n y trip m u st be prepared. So, we
sh ou ld h ave an idea o f what the sta te o f the art
in geoscien ces is.
B ein g n atu re stu d en ts we sh ou ld kn ow every­
th in g about th e object u n der stu d y , th at is about
th e Earth. I t m eans to h ave ideas o f E arth 's
stru ctu re a n d com position , arran gem en t, its unit
com pon en ts a n d con stitu en ts, th eir localization ,
p o sitio n , occurrence a n d distribu tion , charac­
teristic featu res. B esides, we sh ou ld kn ow what
processes, where, when, why a n d how m o d ify the
E arth , th a t is to kn ow th eir con dition s, causes
a n d effects, as w ell as th eir in teraction s an d
in terrelations.
 THESE ARE ELEMENTS

Look at the "map*

(jreofT^
SILICON

^^^Г Г П лГ У

CHRO^ 4 BER1UUM

< $Л ^

^V/W f

/ rS 0 * ^ .
• Identify the meaning o f the words. Mind their international
character.

•See if you pronounce the words correctly:

CHLORINE - ['kIo:ri:n ]:'BROMINE,'FLUORINE,'IODINE - ?

CARBON - ['karbon ]: ARGON, ARSENIC - ?
MANGANESE - [m*rnahi:z ] : GALLIUM, POTASSIUM,
PLATINUM ?
NITROGEN -[ 'n aitredjen] : HYDROGEN, OXYGEN,
GERMANIUM ?
SULPHUR - ['sAlfaJ: PHOSPHORUS, TUNGSTEN ?

•Pronounce these words:

C e r i u m ,' s i l i c o n , 'c h l o r i n e ,
'CALCIUM, MAGNESIUM,'NITROGEN,
N i c k e l , Xr g o n ,
GERMANIUM,'SULPHUR.

•T he Odd-man out.

A. Mind the sounds:

NICKEL - CHLORINE - CERIUM - CO'BALT

HYDROGEN - ARGON -MAGNESIUM - GALLIUM
GERMANIUM - NITROGEN - GOLD - OXYGEN
SULPHUR - URANIUM - A'LUMINUM
CARBON - PLATINUM - ARGON - ARSENIC
TIN - OXYGEN - HYDROGEN - SILICON

B. Mind the elements:

'NEON - OXYGEN - HYDROGEN

- NITROGEN - 'COPPER
OXYGEN -'RADIUM - CHLORINE
- NEON - NITROGEN
LEAD - NICKEL - ZINK - TIN - ARGON

18
POSSIBLE VARIABLES TO CHARACTERIZE ELEMENTS

W E IG H T T O X IC IT Y FLAMMABILITY* CO LO UR
(IN) FLAMMABILITY
A G G R EG ATE
STATE O DO UR CHEM ICAL
ACTIVITY

RADIOACTIVITY MAGNETISM SOLUBILITY TA ST E

CORROSITY VALENCY

TR A N SPARENCY

POSSIBLE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ELEMENTS

SOLID METALLIC LIGHT CORROSIVE

LIQUID NONMETALIC HEAVY N O N -C O R R O SIV E
G ASEO U S SEMIMETALIC

C O L O U R L E SS/of som e colour

ACTIVE O D O U R LE SS/irritating SEM ITRAN SPARENT
INERT T A ST E L E SS/caustic TRANS PA R EN T
O PA Q U E

FLAMMABLE - UN) FLAMMABLE

NONFLAMMABLE

SOLUBLE FERRO US T O X IC / poisonous

UNSOLUBLE N O N -FE R R O U S N O N -T O X IC /harm less

NON-M AG NETIC 1 ,2 ,3...-M U L T Y -V A L E N T RADIO ACTIVE

MAGNETIC N O N -R A D IO A C TIV E

•Guess the meaning of the words. Mind their international char­

acter. Identify their affixes.
•Match the variables up with the corresponding characteristics.

COLOUR
•The adjectives below refer to the COLOUR of the elements.
Find out whether they refer to
basic colours
shades
intensity
having the colour of some other element
resembling the appearance of some elem ent/substance.

19
 Pale yellow, yellow, yellowish, gold-yellow, deep-yellow,
golden yellow, grey, deep grey, silver-grey, greyish,
silvery grey, pale grey.

•Identify the meaning of the adjectives below.

Grey-white, pale yellowish, blue-white, silvery, deep red, bluish-

white, yellow, blackish, tin-white, silvery grey, greenish-yellow,
silver-white, bluish, steel-grey, reddish, greyish-white, silvery-
white, blackish-grey.

• Say: • what elements are white

what elements have blueish colour
what elements are of silvery colour.

•Compare the colour of the elements both horizontally and

vertically. Use proper connectives.

ALUMINUM like GOLD (yellow)

MERCURY unlike COPPER (reddish)
NICKEL silver-whiter both... and... BROMINE
(deep red)
IRON while CHLORINE
(greenish)
SODIUM whereas FLUORINE
(yellowish)

VALENCY
• Put the following in order:
TETRAVALENT, MULTIVALENT, BIVALENT,
POLYVALENT, UNIVALENT, PENTAVALENT
TRIVALENT

•Compare the valency of the elements below. Mind that they are
grouped according to the order of valency. Use: LIK E , UNLIKE,
BOTH...AND.., W HILE, WHEREAS.

20
 I II III IV V VI
H Y D RO G EN CADMIUM ALUMINUM CARBON ARSENIC CHROMIUM

CO PPER C O PPER COLD IRIDIUM IO D IN E

FLUORINE LEAD IRON LEAD PHO SPH O ­
R US
CADMIUM BARIUM ARSENIC SILICON URANIUM
POTASSIUM MAGNESIUM IRIDIUM M O LY BDE­
NUM

•Complete the table. Make use of the information below.

E le­ A ggre­ Colour Chem i­ V alen­ W eight Flamma- T aste Odour

ment gate cal cy bility
state activity

Водород - самый легкий газ, бесцветный, без запаха, без вку­

са, в соединениях одновалентен, химически активен, растворим в
воде, горюч.
Кислород - бесцветный газ, без запаха и вкуса, химически
активен. В соединениях ... валентен.
Бром - тяжелая едкая жидкость красно-коричневого цвета,
химически активен.
Ртуть - тяжелая жидкость, химически мало активна, сереб­
ристо-белого цвета, одно-двухвалентна, ядовита, негорюча.
М ышьяк - серо-стальное, горючее вещество, в соединениях
трех- и пятивалентен, ядовит.

•Describe the elements from the table for other students to

guess.
•Compare any two of the elements. Use proper connectives.

KALEIDOSCOPE

• Give your examples of the words with the prefixes

TETRA-, MULTY-, BI-, POLY-, UNI-,
PENTA-, TRI-, SEMI-

•Give examples of the words which can be formed by adding the

above prefixes to the following words:

21
 national, official, form, colour, lingual, circle, automatic,
technic, crystal, final, precious.

•Describe the eyes, hair, face of your groupmates, friends,

relatives etc...

•Describe the sky

at dawn, sunset, in summer, winter, spring, autumn, in good
weather, bad weather.

•Say what colour the sea is

in different seasons, in good / bad weather.

• Explain what is

a tasteless person a lifeless village

an odorless flower a treeless region
a colourless face a pointless discussion
a roofless house an airless room

• What characteristics might go with

voice, smile, dinner, speech, character.

•Add examples of your own.

•Describe something/ somebody for other student to guess.

Use all possible characteristics. See if the following could be of
some help:

GOLD
a heart of gold
a voice of gold
the golden rule
golden wedding
SILVER
to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth
to have a silver tongue
IRON
as hard as iron
an iron will
to rule with an iron hand
a man of iron
an iron fist in a velvet glove

22
 READING MATTER

OXYGEN is colourless, tasteless, odourless gas, slightly soluble

in water, and slightly heavier than air. Oxygen is the most chemically
active substance known.
• List the variables mentioned.
• List the suffixes. Continue the strings of derivatives.

HYDROGEN - the lightest of the elements, an odourless,

colourless, flammable gas, occurring chiefly in combination with
oxygen as water and uniting chemically with many elements to form
hydrocarbons, carbohydrates, and other important compounds.

• List the variables mentioned.

• List the words with the suffixes. Continue the strings of
derivatives.

•What questions would you ask to compare the two texts?

•Compare the texts. Use proper connectives.

WHAT IS A MINERAL?

ELEMENTS + ELEM ENTS MINERALS

combine with to form
(unite)

MINERALS = ELEM ENTS ^ + > ELEM ENTS

are formed by combination
of

23
 •Describe the schemes:
ELEM ENTS O XYG EN -O X I D E S
SILICON O X Y G EN - SILICON
D IO X ID E
(SILICA)
SILICA WATER - SILICIC A C ID S
POTASSIUM
ALUMINUM
SILICIC SODIUM - SILICATES
AC IDS CALCIUM
IRON
V, MAGNESIUM

THUS,
MINERALS ARE FORMED BY THE COMBINATION OF THE
ELEMENTS.
THE ELEMENTS COMBINE (unite) TO FORM MINERALS.
ELEMENTS ARE UNIT CONSTITUENTS OF MINERALS.
MINERALS ARE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS.

Thus, one more item is added to the description of minerals

as compared to that of the elements, namely
COMPOSITION.

•Describe the following groups of minerals. Say what

INCLUDES what and what OCCURS in what.
Compare them. Use proper connectives.
ILMEN1TE ILMENITE
HEMATITE HEMATITE
OXIDES
LIMONITE LIMONITE OXIDES
MAGNETITE MAGNETITE

CALCITE CALCITE
CARBONITES
DOLOMITE DOLOMITE CARBONITES

GYPSUM GYPSUM
SULPHATES
ANHYDRITE ANHYDRITE SULPHATES

PHOSPHATES - APATITE APATITE - PHOSPHATES

-PYRITE PYRITE
SULPHIDES* -CHALCOPYRITE CHALCOPYRITE - SULPHIDES
PYRRHOTITE PYRRIIOTITE

FELDSPAR FELDSPAR
SILICATES i * MICA MICA
SILICATES
• PYROXENE
ect.

24
 •Describe the schemes. Make use of the verbs: to include, to
combine^ to form, to comprise, to occur;

and
connectives: in turn, besides, not only... but, as well ( as), also,
while, whereas.

ANHYDROUS

kaollnite
talc
chlorite
etc.

QUARTZ IRON ORES

anhydrous hydrous
magnetite limonite
ilmenite
hematite

POSSIBLE VARIABLES TO CHARACTERIZE MINERALS

ELASTICITY H A R D N E SS CLEAVAGE LU ST R E

S E C T IU T Y RIGIDITY DUCTILITY

SOLUBILITY TRANSPARENCY MALLEABILITY COLOUR

SPECIFIC GRAVITY CRYSTAL FORM

FLEXIBILITY FLU O R ESC E N C E RADIOACTIVITY STREAK

MAGNETISM BRITTLENESS

25
 • What additional variables at*e included in the above table as
compared to that of the elements? Choose one of the above variables to
correspond to the following descriptions:
- the appearance of the surface in reflected light
- the arrangement of the molecules in each mineral
- the way a mineral breaks in flat plane
- the relative weight of the mineral
- the m ineral’s ability to scratch or be scratched
- the colour of a powdered mineral
- the response to ultra-violet light.
HARDN ESS
Mohos’ scale of hardness

1. talc (softest) 6. orthoclase

2. gypsum 7. quartz
3. calcite 8. topaz
4. fluorite 9. corundbm
5. apatite 10. diamond
(hardest)

So, topaz has a hardness of 8. It means that it scratches quartz

but does not scratch corundum. That is it is too soft to scratch
corundum, but hard enough to scratch quartz.

•Now, describe the hardness of these:

gypsum
fluorite
orthoclase

•Identify the variables which denote TENSILE STRENGTH.

The following examples may be of spme help. Make use of:
because, therefore.
- It breaks easily. It is brittle.
What is it? (ssqQ )
- It bends easily. It is flexible.
What is it?
- It stretches and returns to the same shape. It is
elastic.
What is it?
- It is easily cut into sections. It is sectile.
What is it? (osooiq )

26
 - I t forms thin sheets when it is hammered. It is
malleable.
What is it? (PPD)
- It forms thin wire when it is heated and pulled. It is
ductile.
What is it? (J^ddoj)
•Look at these diagrams:

Чч mica /

heat | s llv e ^

•Now say which material is flexible (brittle...)?

How do you know?

LUSTRE
• Match up the words on the left and the explanations on the right
to characterize LUSTRE (to make it more specific).
VITREOUS the appearance of MOTHER-OF-PEARLS
RESINOUS the shiny luster of DIAMOND
GREASY the appearance of GLASS
PEARLY the appearance of OIL
SILKY the appearance of RESIN
ADAMANTINE the CHALK-like appearance
DULL the appearance of SILK

CLEAVAGE
•How can cleavage be characterized? Remember that a mineral
can break
PERFECTLY - IMPERFECTLY
DISTINCTLY - INDISTINCTLY
WELL

27
 PROPERTIES OF SOME MINERALS
MINERAL COLOUR/ TENSILE HARD­ CRYSTAL RELATIVE-
LUSTRE STRENG TH NESS STRUCTURE DEN SITY

DIAM OND cubic 3.5

G R A PH ITE 1 hexagonal 2.1
HALITE brittle 2.5 cubic 2.2
BERYL green /y ello w brittle 8 hexagonal 2.7
CALCITE white brittle tetragonal 2.7
FLUORITE colourless brittle cubic 3.2
GOLD 2.5 cubic 17.0
BARYTES white brittle 3 orthorhombic 4.5
ZIRCON brown brittle 7.5 tetragonal 4.3
CO PPER 3 cubic 8.8

•Complete the table. Compare any of the two minerals.

•Read these descriptions of minerals and name them using the

scheme.
a) It breaks easily and is white in colour. It has a
tetragonal structure and is harder than gypsum but
softer than fluorite. It has a relative density of 2.7.
Therefore, it is ....
b) It is fairly hard and is brown is colour. It has a
tetragonal structure.
Therefore, it is ....
c) It is red in colour. It has a cubic structure and can
be made into wire.
Therefore, it is ....
•Now write similar descriptions for these minerals:
e) gold
f) halite
g) beryl
-
THUS,
a mineral may be described according to its
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
and
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

•Describe and compare any of the minerals (or gems) for other
students to guess.

28
 •Write a mini-text on minerals or gems. It should include:
INTRODUCTION. DESCRIPTION. COMPARISON.
CONCLUSION.

KALEIDOSCOPE

•Describe the hardness of these:

a) a steel knife /5 .5
b) a copper coin / 3
c) a fingernail / 2.5
• What do you think these mean?
hard discipline, hard times, hard lines, hard fact, hard and fast
rules, as hard as nails, to rain hard, to smoke hard, hard-bo\\cd
eggs, hard coal, hard-faced, hard-hearted, soft words, soft
breeze, soft voice, softer sex, beewax, waxy character

rigid economy, rigid character, rigid discipline

cleavage in regards to views, cleavage of society into classes

•What characteristics might be used to describe

person face dress

manner economy man
woman visibility teeth
skin hair character...

•The guess-game.
Think of something/somebody for other
students to guess.

• 10 questions. Ask questions to acquire information.

(Avoid special questions.)
•Explain what the following mean:
stone-blind stone-dead stone-deaf
stone-cold stone-sober
a diamond wedding
to have a heart of stone
to leave no stone unturned
within a stone’s throw (of)
Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.

29
 •Think of a situation in which you could use the above word
combinations.
•Do you know your BIRTHSTONES?

January - GARNET - Dark Red (Constancy and

Friendship)
February - AMETHYST - Purple (Sincerity and Peace)
M arch- BLOODSTONE - Dark Green with Red Spots
AQUAMARINE - Pale Blue
April - DIAMOND - Transparent, White (Innocence
and Prosperity)
May - EMERALD - Bright Green (Happiness and
Felicity)
June - PEARL - Cream (Health and Wealth)
July - RUBY - Red (Ease and Serenity)
August - SARDONYX - Banded Red and White
September - SAPPHIRE - Deep Blue (Wisdom and Purity)
October - OPAL - Variegated (Hope and Courage)
November - TOPAZ - Yellow (Friend’s and Lover
True)
December - BLUE ZIRCON - Pale Blue (Success and
Prosperity)

•Read the sentences and answer the questions.

A DIAMOND is composed of nothing but carbon.
- Does a diamond consist of many elements?
Among red precious stones, GARNET, unlike ruby, is dark red.
- What colour is ruby?
EMERALDS and BERYLS. Mineralogically emerald is beryl,
which contains a metal called beryllium. The green colour of beryl is
due to an extremely small amount of chromium; green transparent
beryl is called emerald; beryl which is transparent, pale water-blue is
called aquamarine.
- What is beryllium?
- Paraphrase the sentence with "due to".
Synthetic GEMSTONES, unlike imitation stones, have the same
ingredients as natural gemstones.
- What is the difference between imitation stones and natural
gemstones?
Some STONES have distinctive crystals and some not.
Tourmaline, natural sapphire and aquamarine are hexagonal and occur
in prismatic crystals, while diamond and garnet are isometric and occur

30
in symmetrical crystals. Obsidian, which is natural glass, dees not have
crystal form, it is amorphous. Natural ruby normally has sharp
crystals.
- What variables are opposed with "while”?
- Group the stones according to some variables. Give reasons.
- Are gems crystalline?
- What opal is called black?

ZIRCON, which is as bright as diamond, is among the brightest

of gems because its high reflectivity. It is a chemical compound of metal
zirconium. The pale blue zircon is the most popular.
- Is diamond bright?
- What is the interrelation between the brightness, and
refractivity?

DIAMOND. Though its chemical element is carbon, tfke

graphite, it has a regular and isometric crystal form and is usually
colourless and transparent, unlike other minerals composed of carbon.
It is the hardest-known natural substance.
- What crystal form does graphite have?
- Characterize the variables of minerals composed of carbon.

RUBIES and SAPPHIRES. Mineralogically they are the same

mineral corundum, which is the hardest material next to diamond.
When this corundum includes chromium, which gives it a redness, it
becomes ruby; when it contains titanium and iron instead, and so is
blue, it becomes sapphire.
- Which is harder: diamonds or rubies?
- What variable makes rubies and sapphires sim ilar/different?

AQUAMARINE, a beryl, like emerald, is, unlike emerald, pale

water-blue.
- What is emerald?
- What colour is aquamarine?
OLIVINE is yellowish green rather than emerald - green.
- What shade of green is olivine?

PEARLS. The pearl, consisting of calcium carbonate and a little

organic material, is formed within an oyster. Pearls come in many
colours - for instance, silver-white, pink, black and yellow.
- What variables are mentioned in the text?
- What is calcium carbonate as related to pearls?

31
 JADE, as a mineral, belongs to the same family as augite
(pyroxene) and hornblende (amphibole). It is hard, but less hard than
quartz. The greener the colour, the better.
- What are the variables mentioned?
- Which is harder: quartz or jade?

The OPAL is not crystalline like other gems but a hardened silica
"jelly". The main colours of the Australian opal are blue and green. The
Mexican opal varies from red to orange. The iridescent (i.e. displaying
the colours of the rainbow) opal which is often referred to as the black
opal, is the best opal.

•Using the above information give as complete a description of

GEMS as possible.

READING MATTER

MINERALS are the basic naturally occurring inorganic

homogeneous units having definite physical and chemical properties
which are combined in various ways and under different conditions to
form rocks.
- What variable does "homogeneous" characterize?
- What information on rocks can you deduce?
- What are minerals as related to rocks?
- What are rocks?
- List the adjectives. Continue the strings of derivatives.
- Express the information in separate sentences.

Most minerals consist of ELEMENTS combined as chemical

compounds although a few may occur as native elements, - for example,
gold, silver, copper, and carbon (diamond and graphite).
Eight elements make up about 98% of the earth’s crust. Oxygen
is the most abundant and seven other elements unite with oxygen to
make up many of the common minerals. The most fundamental
combination of these elements is their union with oxygen to form
oxides. When silicon unites with oxygen, silicon dioxide is formed,
which unites with water and forms acids. The six other elements unite
with oxygen and water to form bases. The acids and bases combine to
form silicates, which are the most abundant compounds in the earth’s
crust.

32
 • Make up a scheme.
- What is oxygen?
- What are oxides?
- What is silicon dioxide?
- What are acids?
- What are bases?
- What are silicates?
•Find in the text

the equivalents for ’’unite", "make up";

the opposites of "many", "native".

The FELDSPARS are probably more widely-distributed than

any other group of rock-forming minerals. They occur in most of the
igneous rocks, such as granites and lavas; in certain sandstones and
conglomerates among sedimentary ones; and in gneisses of the
metamorphic rocks.
- What variables are mentioned to characterize the
feldspar?
- What are the types of rocks mentioned?
- What is said about he composition of all the types
of rocks?
- Say what the rocks mentioned in the text have in
common and differ in.
- What does "ones" mean in the text?

FELDSPAR is a family name, and not that of a single mineral. It

constitutes one of the most, if not the most, important group of rock-
forming minerals; nearly 60 per cent of the earth’s crust is composed of
feldspar.
It possesses good cleavage in two directions. Brittle. Specific
gravity varies with chemical composition. Luster vitreous : on cleavage
faces often pearly. Steak white, not characteristic. The feldspar exhibit
a variety of colours: colourless, sometimes transparent and glassy,
white, grey, red and green.
Feldspar is frequently the dominant colouring minerai in
granites.
• What does "that" refer to in the first sentence?
(You can guess it by opposing "family - single".)
• Expand on the sentence "Specific gravity varies with chemical
composition" by illustrating it with examples.
• Explain what "the dominant colouring mineral" means.
•Compare the texts on feldspar. Introduce the additional
information with the connectives: besides, furthermore, moreover.
33
2 - 14ft
 •Fill in the table and compare the two minerals:

Variables
M inerals Physical properties
Composition Occurrence
FELDSPA R
Q UARTZ

QUARTZ - one of the commonest minerals which is present in

many rocks and solids in a wide variety of forms. It consists of silica - a
compound of silicon and oxygen. It forms the major proportion of most
sands.
- What points make up the definition ?
- What is meant by the "commonest" mineral?
- What are sands composed of and in what proportion?
- What characteristics are mentioned? What are their opposites?

QUARTZ is crystalline, possesses no cleavage, colour varies

widely, from colourless or white through grey and brown to black,
sometimes yellow, red, pink, green and blue. Lustre vitreous,
sometimes greasy. Streak white. It is brittle.

QUARTZ is the most common mineral, having widespread

occurrence in igneous, sedimentary and mctamorphic rocks. It is an
important constituent of the acid igneous rocks, such as granites, and it
may occur in gneisses, and is the predominant constituent in quartzites.
It is common in sedimentary rocks, forming the principle mineral in
sandstones. It is associated in rocks chiefly with feldspar.

• Compare the two texts on quartz. Introduce the additional

information with the connectives BESIDES, FURTHERMORE,
MOREOVER.

WHAT IS R O C K ?

ROCK

NATURAL MATERIAL SOLID

COMPOSED BY MAKING UP
MINERALS THE EARTH

34
 POSSIBLE VARIABLES TO CHARACTERIZE ROCKS

COM POSITION PERMEABILITY ORIGIN

TE X TU R E POROSITY C O IIER E N C E

POSSIBLE CHARACTERISTICS OF ROCKS

PURE VOLCANIC ORGANIC

IMPURE PLUTONIC INORGANIC

SEDIM ENTARY FIN E-G R A IN ED

IG NEO US M EDIUM -G RAINED
M ETAMORPHIC C O A R SE-G R A IN ED

CLASTIC- FIRM GLASSY

FRAGMENTAL CO H ERENT STO NY
NO N-CLASTIC CELLULAR
LOOSE
CRYSTALLINE INCO H ERENT INTRUSIVE
AM ORPHOUS EFFU SIVE
POR O U S
N O N -PO R O U S
PERMEABLE S T R A H F IE D
IM PERVIOUS NO N -STRATIFIED

35
 •Identify the variables and characteristics of rocks. List the
variables and the corresponding characteristics. Use the clues
given in the frame.

IGNE - fire
META - change
MORPH - form
STRATUM - layer

•Split the words. Identify the meaning of their affixes.

INORGANIC, IMPURE, NON-CLASTIC, INTRUSIVE,
EXTRUSIVE, AMORPHOUS, INCOHERENT, IMPERVIOUS,
PERMEABLE.

THUS
the description of rocks should include
all possible information on their
ORIGIN,
COMPOSITION, and
TEXTURE
OF THE COMPONENT MINERALS

•Compare the rocks described below. Use:

to be" similar to have similar structure

different in.... different * texture
-
various . various

to differ mincralogically
to vary textural ly

a) VOLCANIC b) VOLCANIC a) PLUTONIC b) VOLCANIC

SIMPLE C O M PO UND CRYSTALLINE CRYSTALLINE

a) TH ICK b)T H IN a) CO M POUND b) COM POUND

LO O SE LOOSE CLASTIC NON-CLASTIC

C O A R SE­ FINE
G RAINED G RA IN ED

36
 a) SH A D E OF b) PINK AND RED
GRAY
FELDSPAR FELDSPAR
Q UARTZ QUARTZ
MICA

a) P U R E M ARBLE b) C O M M O N
G R A N IT E
FELDSPAR
CALCITE QUARTZ
MICA

•Describe the table. Compare the amounts of the constituents of

the igneous rocks. Use: to have ... amounts; to contain...
amounts.

INGEOUS ROCKS
Fe Mg Cu Pb Zn Ni Ag Pn Au Am o­
unts
+ + LARGE

+ + + + + SMALL

• Speak about the relative abundance of rocks in the earth’s

crust:
 • Look at the table.

O X ID E GABBRO DIORITE SYENITE GRANITE

Silicon oxide 48.36% 51.86% 59.41% 72.08%
< S i0 2 )
Aluminium 16.84% 16.40% 17.12% 13.86%
o xid e (A 1203)
Iron oxide 10.47% 9.70% 5.02% 2.53%
Magnesium 8.06% 6.12% 2.02% 0.52%
ox id e Mgo
Calcium oxide H >07 % 8.40% 4.06% 1.33%
(Cao)
Sodium oxide 2.26% 3.36% 3.92% 3.08%
(N 2 0 )
Potassium oxide 0.56% 1.33% 16.53% 5.46%
<K 20)
Others 2.38% 2.83% 1.92% 1.14%

•Now speak of the amount:

granite - sodium oxide
gabbro - potassium oxide
syenite - silicon oxide
diorite - iron oxide
granite - silicon oxide

•Look at these analyses of some rocks. Name the rock in each

case.
1. It contains approximately 60% silicon oxide,
approximately 3.5% sodium oxide and 5% iron
oxides.

Is this rock diorite? The percentage: too high

Is it granite? too low
What is rock A and why? insufficient

2. It contains approximately 70% silicon oxide,

approximately 0,5% magnesium oxide and
approximately 3,2% sodium oxide.

Is this rock diorite?

Is it gabbro?
What is it?

• New think of the examples of your own.

38
 • Look at this table:
Occurrence GOLD TIN LEAD DIAMONE
•••
in sedimentary rocks • • •

in metamorphic rocks ::: «

in igneous rocks —TL-Cr*—-

Trfy
11ITTTTr
TTTf
as an ore IT TTTi
TT
4Т7ТГ33 3X
naturally occurring • •
Ш Ш

- invariably / always occurs there,

therefore certain to be found there;
- usually / often occurs there,
therefore likely to be found there / probably;
_ sometimes occurs there,
therefore possibly found there;
- occasionally; j I - never.

•Describe the table above.

•Using the tabic below ask questions on the occurrence of the
minerals. (The clues for answers may be found in the table
above.)

Gold invariably in sedim entary rocks

Tin always in metamorphk; rocks
Lead often occurs in igneous rocks
Diamond usually as an ore
sometimes naturally
occasionally
never

• Answer these questions:

- Which minerals are occasionally found in
sedimentary rocks?
- Which mineral always occurs as the ore?
- Which minerals occasionally occur naturally?
- Which type of rock is most likely to yield
minerals?

Э 9
 - Is it possible for gold to be found in sedimentary
rocks?
- Is it possible for diamond to occur as an ore?
- What is the most probable type of rock in which to
find lead?
•Describe the occurrence of the following minerals:
a) TIN b) LEAD c) DIAMOND

• Look at the table below:

T ypes of rocks Composition Properties Location

(occurrence)
Chalk fossil-sand white, brittle, porous under water
mud surrounded by
deserts
Carbo­ Limestone corals,calci tic pervious at the bottom of deep
nate mud water
Oc5litic
limestone organic calcium spherical and porous under shallow
carbonate water
M agnesian magnesium pervious at the bottom of
limestone carbonate coral reefs
Ferru­ H aem atite 70% iron red, hardness 1-6, in igneous rocks
relative density 5
ginous Limonitc different iron brown or yellow , in igneous rocks
minerals hardness 3 - 5 .5 ,
relative density 4
N on- Rock salt salt cubic, while, by evaporation
frag- hardness 2 .5 ,
relative density 2.1
men- Anhydrite calcium sulphate fibrous, white or in sedim entary rocks
grey, hardness 3.5
lal Gypsum calcium sulphate colourless or white near sulphur
and water hardness 1.5-2
relative d en sity2.3

•Now answer these questions:

- What is the difference between the composition of
chalk and limestone?
- What is the difference between the properties of
chalk and limestone?
- What is the difference between the location of
oolitic limestone and magnesian limestone?
- What is the difference between the properties of
rock salt and anhydrite?

40
 - What is the difference between the properties of
haematite and limonite?
- What is the difference between the location of
anhydrite and gypsum?
•Say how each of the following pairs of rocks can be
distinguished. Use: to distinguish..., examine...;
... can be distinguished by exam ining....
HAEMATITE and LIMESTONE
CHALK and OOLITIC LIMESTONE
GYPSUM and ANHYDRITE
HAEMATITE and LIMONITE

BEING UNIT CONSTITUENT OF THE LITHOSPHERE

ROCKS OCCUR IN
DIFFERENT FORMS
AND MAKE UP
DIFFERENT ROCK BODIES

In describing the ROCK BODIES one may need the following

CHARACTERISTICS:

roughly dome-shaped
circular

cylindrical

parallel
horizontal vertical
 overlying layer

middle layer

* * x /* x > x underlying layer

x X
* x * x x x X

•Describe any rock-body you know making use of the charac­

teristics above.

THUS,

a ROCK is a NATURAL

MATERIAL

■HAVING CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS

- CONSISTING OF= COMPOSED OF something
- OCCURRING IN some places and in some form
-SIMILARTO or
- DIFFERING FROM something of its kind
- CLASSIFIED INTO some classes, types, kinds

•Describe any rock you like.

•W rite a mini-text on rocks.
(Introduction. Description.
Comparison. Conclusion.)

42
 KALEIDOSCOPE

•Do these come from the crust of the earth? Are they
NATURAL or MAN-MADE?
CEMENT BRICK GLASS STEEL

•What is implied by natural resources

natural smile
natural silk?
•What can be described as a DOME-SHAPED 01 DOME-
LOOKED type?
• What word can be used to describe
a smile which is not natural artificial
silk which is not natural man-made
material which is not natural unnatural

• What would you call these:

a nose of a good shape
a person with long legs
a head that looks like a dome
a person who has a bald head
a person who has a “stone” (hard, light) heart?
• Could you guess what is meant by:
a glassy stare coarse language
a firm voice loose translation
as solid as rock to rock with laughter
as firm as rock
• Give examples of your own.
• Describe someone you know having the above characteristics.

R E A D I N G M A T T ER

ROCK - one of the solid materials of which Ihe earth’s crust is

mainly composed. It is made up of minerals. In some cases it consists of
only a single mineral but usually of several minerals.
- What is the main point on which the definition of
rock is based?
- What information on the composition of the
earth’s crust is given?
- Give a one-sentence definition of rock.
- What words denote composition?
- Describe the composition of the earth’s crust.
43
 The MAJORITY OF ROCKS are heterogeneous aggregates of
more than one kind of mineral, but some rocks consist largely of a
single kind of mineral.
•Compare the two texts on rocks.
•Give a one-sentence definition of rock using the information
from both the texts.

Most of the hard, naturally formed substances of the earth’s

crust is referred to as ROCK. It occurs both in the form of layers
(strata) or irregular masses of various sizes and shapes. It originates in
many ways. A small portion come into existence through the deposition
and accumulation of organic substances (e.g. coal). However, most is
made up of aggregates of inorganic particles known as minerals.
- What additional variables and the corresponding
characteristics on rocks are included in the text?
- Find contextual equivalent of
IS CALLED IS COMPOSED OF
IS FOUND LAYERS
ORIGINATE

- What is coal?
- Give a one-sentence definition of rock with the
new information included.

LIMESTONE - a rock consisting essentially (at least 50% ) of

calcium carbonate. Most types of limestone are partly or wholly of
organic origin and contain the hard parts of various organisms such as
the shells of molluscs and the sceletons of corals.
- What variables make up the definition?
- What kind of rock is limestone?
- What is calcium carbonate?
- What words are used to characterize the
composition of limestone?
- What is introduced with "such as"?
- Give a one-sentence definition of limestone.

SANDSTONES are sedimentary rocks composed of grains of

sand and a cementing material. The component grains of sandstone are
chiefly quartz, but many other minerals occur, such as feldspar, mica,
magnetite etc. Size within the individual grains varies from coarse­
grained to fine-grained, well rounded. Sandstones exhibit a variety of
colour, the various shades of grey, brown and red.
- What variables make up the definition?

44
 - What is the difference between sand and
sandstone?
- Give a one-sentence definition of sandstones.

CHALK - a soft white or greyish type of limestone which

sometimes consists largely of the calcareous remains of small marine
organisms and fragments of shells; in its purest form it may contain as
much as 99% of calcium carbonate.
- What variables make up the definition ?
- What are the characteristics used?
- What is calcium carbonate as related to chalk?
- Give a one-sentence definition of chalk.

COMMON GRANITE is complex in its composition. In it we can

distinguish the transparent grains which are of irregular form and grey
or smoky-grey in colour as well as grains of pink, yellowish or grey
feldspar with either white or black mica distributed among them.

- What are the variables mentioned?

- List the variables together with the words charac­
terizing them.
- What does "as well as” join?
- What can you use instead of "as well as"?
- Is black or white mica distributed among the
grains?
- Give a possible definition of common granite on
the basis of its composition.

GRANITE is a very common intrusive rock consisting of about

10-30% of quartz accompanied by a large amounts of feldspar and by
relatively minor amounts of ferromagnesian minerals such as
hornblende or biotite.
- What are the variables mentioned?
- What is hornblende?
- What is meant by "accompanied"?
- What arc the two word combinations opposite in
meaning?
- Compare the two texts on granite.

MARBLE consists of small crystals having a definite chemical

composition, namely, that of calcium carbonate or calcite.
- What information on marble is given in the
sentence?

45
 - What are calcium carbonate or calcite as related to
marble?
- What points could be included into the definition
of calcium carbonate (3)?
- What does "namely” introduce?
- What does "that" refer to?
- Fill in the table using the above information.
Compare the properties of different rocks. Use
proper connectives. Say what the rocks
ARE SIMILAR IN
DIFFER IN
VARY IN

Mineral Origin Chem i­ T e x ­ Struc­ Colour H ard­

composition cal ture ture ness
com po­
sition
LIM ESTONE
SA N D ST O N E
COMMON
GRANITE
CHALK
MARBLE

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS are grouped into three major

categories: (a) fragmental (or clastic), by far the largest of the groups,
with many variations in grain size and composition; (b) chemically
precipitated subdivided according to their chemical composition; and(c)
organic made from the fossil remains of animals or plants. The
commonest fragmental rocks are rudaceous ("pebbly") breccias and
conglomerates; arenaceous ("sandy") grits, sandstones and siltstones;
and argillaceous ("muddy") clays, mudstones and shales. Chemically
precipitated rocks include evaporites (like rock-salt and gypsum), some
varieties of ironstone, siliceous cherts and many different limestones.
Coal and richly fossiliferous limestones are examples of organic
sedimentary rocks.
- Make up a scheme.
- What variable is basic for each category of
sedimentary rocks?
- List the adjective-forming suffixes.
- List the word with "stone". Explain the difference
between them.

46
 - List the words with -OUS. Explain what meaning
the morpheme adds to the words.

Mineralogically, the SEDIMENTARY ROCKS are in general

more simple than most of the igneous ones. Fewer minerals, of less
complex composition chemically, and as a rule of more stable character,
enter as the principle components of the sedimentary rocks. The most
common minerals entering into the composition of sedimentary rocks
are quartz, feldspar, mica, and iron oxides, both hydrous and
anhydrous, together with the carbonates sulphates, and, to a less
extent, anhydrite, as well as a few less commonly-occurring ones.

- What variable is meant by “mineralogically”?

- What does “ones” refer to?
- List the words characterizing quantity. What is the
difference between them?
- Find the contexual equivalent for “also”.
- Compare the two types of rocks described.

A convenient and useful division of the rock-forming minerals

which enter into the composition of IGNEOUS ROCKS is into (a)
essential and (b) accessory. Essential minerals influence greatly the
character of a rock. On the other hand, accessory minerals occur only in
small quantity and their presence or absence does not materially affect
the nature of the rock. Thus, quartz and feldspar arc essential minerals
in granite, while zircon and apatite are accessory.
Another important distinction between minerals of igneous rocks
is whether they are original or secondary. Original minerals, known
also as primary, form from the solidification of the magma, while
secondary minerals form from the original ones by alteration (contact
or dynamic metamorphism etc.).Thus, talc, calcite are secondary
minerals in igneous rocks.
Essential minerals are original, but not all original minerals are
essential. For example, quartz and feldspar in granite are both essential
and original minerals, while zircon and apatite in the same rock are
original but they are not essential minerals.

- What is opposed with “while” (2 cases)?

- What does “thus” introduce?
- List the connectives used to make the text better
organized.
- Make up a scheme of the text.
- Describe the scheme.
- List the equivalents and the opposites.
47
 LOOK AT THE MAP

• Identify the meaning of the above words. Group them

according to their basic difference.
• Match the variables and the corresponding characteristics.
•Group the variables to characterize LAND FORMS and
WATER BODIES.
•Choose proper characteristics given below to match the grouped
variables.
REGULAR, BROAD, STEEP, LOW, FLAT, GENTLE, WIDE,
NARROW, SALT(Y), BIG, FRESH, DEEP, OVAL,
CIRCULAR, SHALLOW, LARGE, LONG, CONICAL, SMALL,
OLD, HIGH, YOUNG.
• Complete the sentences:

48
 It is one of the larger, unbroken masses of land into wfefeh the
earth’s surface is divided. It is called...?
It is the sheet of salt water which surrounds the great land
masses of the earth. It is... ?
It is a stretch of land almost surrounded by water. It is called...?
It is a mass of land considerably higher than its surroundings. It
i s ...?
It’s a body of land. It is completely surrounded by water. It is
called...?
It is a narrow neck of land. It joins two land masses.
It is...?
It is a large body of salt water. It is partly or completely enclosed
by land. It is...?
It is an extensive sheet of water. It is enclosed by land. It
occupies a hollow in the earth’s surface. It is called...?
Like an island an isthmus...
Unlike.an island, an isthmus...
A sea is... whereas a lake...
Like an ocean...

POSSIBLE VARIABLES T O CHARACTERIZE

RELIEF FEATURES
OF T H E EARTH

•Compare the above variables with those previously discussed.

49
 POSSIBLE CHARACTERISTICS
OF RELIEF FEATURES

— t 1<m*
wide
.bon l 0Yal- ,hl>1* O

low

email

flattened

bulged

• Compare the types of relief forms. Use proper connectives:

WHILE, UNLIKE, WHEREAS, LIKE, BOTH... AND...

FLAT COUNTRY PLAINS

ELEVATED COUNTRY PLATEAU
HIGH ELEVATIONS MOUNTAINS

50
 ' HOLLOWS - VALLEYS
DEEP and NARROW
VALLEYS - GORGES
STEEP-SIDED
VALLEYS - CANYONS

•Compare the RELIEF FEATURES according to the following

variables: SIZE, WIDTH, DEPTH, HEIGHT.

valley canyon cavern mountain

ravine gorge cave hill
gully mound

•Say which is
LARGER
HIGHER a POND or a LAKE?
DEEPER a PLAIN or a PLATEAU?
STEEPER a VALLEY or a CANYON?

• Answer these questions:

1) What is lower than a mountain but higher than a mound?
2) What is higher than a plain but lower than a mountain?
3) What is bigger than a gully but smaller than a valley?
4) What is shorter than a river?

•Describe any of the land forms or water bodies in a few

sentences, then give a one-sentence definition.
•Say what parts a mountain consists of:

TOP (summit)

м
 • What relief forms have the same parts?

• How do you think mountains can vary in the character of their

summits (tops) and slopes?Name the variables and the corresponding
characteristics.
• Using the information given below say what form mountains
occur in. Give as complete a description as possible.

PEAKS - high masses, more or less conical

GROUPS - irregular, vary in size and arrangement
RIDGES - long, narrow
RISES - comparatively low, wide
COMPLEX SYSTEMS - several more or less parallel ranges
RANGES - low, narrow

• Using the characteristics of RELIEF FEATURES describe a

RIVER and its parts.

• How are rivers distinguished from one another?

• State the relationship between

a) gradient (steep/gentle) : stream (fast / slow)

b) rate of evaporation (high /
low)
c) number of tributaries (great/
small)
d) rainfall (high / low)
e) speed of river (fast /. slow)
: level of water (low / high)
: amount of water (great /
small)
: amount of water (great /
small)
: size of particles which can be
transported (large/ small)

52
f) amount of water in a river : weight of debris which can be
(great/small) transported (large/small)

•Describe the following:

50km/h
1 km/h

a emaJl amount of deposition \ ч \ \

a Jnrge amount of deposition

R I V E R

• Look at this map :

North
port

9°*d j f0rest
mines
v/a-СУ. desert
oases Я_>
 Describe the map. Make use of the following:
to be located in..., to be situated in ..., to be concentrated in..., to
be found in..., to be distributed throughout....
• Now look at a map of any country and say
a) Where permanent features and towns etc. are located or
situated.
b) Where crops, animals and minerals are found.
c) What is distributed throughout or concentrated in certain
areas.
• Look at this map:

• Speak of the distribution of volcanoes. Make use of the table

below.

VOLCANO ES are situated around Africa I

are located throughout the P acific Ocean J
are found in the Atlantic Ocean
are distributed in the middle of North America
are concentrated in the east of Australia
in the west of China
in the north of Britain
to the north of Japan
to the south of Malaya
to the east of New Zealand
to the west of
to the north-east of
to the sou th -east of
to the north-west of

54
 •Now ask and answer questions using the information of the
table.
• Answer the following questions:
a) Where are volcanoes situated in Africa?
b) Where are volcanoes located in North America?
c) Where is Mount Pelee located in relation to
North America?
• Discribe the map of the world.

KALEIDOSCOPE

Explain what is meant by:

a gentle woman a steep character

a gentle man a shallow person
a gentle smile a shallow joke

deep colour fresh colours a fiat surface

deep river a fresh wind (in) a flat voice
deep secret a fresh water a flat refusal
deep sleep a fresh idea a flat joke
deep impression fresh news

a broad accent to make a fresh start

a broad humour fresh from school

to be deep in debt as old as hills

to be deep in thought to fall flat
to be deep in one’s heart to feel flat

• Think of situations in which you can use the above word

combinations.
• Here are extracts from the world of fiction. While reading
them find out:
What is described.
What variables and characteristics are mentioned.
What linguistic means are used.
How would you describe the same in a different style?

55
 ...The appearance of the island when I came on deck next morning
was altogether changed. Grey-coloured woods covered a large part of
the surface. This even tint was indeed broken up by streaks of yellow
sand-break in the lower lands, and by many tall trees of the pine
family, out-topping the others - some singly, some in clumps; but the
general colouring was uniform and sad. The hills ran up clear above the
vegetation in spires of naked rock...

...Perhaps it was the look of the island with its grey, melancholy
woods, and wild stone spires, and the surf that we could both see and
hear foaming and thundering on the steep beach - at least although the
sun shone bright and hot, and shore birds were fishing and crying all
around us, and you would have thought any one would have been glad
to land after being so long at sea...

...Round the coasts of Scotland there are seven hundred and

eighty-seven islands. Some are tiny, some are large, some lie close
together, scattered over the sea, others lie alone, detached and self-
sufficient. On some people live, on others sheep are the sole
inhabitants, while still others are companiable only by sea, wind and
weather, by birds and grey seals. But all are part of Scotland...

...It was near noon before we set out, a dark day with clouds, and
the sun shining upon little patches. The river was here very deep and
still, and had scarce a wave upon it; the mountains on either side were
high, rough, and barren, very black and gloomy in the shadow of the
clouds, but all silvcr-laccd with little water-courses where the sun
shone upon them...

...The peninsula is almost an island, being connected to the

mainland by such a narrow neck of land that, as you drive along it, you
can see the sea on both sides of the road. Entering the peninsula was
like coming into a newland. For days we had driven through the
monotonous and monochrome Patagonian landscape, flat as a billiard-
table and apparently devoid of life. Now we reached the fine neck of
land on the other side of which was the peninsula, and suddenly the
landscape changed. Instead of the small, spiky bushes stretching purple
to the horizon, we drove into a buttercup-yellow landscape, for the
bushes were larger, greener and each decked with a mass of tiny
blooms. The countryside was no longer flat but gently undulating,
stretching away to the horizon like a yellow sea, shimmering in the sun...

56
 ...We came at last to the foot of an exceedingly steep wood, which
scrambled up a craggy hillside, and was crowned by a naked precipice.
The trees clung upon the slope, like sailors on the shrouds of a ship;
and their trunks were like the rounds of a ladder, by which we
mounted...

...This was the wood of birches, growing on a steep, craggy side of

a mountain that overhung the loch. It had many openings and ferny
dells.
Day began to come in while we were still far from any shelter. It
found us in a prodigious valley strewn with rocks and where ran a
foaming river. Wild mountains stood around it; there grew neither grass
nor trees...

...Now, right before us, the anchorage was bounded by a plateau

from two to three hundred feet high, adjoining on the north the sloping
southern shoulder of the Spy-glass (mountain), and rising again
towards the south into the rough cliffy Hill. The top of the plateau was
dotted thickly with pine trees of varying heights. Every here and there,
one of a different species rose forty or fifty feet clear above its
neighbours...

...The path went down into the marsh. On either hand there were
great fields of blowing reeds and willows, pools of water shaking in the
wind, and treacherous bogs, as green as emerald, to tempt to betray the
traveller...

...Presently, in the setting sun, the landscape heaved itself into a

series of gentle undulations, and we switch-backed over the last of
these and out on to what at first looked like the level bed of an ancient
lake. It lay encircled by a ring of low hills, and was, in fact, a sort of
miniature dust-bowl created by the wind, which had carried the sand
from the shore behind the hills and deposited it here in a thick, choking
layer that had killed off the vegetation. As we roared across this flat
area, spreading a fan of white dust behind us, we saw, in the lee of the
further hills, a cluster of green trees...

Swampland

There is something forbidding about a swamp. The warm steam

that arises from the stagnant water and the quiet stillness which
penetrates to the brain give one a queer, uneasy feeling. The dark

57
gloom and the long shadows cast an eerie illusion over everything.
Giant trees with Spanish moss trailing like peacock tails shut out any
trace of fresh air. The rank grass and the thorny nettles along the path,
which is no more than a thread of trampled ground, tremble with who-
know-what slipping through the water, the slim alligators, their eyes
a steady reflection of hatred and anger, keep one paralyzed with fear.
An olive-green water moccasin reflexes on an overhanging branch.
Nervous schools of fish make forays along the shallow edge of the dank
creek. Only now and then is the silence broken by a splash in the water
that makes one turn around to see what creature is coming to life. The
croaking of the frogs sounds like someone rubbing his fingernail along
the jagged teeth of a comb. At intervals an unfamiliar bird sings a
strange song. The heat closes in as if to smother one. The mud is
spongy, and every step is uncertain, for the suction draws one down
and down into the unknown. The sluggish waters feel warm and
uncomfortable. Their bottomless depths hold their own mysteries and
incredible secrets. Such is the swamp.

READING MATTER

The irregularities of the earth’s surface, or its relief, divide into

major and minor groups. The former are the continental masses and
ocean basins, the latter, the minor groups, consist of mountains as
opposed to interior valleys and basins of the land.
The features of the land are divided into plains, plateaux and
mountains. It is of interest that the continents have a tendency to
consist of interior basins with mountain chains as coastal rims, while
the ocean basins, on the contrary, often have deeps near the continents
and submarine ridges in mid ocean. Often the highest ranges on the
edge of a continent border the important deeps in the ocean floor.
- What does "former" refer to?
- What is the division of relief based upon?
- What is opposed with "while"?
• Make an SPO (subject - predicate - object) scheme of the last
sentence.
• List the relief features mentioned.
• Give a one-sentence definition of relief.

58
 Just as the continents have mountains* plateaux, and plains the
sea floor also has its larger topographic features. Among these are
continental shelves, continental slopes, and ridges or rises.
The continental shelves are the submerged edges of the
continents. Off most coastlines the bottom descends dradually. The
gently sloping surface of the continental shelf plunges into much
steeper continental slope.
Great mountain ranges and mountain systems rise above the
floor of the ocean. If they are long and relatively narrow they are called
ridges; if broader and larger, rises.
- What connective is used to compare the continents
with the sea floor?
- What does "these” refer to?
- What variables are the definitions of the
topographic features based upon?
• Give definitions of CONTINENTAL SLOPES;
RIDGES;
RISES.

A LAKE may be defined as a body of water occupying a more or

less basin-shaped depression in the earth’s surface. A small lake is
called a pond, a very large lake is sometimes referred to as an inland
sea. These terms are, however, loosely used. The formation of lakes is
sometimes complex, and their origin may be due to a number of causes;
moreover, even after the lake has been formed it is frequently modified
in different ways, especially in depth.

LAKES and PONDS. The difference docs not depend on area.

It is a question of depth or, more precisely, of the existence of thermic
stratification during the warm season, when two layers are
superimposed in the lakes, with practically no interpenetration between
them. The upper layer, 15 metres deep, consists of a warm epilimnion
whose temperature decreases slowly with depth, e.g. from 18°С at the
surface to 14°C at 12 metres. Thereafter the temperature drops
suddenly, within the space of 2 or 3 metres, to 6° or 7°C, and then
slowly again down to the bottom where, at 4°C, the water reaches its
maximum density.
In a pond which is rarely more than 4 to 5 metres deep, the water
4emperature varies with the season but it always more or less constant
h om the surface to the bottom.

• List the key points to characterize lakes and ponds. Use the
information given in both the texts.

59
 • Compare the descriptions. Use proper connectives.
• Explain what these mean:

basin-shaped interpenetration
loosely used thereafter
superimposed varies with the season

A SWAMP may be defined as any area where the ground is

saturated with water during most of the year, and the land not deeply
submerged. Swamps occur in different topographic positions, but a
majority of them are nearly or quite level, although they sometimes
occur on the slopes of hills and mountains. They are frequently
associated with lakes, seas, and rivers, and every gradation may be
found between lakes and swamps on the one hand, and between
swamps and uplands on the other.
Swamps may be divided into two groups: inland or frcsh-watc
swamps, and coastal or salt-water swamps.

• List the points to characterize a swamp.

• What is opposed with "although”?
• Compare the description of a swamp to that of a lake.

LAKE WATERS may be warmed either by the sun’s heat, or by

contact with the air, but since water is a poor radiator as well as a poor
conductor of heat, it will not respond to atmospheric temperature
changes as readily as solid mineral masses like rocks. A shallow lake
may be warmed to bottom by the summer’s heat, and equally chilled by
the winter’s cold, although its temperature will be more uniform than
that of the air.
The WATERS OF LAKES may show a wide range in
composition. Those of frcsh-water lakes, that is, those having an outlet,
do not differ so much from river waters. It is in the inland lakes,
without outlet, and which often show high salinity, that the most
marked variation in composition is found. The waters of the fresh-water
lakes often run high in carbonates.
- How do rocks respond to atmospheric changes?
- What do these refer to:
that that is
those it is... that?
- What variables are taken for comparison of lake
waters?
- What is a fresh-water lake?
• Explain what is meant by

60
 a podr conductor of heat
show wide range in composition
the most marked variations in composition
run high in carbonates

A high altitude is favourable to the development of swiftly-flowing

streams and deep valleys, and if the conditions promoting widening are
absent, the valley will be narrow. In arid climates the conditions are
usually favourable to the development of deep narrow valleys or canyons.
Firm rock is also a condition favouring their growth. A small canyon is
usually termed a gorge.
• Follow the word "favourable" throughout the text.
Find out its derivative and the contextual equivalent.
• Find the contextual equivalent of "to be called".
• What determines the difference between
a VALLEY
a CANYON
a GORGE?

• Compare the three types of land forms. Use proper

connections.
All streams do not build deltas. Their absence may be due to lack
of sediment, or to waves and shore currents which carry off the
sediment as soon as the streams deliver it. A third cause for the
apparent failure of delta formation may be the great depth of the water
into which the stream discharges.
Tidal seas then are usually opposed to delta formation, whereas
lakes, bays, gulfs, and inland seas, where wave action and tidal
currents are weak, are favourable for delta formations.
• Paraphrase the following:
due to lack of sediment
the apparent failure of delta formation
• What is opposed with "whereas”?
• List the conditions which are favourable for delta formations
and the unfavourable ones.

Natural waters can be conveniently divided into three groups:

rain water, surface water, and sea water.
Rain water is the purest of natural waters; it is simply condensed
water vapour. However it is difficult to collect and it is not a convenient
source of drinking water.
Surface waters, which include streams, rivers, and lakes, are the
most important source of water for all purposes. However, river water

61
contains a large number of compounds in solution. Of these calcium
compounds are the most common. The amount of dissolved impurities
depends upon the solubility of rocks over which the stream flows.
The sea water is the reservoir for all dissolved solids carried
down by rivers, and its unpleasant taste is due to these substances in
solution. Elements that form the most plentiful compounds in sea water
are sodium, potassium, calcium, chlorine.
• What does "these" refer to (paragraph 3)?
• Complete the following sentences:
...therefore rain water is not a convenient source of drinking
water.
...therefore river waters are considered impure.
...therefore the sea water has unpleasant taste.
• Identify the principle variable according to which natural
waters can be divided.
• What is opposed with the word "however" in both cases?
• Compare the three groups of natural waters along two lines:
a) their composition;
b) as a source of drinking water.
Use proper connectives.
Part or the water which falls as rain sinks into the ground. A
large amount of this water emerges again as rivers or springs, but some
is retained in the rocks and is called underground water.
• Paraphrase the following :
falls as rain
emerge as rivers or springs
• See if you could guess the meaning of the following words by
using the contextual clues:

the words the clues

sink rain... into the ground

emerge ... again as rivers or springs
retain b u t... in the rocks

- What are rivers or springs?

- What is underground water?

Ground water is very different from rain water. When rain water
penetrates deeper and deeper into the ground, it undergoes progressive
modification in composition.
Ground water solutions usually contain salts derived from acids
and bases of rocks. In addition, the ground water contains oxygen,

62
carbon dioxide, and other gases in solution. Of the dissolved gases
probably oxygen and carbon dioxide are the most important.
- What is the variable according to which ground
water is distinguished from rain water?
- Compare the different groups of water mentioned
in the above texts.

PROCESSES

• What questions should be answered TO CHARACTERIZE

AN ACTION / PROCESS?
• Could you use any of the variables considered already to
describe an action / process?

63
 THUS, new param eters among others are:

PLACE DIRECTION

INTENSITY SPEED

POSSIBLE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROCESSES

DEST R U C TIV E INFERNAL

C O N STRU CTIV E EXTERNAL

INTENSIVE
E X TENSIVE
GLOBAL
LOCAL

PH Y SIC AL
CHEM ICAL FAST
M ECHANICAL SLOW
GEO LOG ICAL
SU D D E N
G RADUAL

ABO VE Л
AT I
BELOW V T H E EARTH
WITHIN J

• Identify the morphological structure and the meaning of the

ABOVE words. Mind their pronunciation. List the CHARAC­
TERISTICS which refer to PLACE, SPEED, INTENSITY.

• By correlating the characteristics say

what kind of processes may occur
where they can occur
how they can proceed

• What parameter do these refer to?

64
• How can a GLACIER MOVE? Is there any difference between
the directions of the flow of water and that of the movement of a
glacier ? Compare the above descriptions. Use connectives.

• What directions can WIND BLOW?

• Characterize the direction of the OCEAN CURRENTS you

know.

• Give as comlete a description as possible of these rivers (use

all possible variables from the previous sections):

the DNIEPER
the NEVA
the AMUR

•The guess-game. THINK OF SOME RIVER.

Describe it for other students to guess.

• Look at this diagram:

• Now join two parts of these sentences using:

WHEN, AS SOON AS, AS, AFTER

66
 NORTH

WEST-*— Г W ARDl- ►EAST

SOUTH

UP

SIDE
■ ± , ,
WARD |-

DOWN
SIDE
т
BACK
а 0 - 0-
WARD
i-dB FORE

TO THE R IG H T ► FROM TO

< TO THE LEFT A - В

VERTICALLY HORIZONTALLY------------► ALONG

AT SOME ANGLE PERPENDICULAR PARALLEL

21
ROUND THE. CLOCK AGAINTS THE CLOCK

• Say in what direction WATER can/cannot FLOW (or RUN).

Give your reasons.

ЪШ
65
 earth movements occur
С the land rises * ---------
the gradient increases -
С the river flows faster *-
it cuts deeper.
С more material is eroded*— I
the valley gets wider .
j—the river begins to meanderj
L it deposits its load------------ j
С the gradient decreases-»
the river begins to widen— .
1

it approaches the sea* 1

Now write a paragraph describing the course of a RIVER, using the

information above.
Begin: When earth movements occur, the land rises.
When the land rises...
• Complete these sentences by choosing the correct answer:
a) When the land rises...
rivers flow slower
rivers flow faster
the gradient decreases
valleys cut deeper

b) Valleys get wider...

before the gradient desceasee
as soon as the land rises
as the river flows faster
when the gradient desceases
c) As the river begins to widen...
it forms a delta
it becomes faster
it approaches the sea
it flows over

KINDS OF PROCESSES

INFILTRATION CARBONATION

TRANSPORTATION

SOLIDIFICATION FOLDING

CONDENSATION FRICTION DENUDATION

67
 ABRASION MELTING

EROSION COOLING

STRATIFICATION FAULTING

SOLUTION HEATING OXIDATION

EVAPORATION

DISINTEGRATION

MINERALIZATION COM PRESSION

CRYSTALLIZATION

PERCOLATION EXPLOSION

CORROSION

DISPLACEM ENT DEPO SITION

• Identify the meaning of the above words. Mind the affixation.

Give, wherever possible, the corresponding verbs.
• What processes refer to LIQUIDS, GASES, SOLIDS?
•List DESTRUCTIVE, CONSTRUCTIVE, PHYSICAL,
CHEMICAL, GLOBAL, SUDDEN... processes.

• Correlate the information presented on the left with that on

the right to describe how the agents erode.
Ice
Acids to remove the surface layer
Rivers to rub sand against rocks
Waves to pull masses of material down
Wind to dissolve limestone
Man to dissolve material and exert
pressure
Gravity to expand and contract rocks
Large to abrade the valley sides and floor
diurnal to dissolve and abrade material
Change in temperature

•Describe the effects these agents produce.

68
Ground water to transport joints detritus
Wind to abrade carbon dioxide graded
sediments
Waves to dissolve material dunes
Rain to split limestone carbonic acid
Rivers to open rock cave
Ice to grade sand moraine
Temperature to combine
changes with

• Say how these are related.

WIND - CLOUDS to result in to influence
MOON - TIDES to result from to depend

TSUNAMI - EARTHQUAKES to cause to affect

EARTHQUAKES - SLIDES to be due to

DAMAGES - SLIDES to be responsible for

b) HEATING — EXPANSION
COOLING-* CONTRACTION— CRACKING AND
BREAKING

FREEZING -* EXPANSION
MELTING - C O N T R A C T IO N - CRACKING AND
BREAKING

1) What causes expansion?

2) What causes contraction?
3) What is the process of weathering caused by in
different climatic regions?
4) How does the sun (the frost) affect the rocks?

• Say how these are related. Use "cause to" or "make".

69
 Wind gravel break down
Heat layers to flake off
Cooling rocks to contract
Erosion of rocks rocks expand
Wind and water dust to move

• State the FACTORS - the PROCESS - the RESULT.

Carbon dioxide from the air and decaying organic material in the
soil dissolve in ground water to form carbonic acid.
• Answer these questions, using BECAUSE OF, or BECAUSE:

limestone area in desert WHICH AREA WILL BE

limestone area in a well- MORE ERODED?
watered area

ground water + granite °

(a hard rock)
ground water + limestone WHICH WILL BE MORE
(a soluable rock) ERODED?

a chalk area
a limestone area

•Look at the table. Answer the questions on the left using the
information on the right. Use proper connectives.

Why is rain less effective in Wave formation occurs where

the hot season? there is friction between the air
and the land.

Why do rocks in the desert High evaporation occurs when

crack? the temperature is high.

Why does sandstone Deposition occurs on the

erode more quickly than windward side of dunes.
granite?

Why is dust carried in Erosion is more effective on

suspension? softer rocks.

70
Wky are dunes formed in Expansion and contraction of
sandy areas? rocks occur during large
diurnal temperature changes.

Why do dunes have one slope Particles less then 1/16 mm. can
steeper than the other? be carried easily by wind.

Now rewrite the sentences, putting the CAUSE

first and using
THEREFORE, CONSEQUENTLY or HENCE.

• Say what can be described on the basis of the relationship®

given in the sentences and in what way the cause / effect
relationship is expressed in the sentences. Find the cause in each
sentence.
The change in fossil forms results from the change
in conditions.
The formation of clay minerals is the direct result of
weathering.
Mountains result from the folding of rocks.
* The great earth movements of the past gave rise to
the complicated structures known today. Most
major earthquakes are due to faulting.
The carving and shaping of the land is mainly d ie
to the work of rivers.

• Say what namely is characterized in each sentence. What

results from what and what results in what?
The rotation of the earth causes day and night.
Tides are caused by the attraction of the Moon and
the Sun.
Movements of the atmosphere cause important
modifications of the lands.
Plants and animals caused great changes in the
chemical composition of rocks.
Stretching and compression of the earth’s crust is
the immediate cause of the fault.
Tsunami is caused by an earthquake taking place on
the ocean bed.
Earthquakes sometimes cause a permanent change
of level at the surface.

71
 A duststorm is caused by a turbulent wind blowing
over an arid dusty surface.
Landslide is often caused by rain water or by an
earth-quake.
Some reflection of ocean currents is caused by the
rotation of the earth.
• Copy out the verbs used to express the relationship.
• Find the cause - effect relationship in each of the sentences and
express the information in your own way. Say what is charac­
terized in each sentence and what process is involved.
The water carries particles of rock and these are
finally dropped in lakes, along rivers and in the
ocean where they form beds of sand and mud.
Water soaks into rocks, dissolves and alters
minerals, expands by freezing, and enlarges joints
and fractures.
Pressure alters the rock structure.
Evaporation encreases the salinity of the surface sea
waters and therefore the density of the sea.
Glaciers like rivers and wind, wear away the surface
over which they move.
The forces of erosion carry away particles of eroded
rock and set them down in layers of sediments.
A glacier moves slowly down under the force of
gravity.
• Continue the sentences given after each of the statements:
The disturbance and dislocation of the earth’s crust result in
diastrophism.
DIASTROPHISM IS A PROCESS...
Heat may result from friction, chemical reaction, compression of
substances etc.
HEAT IS THE ENERGY...
Great pressures cause the molten rock to rise up and pour out as
lava.
LAVA IS...
Mist is caused by the condensation of water vapour in the air.
MIST IS A...
The heat sometimes causes the minerals to recrystallize.
RECRYSTALLIZATION IS...
The atmosphere reacts chemically with the rocks and oxidizes
them to form new compounds.
OXIDATION IS...

72
 The surface continental rocks gradually break down and
decompose, forming a substrata that can be modified by plants
and animals to form soil.
DECOMPOSITION IS...
SOIL IS...
Metamorphism changes the original characteristics of the rocks
and minerals.
METAMORPHISM IS A PROCESS...
The processes of deposition produce sedimentary rocks.
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ARE...

KALEIDOSCOPE

• What do these mean:

outspoken person, outsider, forward, backward
country, forward ideas, forefront,. forehead,
foreland, forefinger, foresee, foreteller, backdoor,
background, backside, forwardness, backwardness,
out-of-date, outness, outline, outing, outdoor,
outwardness

• The guess-gamt,.
Start your journey from some known point.
Describe your way to the place of destination. Let
the students guess what place you have in mind.
• Describe the shortest way FROM... TO...
• Here are few extracts from the world of fiction. While reading
them find out
what is described;
what variables and characteristics are mentioned;
what linguistic means are used.
• Describe the same in a different style.
In some ways a hurricane is like a person. After it is born, it
grows and develops, then becomes old and dies. Each hurricane has a
character of its own. There are big ones and little ones, fast ones and
slow ones. Each follows its own path through the world, and people
remember it long after it is gone. So it seems natural to give hurricanes
names and talk about them as if they were alive.

73
 Before us lay a torrent of red, froth-flecked water some four
hundred yards across... I knew that the previous day this'broad torrent
had probably been a mere trickle of water, shallow and glinting over its
bed of pebbles, but one night’s rain had swallen it suddenly and out of
all proportion. I knew, from experience, how a tiny stream can grow
into a fierce full-sized river in net to no time, for once in West Africa I
had my camp almost washed away by a stream that started by
being a mere three feet wide and four inches deep, and had, in the
course of an hour or so, turned into something resembling the upper
reaches of the Amazon. No one who has not seen this sudden
transformation can believe it, but it can be one of the most irritating
(and sometimes dangerous) aspects of travel in the tropics.

It was one of these regular summer storms. It would get so dark

that it looked all blue-Ыаск outside, and lovely; and the rain would
thrash along by so thick that the trees off a little ways looked dim and
spider-webby; and here would come a blast of wind that would bend the
trees down and turn up the pale underside of the leaves; and then a
perfect ripper of a gust would follow along and set the branches to
tossing their arms as if they were just wild; and next, when it was just
about the bluest and blackest-first it was as bright as glory, and you’d
have a little glimpse of treetops a-plunging about away off yonder in the
storm, hundreds of yards further than you could see before; dark as sin
again in a second, and now you’d hear the thunder let go with an awful
crash, and then go rumbling, grumbling, trembling, down the sky
towards the under side of the world; like rolling empty barrels
downstairs...

Remove an Englishman from his hearth and home, his center of

corporal life, and he becomes a very different creature, one capable of
sudden furies and roaring passions, a deep sea of strong emotions
churning beneath his frozen exterior. I can pass, at all times, for a
quiet, neighbourly fellow, yet I have sat, more than once, in a railway
carriage with black murder in my heart...

READING MATTER

The forces of nature are always at work. Some of these forces

build up the surface of the earth and are called constructive or tectonic
forces. They tend to raise the surface forming mountains. They are

74
opposed by the forces of erosion or distinctive forces that wear down
the surface of the earth.
- What factors are responsible for mountain
formation?
for levelling of the earth’s surface?

All land surfaces are being worn away by the processes of

weathering which are taking placeall the time. One of them is a
mechanical breakdown or desintegration. There is also a chemical
weathering or decomposition.

. - Account for the use of the tense form in the first

sentence.
- How many processes are mentioned?
- In what way is the land surface being worn away?
- Copy out all the verbs to characterize the
processes mentioned.
- What is weathering?
- What is called weathering?
- What is disintegration?
- What is decomposition?

Text 1
Rivers deposit mud and pebbles. The winds carry much sand and dust.
Glaciers carry along boulders and stones. The sea deposits sand and
pebbles. The process is referred to as deposition.
Text 2
Wherever a lake is of sufficient size to permit waves and shore currents
of any importance to develop, and the coast line is composed of soft
materials, we find the same erosion and deposition going on as Long as
the ocean coast line.

Text 3
Ponds, like lakes, evolve naturally in the absence of man and human
activities. Run-off fills them gradually with elements carried from the
catchment area. Water plants, whether attached to the ground or not,
further this filling-in process. In ponds these can accumulate, in spite
of their decomposition, into enormous masses.
• List the factors responsible for
denudation
deposition
decomposition
• Describe the processes mentioned.

75
The sand particles are carried along by wind and piled into a
heap. The heap gradually increases in size till it becomes a
mound or ridge. Thus a dune is formed.
- What lies in the basis of the the definition of a
dune?
- Continue the description of the process:
When carried...
- What is the difference between a heap and a
mound (or ridge)? '
- What is a dune?
- What is called a dune?

When magma reaches the earth’s surface it rapidly cools.

Usually it forms minerals. Sometimes the cooling may be so fast
that magma does not form mineral but a kind of natural glass or
obsidian.
- What causes the formation of minerals and
obsidian?
- What determines the result of the cooling of
magma?
What words express it?
- In what way can minerals be roughly determined?
- What is obsidian?
- What is called obsidian?
Being less dense than the mantle, the molten crustal material
rises toward the ocean floor where much of it erupts as lava, and ,
together with the scrapped-off sediments, builds up a chain of
volcanic islands on the overriding plate.
- What causes what?
- What is eruption?
- What is lava?
- What is called lava?
- What is a volcanic island?
- What is called a volcanic island?
- What variables do these point out to:

dense crustal
molten volcanic

• Finish up:
Crustal material becomes molten when...
• Explain what is meant by
the scrapped-off sediments
the overriding plate
76
 An earthquake usually folds the strata of the rocks. The simplest
form of fold is an arch, or an anticline, and the opposite is a hollow or a
syncline. As a result chains of mountains are formed, "folded chains" as
we say.
When the material is thrown out of the earth’s crust, mountains
of accumulation are formed. These are known as volcanoes. There are
also mountains of denudation. They are formed where the surroun­
ding land has been worn away.
• Give possible definitions of:
anticline
syncline
folded chains
volcanoes
mountains of denudation

lim e is deposited chemically. One form is oolitic limestone. Acid-

bearing water trickles out through limestone and dissolves some of it.
Gradually the water evaporates in cracks or caves. The limestone is
redeposited. The drippings form stalactites and stalagmites.

- How many processes are mentioned?

- Identify the verbs in the text.
- What results in what?
- What causes what?
- What is oolitic limestone?
- What are stalactites and stalagmites?
- What is called stalactites and stalagmites?
- What variable is characterized with the word
"acid-bearing"?
Explain the meaning of the word.
- What words are used with prefixes? Give their
derivatives.

The term tide is applied to the periodical rising and falling of the
water of the ocean caused by the attraction of the sun and moon. Peri­
odical alterations in the direction of the wind, and periodical variations
in atmospheric pressure, may give rise to alterations in the level of the
sea, but true tides are attributed to astronomical causes. It is supposed
that the attraction of the sun and moon may affect not only the waters
of the ocean but also the solid crust of the earth, producing an

77
alternating change in its shape, but so small as to be difficult of
detection.
• Make up a cause - effect/result scheme.
• List the words to characterize

time pressure causes

direction the sea level shape

•G ive a one-sentence definition of tides.

Rocks are affected by alternate heating and cooling. The heat of

the sun expands the surface layers of the rocks; cooling causes them to
contract. As the heat does not reach far into the rocks, only the surface
layers are affected by such heating and cooling. Repeated expansion
and contraction causes the surface layer to flake off.
- What is flaking?
- What is called flaking?
- Find the word introducing the reason. What other
words could be used instead?
The heat of the sun causes rocks to expand, and the subsequent
cooling causes them to contract. The alternate expansion and
contraction leads to the cracking and breaking of the rocks near the
surface. This effect is most noticeable in the hot deserts.
In higher latitudes frost is a more powerful agent. Rain water fills
the cracks and pores of the rocks. The alternate thawing and freezing
in time breaks up the rocks. This process is known as weathering.
• Make up a cause - effect scheme.
•G ive a one-sentence definition of weathering.
• List the words referring to

cause - effect
time
temperature
height
intensity
• List the agents of weathering.
• List the effects of the agents.
• Using the lists you’ve made describe the process of weathering.
Begin with:
When heated...

In certain situations, natural heat and pressure can cause pre­

existing rocks to crystallize or recrystallize. Their constituent elements

78
either re-group in new minerals or re-form in larger crystals of the
original minerals. This is metamorphism and the type of metamorphic
rock produced depends on the composition of the original rock, the
temperature and pressure, and the amount of water present or
introduced.
• Complete the sentences:
When heated and pressed...
New minerals occur when...
Cryctallization is...
Re-crystallization is...
Metamorphism is...
Metamorphic rock is...
• List the words with prefixes. Give their derivatives.

When the lower portion of a mass of fluid is heated, it expands,

its density is reduced, and it rises carrying its heat with it - to be
replaced by cool fluid which in its turn is heated. The transmission of
heat from one part of a liquid or gas to another by the movement of
particles themselves is known as convection.
- What causes what?
- What is the definition of convection based upon?
- lis t the actions involved in the process.
The rocks of the crust are classified into three types according to
their origin. Two of these types are formed by processes deep in the
earth and, therefore, tell us something about conditions within the
crust. They are:
1) IGNEOUS rocks, which solidify from a melt or magma; and
2) METAMORPHIC rocks, which are rocks that have been
changed generally by high temperature and pressure within the crust.
The third type, which records the conditions at the surface is
3) SEDIMENTARY rocks, which are deposited in layers near
the earth’s surface by water, wind, etc. A characteristic feature of
sedimentary rocks is the common occurrence of fossilized remains of
organisms.
- What are the processes involved in the formation
of the three types of rocks?
- What is metamorphism?
- What is sedimentation?
- Compare the composition of igneous rocks with
that of sedimentary ones.
The greater movements of the earth are of two kinds: orogenetic
and epeirogenetic.

79
 By orogenetic movements the mountains masses are raised up.
Mountains result from the folding of rocks which were formally flat.
Folding results when a force horizontal to the surface of the earth
causes rock strata to crumple or fold.
By epeirogenetic movements land masses of continental
dimensions are raised or lowered with little folding.

- What causes what?

- What is called mountains?
- What is folding?
- What determines the difference between
orogenetic and epeirogenetic movements of the
earth?
• List the words or word combinations characterizing
size
form
directions
•Using the listed words and their opposits characterize the
corresponding objects.

The pressures from deep below the surface of our earth force the
surface up,incertain places at one time, and in other places at another
time. There are the pressures that cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and
tidal waves, and they are also mainly responsible for the fact that layers
of rock are often not horizontal, but an angle, or even in some cases
vertical. Variations in pressure from place to place cause folded layers,
or even great breaks in layers.
• List the words to characterize
time
direction
place
- What are earthquakes, volcanoes and tidal waves?
- What are folded layers?
• Paraphrase the following:
- force the surface up
- are...responsible for
- cause folded layers

Rocks deep in the crust are brought to the surface by volcanic

action and the folding and faulting processes that build mountain
chains. At the surface the rocks undergo weathering and erosion. The
products are transported (mainly by water) over long distances and
eventually are deposited in sedimentary basins. The sediments are

80
slowly buried and transformed into rocks in the process termed
diagenesis. These sedimentary rocks undergo metamorphism and
granitization, which transform them ultimately into gneiss and granite.
• Group the processes mentioned into INTERNAL -
EXTERNAL.
• Say what does what (agent - action - object).
• What variable do these point out to:

long slowly sedimentary

eventually ultimately

• Give possible definitions of

folding and faulting sedimentary rocks

deposition diagenesis
transportation metamorphism and granitization
sedimentary basins gneiss and granite
sediments

Various natural agencies, the sun, the wind, the rain, frost,
running water, moving ice and the sea are wearing away the land.
The heat of the sun causes the rocks to expand, crack and break
up. The wind carries loose particles, and with sand helps to wear away
rocks. The rain loosens and carries away soil. Frost freezes water in the
cracks of rocks, causes the cracks to widen, and the rocks to break.
Rivers and streams wear away the land. Moving ice in the form of
glacier also wears away the land. The sea along the coast wears away
the rocks. In addition, water, especially if it contains carbon dioxide,
has a strong solvent action on parts of the earth’s crust. The process is
referred to as denudation.
• Say how these are affected:
rocks
soil
water
land
the earth’s crust
• Make up a cause — effect /result scheme.
• List the processes mentioned.
• Make a possible definition of each of the processes.

The most destructive of all water waves are not produced by wind
but by large submarine landslides, subocean earthquakes, or volcanic
eruptions beneath the sea. Any of these events results in a rapid

81
displacement or dislocation of the ocean bottom that, in turn, generates
a series of water waves, or wave trains, capable of travelling for
thousands of miles across the open ocean until they strike distant
shorelines with tremendous destructive force.
In popular descriptions these waves are called tidal waves, but
they have nothing to do with tide. The technical term is tsunami, a
Japanese word now employed more-or-less universally for these large
types of waves. A more precise and better descriptive term is seismic sea
wave. Tsunamis are one of the great hazards of man’s physical
environment.
• List the characteristics to describe:
the effect produced
the place of occurrence
the speed
the distance
the force
• Using the list describe tsunamis.

Transformation of Sediments to Hard Rocks

The upward and downward movements of the land at various

points may bring sediments out of water and they may become part of
the land. They harden with time. It is possible to find sedimentary
rocks on the top of mountains as well as in the low plains.
The ordinary sedimentary rocks are conglomerate, grit,
sandstone, quartzite, shale, slate, limestone, marble, and dolomite.
Beds of pebbles, when cemented together, form conglomerate. A coarse
and impure sand, when hardened, is called a grit; a coarse impure
sand, usually derived from granite, is called arkose.
When sand hardens so that the grains stick firmly together it
becomes a sandstone. Sandstone is of all colours, white or red being the
most frequent. Mud beds, when somewhat dried, become clay. On
hardening, clay becomes shale.
Shales may be of any colour, but are most frequently dark-
coloured, often black. When shale becomes still harder, it is called
slate.
Limestone and marble are intimately related. They usually begin
as the accumulation of the shells of marine animals, often broken so as
to form sand or mud. The deposits harden into rocks. When limestones
have been exposed to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust, they
become crystalline, and then marbles.
- What are the agents and the processes involved?

8 2
 - Make up a scheme/schemes to illustrate the саше
- effect relationship.
Describe the scheme.
Using all possible characteristics say what these are:
conglomerate sandstone
grit clay
arkose shale
slate limestone
marble

Deformation

All sediments and most volcanic rocks are horizontal when first
laid down. In stable regions of the continental crust and over much of
the ocean floor, they have stayed horizontal for many millions of years.
But in unstable regions of the crust, the strata have been folded,
squeezed and fractured, processes collectively called deformation. The
folds can be all sizes from huge arches or overfolds scores of kilometres
across to microscopic crinkles. Fractures can be anything from the great
dislocations which bound the plates of the earth’s crust to minute
displacements in single crystals.
The way in which rocks deform under stress is determined by
their composition, the temperature and pressure under which they are
confined, the pressure of water contained in pores in the rock and the
strain-rate, that is the amount by which the rock is compressed ia a
given time. Depending on these factors, the rock may fracture, crush,
fold or flow plastically.
- What variables characterize
folds
fractures?
* Expand on the information of the last paragraph mentioning
the cause - effect interrelationships.
• Give a one-sentence definition of the process of deformation.

One important fact is that the size of the crystals in an igneous

rock depends on its rate of cooling. If a magma cools rapidly more
numerous, smaller crystal results. And, if a magma cools very rapidly,
as when lava extruded into water, there is no time for crystals to grow
and the outermost lava cools as a glass.
So the sizes of crystals in igneous rocks reveal much about the
history of those rocks and allow most igneous rocks to be classified on

83
the basis of texture as either fine-grained, and hence volcanic in origin,
or coarse-grained, and hence plutonic in origin.
In addition to texture, igneous rocks are also classified on the
basis of mineralogic an chemical composition. Some magmas and
igneous rocks are felsic (granitic) in composition, and others are mafic
(basaltic) in composition. There are just the two most common types;
there are all gradation between them and even some that are ultramafic.
• Group the words to illustrate the cause - effect relationship.
• Complete the sentences:

The higher the rate of cooling...

The slower the magma cools...
The more rapidly the magma cools...
...the more numerous the crystals are.
...the magma cools very rapidly.
...therefore the magma cools very repidly.
...because the magma cools very rapidly.
- What does "hence" introduce?
- What igneous rocks are called
volcanic
plutonic?
• Give a one-sentence definition of igneous rocks.

KALEIDOSCOPE

•Group the opposites. Identify the variables.

big, weak, high, light, old, gentle, long, far, young,
thin, small, warm, dark, complex, cold, low, hard,
short, simple, smooth, heavy, rough, thick, near,
strong, wide, steep
• Group the following and give reasons:
adhesion, basin, breadth, calcite, density,
earthquake, galvanometer, erosion, granite, hollow,
iron, nitrogen, oscillator, peat, quartz, amplifier,
bed, gas, canyon, drainage, elasticity, seismograph,
river, salinity, reservoir, permeability, plateau,
denudation, carbon, lead, porosity, elevation,
oxygen, resistivity, sedimentation, plain, crystal,
evaporation, hydrogen* lowland, sand
• Match up the characteristics and the corresponding variables:

84
 temperature mountainous, tundra,
precipitation highlands, warm, marine,
altitude lowland, cold, taiga,
influence of the sea semiarid, rain, forest,
types of vegetation humid, polar, continental,
arid, tropical, temperate,
decidious forest, wet, hot

• Make up word-combinations:

rocky, to grow, steep, resourses, mountains, shore,

swampy,coal, dense, industry, climate, country,

to manufacture, fog, channel, materials, maize,

to cultivate, grassy, region, slope, crops, plain(s),
healthy,mild, textile, valley, river, basin, population,
natural, light, rainfall
technical, frozen, raw,
mineral, heavy, shallow,
mountainous, flat, deep,
continental

Describe the classification of substances:

SUBSTANCES

SIMPLE co m po un d " !

METALS NON-METALS OXIDES BASIC ACIDS SALTS

Say what is taken as the basis for these classifications:

JGEOLOGICAL EPO CH S TYPES OF ROCKS KINDS OF SUBSTANGES

CAMBRIAN igneous gases
ORDOVICIAN sedim entary solids
DEVONIAN metamorphic liquids
PERMIAN ,
TRIASSIC
I CRETACEOUS

85
 • Identify the variables. Compare the characteristics. Use propei
connectives.

M OUNTA­ SO IL S W IN D S RIVERS SEAS C LIM A TES

IN S
high thick strong long inland humid
old thin weak short coastal dry
new fertile cold narrow shallow hot
low sterile warm wide deep cold

• Compare the following according to the given variables:

MOUNTAIN SIDES - HILL SIDES (steepness,

abruptness)
WARM AIR - COLD AIR (density)
HYDROGEN - OXYGEN (weight)
QUARTZ - DIAMOND (hardness)

• Correlate and cempare the descriptions.

ABREEZE a sudden violent rush of wind

A GU ST a light wmd
A HU RRICANE a sudden violent storm of wind
ASQ U A LL a very strong wind blowing in a circle
A SHOW ER a fine dense rain
A DRIZZLE a heavy faH (of rain)
A DOW NPOUR a thick mist
A FO G a brief fall of rain
TW ILIG H T the’faint light just after sunset or just before sunrise
DUSK the d arker p a rt of twilight
CRO P the am ount of fruit, grain, etc. produced Irone season
HARVEST the time (season) for gathering crops
SLUSH half-m elted snow; watery mud
SLEET soft, white flakes, frozen water that fail down like ra in
HAIL frozen rain falling from the sky
SNOW snow and rain mixed
SUNRISE the beginning of the day
DAWN the rise of the swn

• Describe the composition of the BIOSPHERE and its

COMPONENT PARTS:
 BIOSPHERE

ATM OSPHERE H Y D RO SPH ERE L ITH O SPH E R E

nitrogen fresh or salt solid rocky
oxygen water m aterial
other gases

• Describe the atmosphere of the planets:

THE EARTH - 78% nitrogen, 21 % oxygen, other gases,

water vapour;
VENUS -95% carbon dioxide, 4% nitrogen, water
vapour, oxygen;
JUPITER - methane, ammonia;
SATURN - methane.

• Describe the scheme:

THE WATER OF THE WORLD OCEAN

X I 1 \
the PACIFIC the ATLANTIC the INDIAN the ARCTIC
OCEAN OCEAN OCEAN OCEAN
50% 25% 20% 5%

• Describe the components of the air:

' NITROGEN (78%)

ATMOSPHERE OXYGEN (21%)
„ OTHER GASES (1%)

• What parts of the earth are characterized and according to

which variable? Give descriptions of the corresponding parts of
the earth. Describe the pictures.

8 7
• Gould you identify the types of rocks using just one clue? Give
reasons.
GRANITE - a massive rock
GRAVEL - a mixture of small rounded pebbles
BASALT - a solid mass
SANDSTONE - a porous rock

• Say how these substances are related. Make use of the

following words: INCLUDE, CONTAIN, CONSIST,
COMPRISE, BUILD UP, MAKE UP, CONSTITUTE,
COMPOUND, CONSTITUENT, COMPONENT.
SILICA - silicon, oxygen
ROCKS - minerals
ALLUVIUM - sand, silt
LIMESTONE - calcium carbonate
QUARTZ - silica
GRANITE - quartz

• Here are some of the characteristics of intrusive igneous ROCK

BODIES. Describe each of them. Compare them using proper
connectives. Say, wherever possible, what variables they
HAVE IN COMMON
VARY IN
DIFFER IN

DIKES - elongated, narrow, vertical to horizontal

88
 LACCOLITHS - dome-shaped, a flat base, a convex upper
surface
NECKS - roughly cylindrical, great depth, circular in
plan
STOCKS - rounded, circular to elliptical or dome-like, of
steep or gentle slopes

•Look at these diagrams:

bushes and g r a ti short grass

raw humus
rotting humus trees
0 <
leached layer humus A thin soil with
rock fragments
humus colouring lighter co­ о о
loured subsoil A
dark hard layer
о о
о о
о о parent rook parent rock parent rock
о о ¥
о

PROFILE OF A PRO FILE OF BROWN PRO FILE OF RENDZINA

PODSOL SOIL EARTH

•Now describe each type of soil.

• Compare these three soil profiles by answering these questions:
a) How many layers is each soil profile divided
into?
b) What does the vegetation at the surface consist of
in each case?
c) What is the layer beneath the humus composed of
in each case?
d) Do the humus layer of podsol and brown earth
have the same thickness? Describe the difference.
e) Do these soil profiles have the same depth above
the parent rock?
f) Why is the humus layer thicker in the brown
earth profile?
• Describe the formation of a podsol, putting the sentences below
in the correct order and using these words:
WHEN
AS
AFTER

89
a) Rainwater leaches chemicals in the hnmus
b) The remains decay
c) More material is added
d) Plants die
e) The humus forms a dark coloured layer
f) The humus collects on top of the parent rock
• Describe the volcanic eruption. Use:
AS SOON AS, AS,
WHEN, AFTER, BEFOR

a) Gases aocumulate

b) The pressure increases

c) The volcano erupts

d) Lava and gas escape

e) The lava co d e

f) A solid cap forms

g) The gases are trapped again

 •Look and read:

^L} 'Л//

Cam # s i t e В

Camp site A is not suitable enough for the following reasons:

The water is good enough to drink butfthere is not enough
[there is insufficient
water for everybody.
The tent is too hot.
The heat is excessive.
There is not enough shade.
The shade is inadequate.
•Now look at this diagram:

Give reasons why camp site В is suitable.

• Describe the scheme.

^ Горные породы
1
Магматические Осадочные Метаморфические
\ 4 4
Эффузивные Пески Сланцы
Интрузивные Песчаники Туфы
Глины Гнейсы
Известняки Мрамор

91
 • Speak about the effects of temperature changes.

Высокая температура горные породы

Низкая температура

Охлаждение минералы, слагающие

Нагревание горные породы

Замерзание воды трещины, наполненные

водой
вода

• Saw hof these are formed:

u - образные долины г ледник, движение, речная долина,абра-
L зия, вырезание

t
Каньоны поднятие суши, скорость течения реки,
интенсивность врезания

[
Рифтовые долины опускание участков земной коры, парал­
лельные разломы
Ущелья капля дождя, углубление, наклонная по­
верхность, маленькие струйки, ложбин­
ки, ручьи, овраги, потоки, разрушение
оврага, ветвление оврага

Describe the two types of weathering.

ХИМИЧЕСКОЕ ВЫВЕТРИВАНИЕ

а. Окисление Гидратация Растворение

\
Гидролиз
б. Химический Химико-меха­ Химико-меха­ Химический
процесс нический про­ нический про­ процесс
цесс цесс
в. Свободный Поглощенная Вода и угле­ Вода и угле­
атмосферный минеральная кислота кислота высо­
кислород и рас­ вода кой температу­
творенный в во­ ры
де воздух

92
 а. Классификация основных типов выветривания
б. Определение каждого из типов
в. Главный активный агент химического разрушения

ФИЗИЧЕСКОЕ ВЫВЕТРИВАНИЕ

Что При каком условии

Горные породы высокая (низкая) температу­
ра
Минералы, слагающие гор­ охлаждение / нагревание
ные породы
Трещины, наполненные во­ замерзание
дой

Say how salts can partially be removed.

Вода с растворен­ охлаждение лед с небольшим

ными солями количеством со­
лей
1
вода с увеличен­ таяние льда
ной концентра­
цией солей
опресненная вода

• Say how these are interrelated:

ЭКЗОГЕННЫЕ деятельность воды, солнца,
ПРОЦЕССЫ ветра, растительных и
животных остатков

ЭНДОГЕННЫЕ явления магнетизма и вулканиз­

ПРОЦЕССЫ ма, колебательные движения
земной коры, образование скла­
док, разрывов, землетрясения

• Say how these are related:

Изменения объема мине­ Образование трещин в горных
ралов породах и разрушение их на
мелкие обломки
Землетрясения Смещение толщ в земной коре
Струи дождевой воды Ложбины и рытвины в почве

93
 Трансгрессия и регрессия Колебательные движения коры
моря
Слоистость отложений Чередование осадков
Мели и острова Речные отложения (аллювий)
Жесткость воды Растворимые соли кальция и
магния

Describe the cause-effect relationship.

Быстрота разрушения бе­ Наклон пластов, минералогиче­
рега ский состав горных пород, их
плотность
Характер подводной части Скорость его разрушения
морского берега
Метаморфизм горных Температура, давление, нали­
пород чие химически активных ве­
ществ
Климат, рельеф, состав Интенсивность выветривания
пород, другие факторы
Скорость выветривания Величина минеральных зерен

• Say WHAT originated WHEN, HOW, WHERE and UNDER

WHAT CONDITIONS.

ЧтО Когда (как) Где П ри каком условии

Ж и зн ь впервые теплея вода океа­
нов -

Острова (материки) остывание коры поверхность З е м ­

-
ли
Горы эндогенны е ш эк зо­
- -
генные силы
П ростейш ие орга­ в теплой веде взаимодействие со­
н ически е вещества - еди нен и й угдерода
и водорода

•Continue the sentences:

Чем сильнее течение р е к и ,...
Чем рыхлее породы,...
Чем ниже спускается ледник с гор,...
Чем дальше к центру Земли,...
Чем глубже залегают породы,...

9 4
 SECTION III

Change not Stability is the Rule

T he h ills are sh adow s a n d th ey flo w

From fo rm to fo rm , a n d n oth ing sta n d s;
T hey m elt like m ist, th e so lid lan ds,
L ike clou ds th ey sh ape th em selves a n d go.
T en nyson

The th irsty earth soaks up the rain,

A n d drin ks, a n d gapes fo r d rin k a g a in
A braham C ow lley

J h ave seen th e hungry ocean again

A d va n ta g e on th e k in d o m o f th e shore.
A n d th e firm s o il win o f th e w atery m ain,
In creasin g sto re with loss, a n d loss with store.
Shakespeare

W hat goes up m u st com e dow n .

O ld S ayin g

Text 1
Oxygen is the most widely spread element of the earth’s crust*
constituting almost 50 per cent of its mass. Under conditions of
ordinary temperature and pressure oxygen is known as a stable element
occurring in large quantities in a free state.
In combination with hydrogen and carbon it forms in the surface
zone the very widely spread compounds - water and carbonic acid gas;
both these combinations are highly active agents in the formation and
destruction of minerals.
As it gradually penetrates deeper into the lithosphere where
temperature and pressure show a steady indcrease, oxygen becomes
more and more active. No other clement can be compared in its
chemical energy with oxygen when it reaches the deep lying strata of
the lithosphere. Thus, in spite of its less content in the deeper zones of
the lithosphere, its role in the earth’s interior is enormous.
• List the variables characterizing oxygen.

95
 • Compare the activity of oxygen under different conditions.
Use proper connectives:
on the one hand
whereas
while
on the other hand
Text 2
Due to its high degree of activity oxygen evidently occurs in the
magma only in combination with other elements. Almost all the
minerals which are the constituents of rocks formed in the process of
the cooling of magma are oxides of sodium (N a), magnesium (Mg) and
so on. Molten magma contains large quantities of both oxygen and
hydrogen. In cooling it gives off enormous quantities of these gases,
which immediately combine to form water. The latter is an extremely
active agent in the interior lithosphere and is capable of dissolving a
number of metals. These "juvenile" waters given off by the magma, in
rising along fissures, gradually lose their active properties, allowing
heavy metals to precipitate out of the solution. By filling these fissures
the ore-bearing minerals form the so-called mineral veins.
• What variables are mentioned in the text?
• Find in the text the information on the comparison of:
(1) magma
(2) minerals
(3) rocks
•Give a possible definition of water mentioning at least 3 points
taken from the text.
• What are "juvenile” waters?
• What is called a mineral vein?
• Paraphrase the following:
IN COOLING; IN RISING; BY FILLING
Text 3
Minerals form under many different conditions, but for each
mineral there is a specific range of temperature, pressure, and other
conditions under which it is stable.
Stated in a different way, minerals are stable only in the
environment in which they are formed. For example, olivine forms at
depth; it commonly crystallizes from magma under relatively high
temperatures and pressures. If olivine is exposed to the temperature,
pressure, and humidity of the earth’s surface, it is no longer stable and
the crystal structure desintegrates. The iron ions combine with oxygen
to form iron oxyde, or with oxygen and water to form hydrated iron
oxide.

96
 If clay minerals which formed at the surface of the earth are
deeply buried or subjected to heat and pressure, they change to micas
which are stable under new conditions.
A few minerals, such as quartz, are stable under quite a range of
conditions. However, most minerals are not, and since conditions at
specific places on the earth’s surface commonly change, the minerals
change too. Because of crustal movements, minerals which formed at
depth are commonly exposed at the surface and minerals which formed
at the surface are commonly subjected to the conditions at depth.
Consequently, CHANGE NOT STABILITY IS THE RULE!
• What conditions change minerals at the surface,
at depth?
•Give a one-sentence definition of olivine, iron oxide, hydrated
iron oxide, mica.
• List the connectives and "lubricants" used in the texts. Account
for their choice.
• Make up a scheme / schemes to illustrate the cause - effect /
result relationships.
•Describe the scheme.
Text 4
Clay minerals do not occur in the deep part of the earth’s crust,
but they are abundant at the surface. The answer to this contrast lies in
the cycling of m atter through a series of geological processes.
The cycle proceeds in five stages. Rocks deep in the crust are
brought to the surface by volcanic action and the folding and faulting
processes that build mountain chains. At the surface the rocks undergo
weathering and erosion. The products are transported (mainly by
water) over long distances and eventually are deposited in sedimentary
basins. The sediments are slowly buried and transformed into rocks in
the process termed diagcnesis. These sedimentary rocks undergo
metamorphism and granitization, which transform them ultimately into
gneiss and granite.
Clay minerals appear only in the three middle stages. Indeed,
the principle genesis of clay minerals is the weathering process that
gives rise to soil, that is, in the second of the five stages. In the
sedimentation stage the clay minerals may be mildly transformed in
various ways, and there may be some genesis. In the stage of burying
and diagenesis clay minerals progressively recrystallize and so
disappear as such.
• List the processes mentioned and the words to characterize
them.
• Give a possible definition of each process.
• What rocks are called sedimentary?

97
 • What are gneiss and granite?
• List the adverbs and the verbs they refer to. Explain what they
mean.
Text 5
Geologists have accumulated abundant evidence that under
surface conditions rocks are relatively easily altered. The process of
alteration is called rock-weathering. The nature of this weathering
process depends largely on the kind of rock and on the specific
conditions of its environment.
Simultaneously with the mechanical or physical weathering of
rocks, chemical agents attack them and produce various decomposition
products. An important distinction between physical and chemical
weathering must be made clear. Although physical disintegration
changes the size and shape of the parent rock masses, the minerals
originally present remain. With chemical reaction, on the one hand,
comes a change in the physical state due to the formation of new
properties.
Chemical weathering, therefore, is a much more complicated
process than physical weathering. The chemical decay of minerals
depends in large part on the fact that the surface environment contains
the active chemical agents - oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour.
These three chemical agents tend to produce oxides, carbonates and
hydrated compounds respectively, by combining with the original
minerals of the rocks.
• List the connectives and the "lubricants".
• List the intensifiers.
• What is physical weathering?
• What is chemical weathering?
• List the words which are used as equivalents of "physical
weathering" and "chemical weathering".
• List the key points to compare the two types of weathering
along the following lines:
(1) what depends on what;
(2) the variables changed;
(3) what results in what.
• Compare the types of weathering.
• What arc oxides, carbonates and hydrated compounds?
Text 6
Chemical Weathering

Of two types of weathering the chemical weathering of rocks

involves more serious Iterations than the mere comminution produced
by physical weathering. As a result of these changes certain minerals

9*
desappear wholly or partially and material of secondary origin which is
formed differs markedly from the parent minerals.
The processes fulfil themselves in an aqueous medium and
depend on the decomposing action of water forced by the presence of
dissolved carbon dioxide and, in some cases, organic acids formed from
the decay of plants. Since chemical weathering takes place at the
surface of rock minerals, it is evident that it is intensified where
physical weathering has preceded it. But since most rocks are formed of
an irregular mosaic of different minerals with various degrees of
susceptibility to attack, chemical weathering alone is capable of
producing disintegration particularly where there is a certain degree of
jointing or porosity in the weathering rocks.
Essentially, chemical weathering involves two phases, namely,
the disappearance of certain minerals, and the formation of secondary
products.
Some of the secondary products may originate by alteration at
the seat of the parent minerals, whilst other products may originate by
precipitation from solutions. Sometimes the material precipitated at the
place of weathering may be mixed or even enter into combination with
residual products.
•Explain what is meant by
materials of secondary origin
the parent minerals
susceptibility to attack
•Give derivatives:
presence
various
• What is opposed with "whilst"?
• List the points to illustrate the cause - effect relationship and
the corresponding connectives.
• Using the points as a plan, speak about
CHEMICAL WEATHERING.
Text 7
Water is of such profound importance from the standpoint of rock
alteration and soil development that it has been compared with the
blood of an organism. Chemical weathering is closely associated with
water; in very dry or very cold regions chemical weathering is slight.
Since practically all compounds are attacked by water, it is sometimes
referred to as the universal solvent. The presence of carbon dioxide in
water adds materially to its activity.
Temperature relations are also important, since they influence
the activity of solutions in the rocks and soil; as a general rule, the
higher the temperature, the more rapid the alteration. Particularly

Vе
99
important from the standpoint of chemical weathering is the length of
time during the year when temperatures are above 0°C. Going from
high to low latitudes involves passing from regions of minimum to
regions of maximum chemical weathering. In the tropics the zone of
weathering may extend as deeply as 600 feet.

•Expand on the comparison in the opening sentence.

•Find the cause - effect relationships introduced with "since"
• List the adjectives-intensifiers.
• Find the contextual equivalents fo r
as regards
is called
to effect
•Is 600 feet regarded as many or few in the text?
•What are the key points of the text?
•Speak about water as an agent, using the points as a plan
Text 8
In mountains running water makes deep valleys in the solid
rocks. Rivers carry the mud to the sea. On reaching the sea the coarse
gravel is usually deposited near the mouths of the rivers, while the finer
material is carried further on. In lakes, the material brought down by
the streams likewise settles on the bottom.
Besides the material which surface waters carry in suspension,
as mud, sand,or gravel, they contain substances in solution. In lime­
stone districts, for example, the waters contain lime. Besides lime other
minerals are chemically precipitated in ocean and lake waters,
especially silica, out all in a far less degree. Rivers bring continually to
the sea large quantities of mineral matter, both in suspension and
solution.
Altogether, from all the rivers of the world it has been estimated
that annually 2,735,000,000 tons of mineral substances are added, in
solutions, to the oceans.

•Using the information presented in the text say what the

composition of the ocean water is.
•What does "likewise" refer to?
•What are the contextual equivalents of "such as"?
•List all the connectives and account for their choice.
•What is compared by means of "in a far less degree"?
•What precesses are mentioned in the text?
•List the words to describe the processes.
•Describe the processes using the lists as a plan.

100
 Text 9
Elevations and depressions of comparable dimensions are found
both on land and on the ocean bottom. Although the major features are
comparable the details are quite different, because erosion playing such
an all-important role in the creation of sharp relief and in the final
destruction of elevations on land, is absent in the sea. In the sea the
most effective agents of erosion are the surface waves which tend to
produce flat-topped features that are restricted to shallow depths, since
the velocity of the water particles in such waves decreases rapidly with
increasing depth.
Deposition is one of the main processes that modifies the
topography of the sea bottom. Sedimentary debris accumulates in
depressions while there is little or no accumulation on up-swells, which
are devoid of fine-grained sediment and are subject to erosion of
exceptionally strong currents.

• Explain what is meant by

comparable dimensions
tend to produce
restricted to shallow depths
devoid of sediment
subject to erosion
• Finish up the sentences:
The greater the erosion...
The greater the depth...
The thicker the deposits...
The stronger the currents..

• Show schematically the structure of the second and the third

sentences. Join the parts with the corresponding interrogative
pronouns.
• Make up a scheme to illustrate
a) the objects compared;
b) the points/variables they differ in;
c) the causes.
• Describe the scheme.
Text 10
Much sediment carried by a stream finally reaches its mouth. If
the stream flows into a lake or the ocean, the velocity of the current is
largely or wholly checked and thus much or all of the sediment must be
deposited. The destination (ending point) of the most streams is the sea
and where tides or shore currents in the sea are relatively weak, the
discharged sediments accumulate mainly at or near the mouths of the

to t
streams to form flat, partly submerged fan-shaped deposits called
delta. If there are strong tides or shore currents in the body of water
which the stream enters or if the amount of sediments discharged is
relatively small, the sediment has the tendency to be swept so far away
from the mouth of the stream that either no delta will form or only a
small or imperfect one will develop. Another reason for absence of
deltas from the mouths of many existing rivers (even large ones) is the
sinking of the land, causing notable submergence of the mouth of the
rivers so recently that there has not been time enough to form delta.
• List the variables and the corresponding characteristics.
• What is delta?
• Continue the sentences:
The higher the velocity of the current...
The weaker the tides...
The smaller the amount of sediments discharged...
The more rapid the sinking of the land...
• List the points to describe delta formation.
• Describe the process of delta formation using the points as a
plan.
Text 11
Running water, because of its almost universal distribution, is
generally considered to be the most important erosive agent. Most
readily understood of all geologic processes is the part that surface
streams play in land erosion by carrying away in suspension most of the
weathered products of their drainage areas. Less well known, however,
is the fact that these suspended particles of sediment may themselves
act as further agents of weathering, as do the wind-carried particles.
While being swirled along in the streams, the grains strike against the
sides and the bedrock of the stream channels grinding off additional
particles of rock. It is also recognized that streams may transport stones
that are too large and heavy for them to carry by suspension. They do
this simply by rolling them along their beds. Because of their greater
gradients, tiny mountain streams may do this even more effectively
than large, sluggish rivers. Frequently such stones roll into irregular
depressions of the stream bed. If they are too heavy to roll out of the
depression again, they may be swirled around and around in it,
resulting in the grinding out of deep hollows, termed potholes. A long
series of these may be spaced so close together as to coalesce, or cut into
one another, eventually lowering the stream bed.
Any stream, whether it be on the surface or underground, and
depending upon the kind of rock over or through which it is flowing,
may also dissolve the rock. This is most pronounced where subsurface
streams flow through crevices in limestone or other soluble types of

102
rocks. This is, of course, a chemical action wherein the rock is
weathered and carried away immediately in solution. Most of the
beautiful caverns were hollowed out by extended enlargement of cracks
in the limestone by this dissolving power of running water.

• List the erosive agents and the effects they produce.

• List the variables, the corresponding characteristics and the
words they refer to.
• Using the lists speak about the effects of running water.
• Using contextual clues explain the following:
...act as further agents of weathering, as do the
wind-carried particles
sluggish rivers
to grind off - to grind out
• Find the contextual equivalents for:
extra situated
very small finally
often noticeable
called

• What is introduced with "or” (the last sentence of the first

paragraph)?
• List the words with the negative prefixes.
Text 12
Ordinary surface runoff, resulting from moderate rains, is
retarded and equalized and, to some extent, diminished by lakes and
ponds. All ponds holes, no m atter how small, have some retarding effect
on runoff, tending to reduce the rate and extend the period of time over
which runoff occurs. Ponds since they are wet weather phenomena may
increase percolation. Lakes and other permanent bodies of water such
as swamps usually exist because percolation is absent or exceedingly
slow. They are, as a rule, fed by both ground and surface waters and
consequently cannot add to the ground-water supply through
percolation. All permanent bodies of water increase evaporation losses
of water by providing a continuous supply of moisture and consequently
reducing the total runoff. The greater the depths of lakes, however, the
lower their temperatures and the smaller the evaporation loss. Swamps
whose beds are sufficiently impervious to maintain a supply of water
throughout the year greatly increase evaporation losses of water due to
growth of grasses. Thus swamps, while tending to retard and equalize
the ordinary surface runoff, greatly reduce the total quantity of water
finding its way into the streams.

103
 •Find out
what causes what
what results from what
what results in what
• Explain the following:
moderate rains
retarded (the second sentence may be of some help)
wet weather phenomena
• Explain in what way the opening and the concluding sentences
are related.
• Complete the following sentences:
...the greater the retarding effect on runoff.
...the longer the period of time over which runoff
occurs.
...therefore the total runoff is reduced.
...because their temperature is lower.
• Find the words which can help define or characterize
PONDS RUNOFF
LAKES PERCOLATION
SWAMPS EVAPORATION

See whether our prompts could be of any use:

PONDS L A K E S+ RUNO FF PERCOLATION EVAPO RATIO N
SW AMPS
holes perm anent water rate increase small
small bodies time slow loss
wet wea depth reduce
ther temperature
phenom ena
1

• Give possible definitions or explanations of the words

mentioned.

Text 13
Ground water is the water contained underground in the pores of
soil and rock. When rain falls on the earth some evaporates, some is
absorbed by plants, some runs off in streams and the remainder sinks
into the earth to become ground water. The amount that sinks into the
ground depends on various factors: rain falling on loose soil sinks
immedialtely; rain falling on clay either lies on the surface and
evaporates or runs off; on steep slopes runoff will exceed absorption.
It is much to the point to inquire how much of the rainfall soaks
into the ground, how much evaporates, how much is used by plant life,
and how much runs off into the streams. It is certain that there is much
104
water in the ground in some places; it fills completely the crevices and
larger openings in the bedrock and even the interstitial spaces in soil
and mantle rock. The depth down to which the water fills up these
crevices is known, but there are good reasons to suppose that water
from the surface may penetrate the rocks to a depth of a dozen miles.
The total amount of water varies greatly from place to place, and even
from time to time in the same place.
Water which sinks into the earth moves not merely downward,
but sideways, and even back to the surface. Thus, there is a sort of
circulation of underground water which is kept up fundamentally by
gravity, and assisted by such agencies as capillarity and plant roots.
From apparently dry land surfaces in hot weather a considerable
amount of water is evaporated, the vapour being given up by soil and
being renewed constantly from the subsoil by capillarity. Capillarity
raises water against gravity in this case. In cases where water lies at the
surface and soil is dry, capillarity will help gravity in passing water
downward into the soil. Thus capillarity forms part of the circulating
system of some of the ground water.
•What helps to understand the meaning of the word
"remainder"?
• Explain what is meant by
loose soil
apparently dry land surfaces
subsoil
• Say why these are used in the text:
it is much to the point to inquire
it is certain that
there are good reasons to suppose
• List the actions the water does and the directions in which it
runs (flows).
• Make up a scheme to illustrate the ground water circulation.
• Describe the scheme.
Text 14
The quantity of water with which mankind is concerned must
always remain the same, but its occurrence and its distribution over the
surface of the earth is continually changing. As an object of use and
consumption,water is one of those few natural resources the supply of
which remains almost undiminished because, through the action of
natural laws, water is constantly performing an ever-recurring cycle of
evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
The sun’s energy vaporizes the water from the surface of the
earth. The vapour thus formed is lighter than dry gases of the atmos­
phere, and hence tends to rise. Aided by convection currents, the water

K)5
vapour moves from place to place and upward through the air. On rising
it encounters a rarefied atmosphere and expands. The energy required
for expansion is gained from the air itself, resulting in a cooling and
final condensation of some of the vapour which falls to the earth again
as a rain. The precipitated water then starts on its way back to the
ocean. Some of it is lost through evaporation and some is used by
growing plants. The portion flowing over the earth’s surface and
through the rock strara furnishes the water for consumption, for power
and for transportation. Thus, as we see for so long as the sun shines,
this natural resource is constantly being replenished on the earth
• Find out
what does what
what causes what
what results in / from what
• Paraphrase the following:
through the action of natural laws
thus formed
hence tends to rise
on rising
to encounter
through evaporation
through the rock strata
as long as the sun shines
to replenish
• What distinguishes water as a natural resource from all other
kinds of water?
•Using the above information on water speak about the water on
the earth.

Text 15
Water occurs in an aquifer under one or the other of two
distinctly different conditions. If it is overlain by an impermeable
stratum , it is likely to be under pressure that will cause the water to rise
above the top of the aquifer when it is penetrated by a well. This is a
condition described as artesian. This term is used whether or not the
water rises high enough to flow at ground level. If the water in an
aquifer is not confined by an overlying impermeable stratum, it is said
to be under water-table conditions. Such water is not under pressure
and can be extracted only by pumping or gravitational flow through
underground canals.
Groundwater is seldom immobile in an aquifer. Artesian water in
particular is sure to move over considerable distances from a recharge
area. This movement is attributed to gravity. Evaporation may also be
powerful machanism of vertical movement. It operates as a huge pump

106
to lower the head of the groundwater.rhough evaporation usually takes
place at depths of 20 metres or more, it can represent a loss of water as
much as 3,000 cubic metres a year per square kilometre.
• What is the basic variable determining the conditions under
which water occurs in an aquifer?
• List the verbs denoting the actions the water in an aquifer does.
• Complete the following sentences:
1) When penetrated by a well...
2) The pressure exists when...
3) Due to gravity...
4) ... therefore the water rises above the top of the
aquifer.
5) ...even if the water does not rise high enough to
flow at ground level.
6) ... as such water is not under perssure.
• Give a one-sentence definition of
artesian conditions
water-table conditions

Text 16
A soil is more than mere a mixture of weathered rocks and
decayed organic matter: it is a natural body which can be regarded as a
product of its environment.
The mineral composition of soils is influenced by a number of
factors, chief among which are the nature of the parent material, the
processes of soil formation and the age of the soil.
Soils usually contain a greater variety of minerals than do rocks.
This is explained by the fact that the parent materials are usually
derived from not one but several kinds of rock.
The influence of soil-forming processes on the mineral
composition of soils is important. Soils developed in climatic zones,
where chemical weathering is intense will contain a lower proportion of
minerals resistant to alteration than will soils developed under
conditions of less intense weathering.
The age and maturity of a soil have a bearing on its mineral
composition. With increasing age and weathering of soil material the
proportion of readily altered minerals decreasses, and the proportion of
minerals resistant to alteration - increases.
One of the most important changes in the minerals of the parent
material during soil development is their diminution in particle size.
This diminution is brought about by physical and chemical reactions.
In turn the diminution in particle size induces greater chemical activity
in minerals.

107
 The rock- and soil-forming minerals may be divided into two
groups: I) original, or primary constituents, and 2) secondary
constituents. The secondary minerals are alteration or decomposition
products of primary minerals, original or primary minerals derived
from igneous rocks and chemically unchanged; and secondary minerals
formed as alteration or decomposition products of primary constituents.

•Group the words to correspond to the sequence of the key items

presented in the paragraphs:
(1) cau se-resu lt
(2) comparison
(3) definition
(4) classification
(5) composition
(6) cause - effect

• Illustrate the key items with examples.

• What characteristics could describe:
weathering
proportion
reaction
activity
constituents
changes
m atter
minerals?

• Using the key items and the corresponding characteristics

describe soils.
• What do these refer to:

to be considered as to be accounted for

several effect
major to be related (to)
to be composed (of) to be caused by

• Show schematically the structure of the second sentence in

paragraph 4.

108
 Text 17
Erosional Processes in Deserts

There are two main agents of erosion in deserts: diurnal

temperature variations and wind. In deserts, there is often a great
difference between day and night temperatures. During the day the sun
heats the rocks to a great tem perature and causes them to expand. At
height the rocks cool quickly and therefore contract. Constant
expansion and contraction causes the outer layers to crack and
disintegrate. Sometimes this type of weathering makes the rock peel off
in layers. This process is called onion weathering. After some time, the
eroded rock disintegrates to form particles small enough to be carried or
moved by the wind.
The amount of erosion is inversely proportional to the hardness
of the rock. Thus, rocks such as sandstone or limestone, are weathered
quickly. Rocks, such as granite or basalt, however, are hard enough to
resist to a large amount of erosion and they often remain as amorphous
masses in an eroded plain. These masses are called inselbergs.
When rock is eroded, the wind grades the detritus into three
sizes. These sizes are called dust, sand and gravel. The wind can
transport mainly dust and sand, and the distance the material travels
depends on the size of the particle and strength of the wind.
Dust is carried in suspension and this process is called deflation.
When sand is blown by the wind, it is too heavy to be carried in
suspension. It is carried along in a series of jumps and this process is
called saltation. Gravel, however, is too coarse to be moved by the wind.
Sometimes, wind and water combine to break the gravel down to a size
small enough to be moved by the wind.

•Make up a cause - effect/result scheme.

• List the processes mentioned.
• Group the words to characterize the processes.
• Give definitions of the processes using the key points you have
picked out.
• Compare the processes. Use proper connectives.
• Give examples/reasons to illustrate/explain what these mean:
the amount of erosion is inversely proportional
to the hardness of the rock
thus,sandstone or limestone are weathered quickly
• Explain the difference between
dust
sand
gravel

109
 • Using the information given in the text or the contextual clues,
say what is meant by
. diurnal temperature variations
inselbergs
• Complete the following sentences:
The greater the temperature...
The smaller the particles of the eroded rock...
The harder the rock...
The stronger the wind...

Text 18
The process of glacier formation has been studied mostly with
respect to the alpine type of glaciers.
The snow which falls in the course of a year in high mountain
regions, gradually accumulates there and becomes more and more
compact by the action of its own weight.lt is altered into granular ice
known as firn, which includes a large number of air bubbles. Further
owing to the pressure of overlying layers these bubbles are forced out
through cracks and the ice is turned into a homogeneous mass of blue
glacial ice. The latter consists of highly irregular but more or less
rounded grains of various sizes which are actually deformed crystals,
some grains being as large as an egg.
Glacial ice is stratified. The stratification is due to the alternating
periods of abundant and scanty snowfall which result in the formation
of layers relatively rich or poor in the amount of air bubbles they
contain.
The most characteristic peculiarity of ice is its plasticity. Due to
this property, ice may move under its own pressure without breaking
the adhesion of its particles. The motion of an ice-sheet follows the
same laws as the flow of liquids: the highest rate of motion is observed
in the middle of the ice stream, approximately along its axis. If the
incline is the same, a glacier is moving at a rate 10, 000 times slower
than that of a water stream, covering a distance of from 1,25 to 25 mm.
per hour.
• List the stages of glacier formation.
• List the variables and characteristics to describe glacial ice.
• Give a one-sentence defition of firn mentioning 3 variables.
• Make up a cause - effect scheme.
• Say what is compared with the help of the phrase “follows the
same laws". Explain what it means.
• What words are used to characterize the amount?
• List the variables and characteristics to describe motion.

uo
 • What do these refer to:
the latter (§ 2)
than (§ 4)
• What is the contextual equivalent of "more or less" (§ 4)?
• Think of a situation in which you could describe something as
being "as large as a mountain" and "as small as a mountain"
• Using the lists compiled and the cause - effect scheme, describe
the process of glacier formation.

Text 19
Some glaciers are much colder than others. In fact, the ice in
some glaciers is always at the melting-point temperature. In other
glaciers the temperature is always below the melting point.
On the basis of temperature glaciers are classified as "warm" or
“tem perate” and "cold” or "polar"
On the basis of form all glaciers can be placed in two main classes
- ice sheets and valley glaciers. The smaller ice sheets are termed ice­
caps. The ice blocked only partially by mountain ranges, escapes from
the vast interior by sending long, narrow tongues through gaps in these
barriers. These tongues of ice are outlet glaciers. They are not inde­
pendent glaciers but depend upon the ice sheet for their existence and
belong to the valley-glacier class.
Most valley glaciers do not drain from ice sheet, but have their
sources above the snowline in the heads of high mountain valleys. It is
not direct snowfall but rather avalanching of snow from steep slopes
that furnishes the principal nourshment of these ice streams. And they
are often called mountain glaciers to distinguish them from outlet
glaciers.
Some valley glaciers descend from the mountains into plains,
there to spread out into broad flat masses known as piedmont glaciers.
• List all the types of glaciers.
• List all the variables mentioned and their characteristics.
• Group the words and word combinations to describe the types of
glacieris.
•Compare the classes of glaciers and the types of glaciers within
each class.
Text 20
Geological Processes

The leading geological processes fall into two contrasted groups.

The first group - denudation and deposition - includes the processes
which act on the crust or at or very near its surface, as a result of the
movements and chemical activities of air, water, ice and living
organisms. Such processes are essentially of external origin. The second

in
 group - earth movements, igneous activity and metamorphism -
includes the processes which act within or through the crust, as a result
of the physical and chemical activities of the materials of the
substratum (or mantle) and of gases and magmas in the crust or
passing through it. Such processes are essentially of internal origin.
Both groups of processes operate under the control of gravitation
(including attractions due to the sun and moon), co-operating with the
earth’s bodily movements - rotation about its axis and revolution
around the sun.
But if these were all, the earth’s surface would soon reach a state
of approximate equilibrium from which no further changes of geological
significance could develop. Each group of processes, to be kept going,
reauires some additional source of energy. The processes of external
origin are specifically maintained by the radiation of heat from the sun.
Those of internal origin are similarly maitained by the liberation of
heat from the stores of energy locked within the earth.
Throughout the ages the face of the earth has been changing its
expression. At times its features have been flat and monotonous. At
others - as today - they have been bold and vigorous. But in the long
struggle for supremacy between the sun - born forces of land
destruction and the earth - born forces of land renewal, neither has
permanently gained the mastery.
• List the key points to illustrate the iterrelationships mentioned
in the text.
• Follow the tense forms through the text. What do you think the
function of the Present Perfect Tense is in the last paragraph?
• Using the key points you have picked out describe the
geological processes.

Text 21
Geological Processes. Erosion

All rocks at the earth’s surface are disintegrating and

decomposing in various processes of weathering. Chemical reactions
cause the flaking of basalt and frost shattering produces the huge
screes. Weathering prepares the way to erosion which is the wearing
away of rock debris and its transportation elsewhere. Together they
result in the sculpturing and eventual lowering of the land surface. The
downward pull of gravity is the driving force in all forms of erosion, but
the main agents by which rock is demolished and removed are rivers,
glaciers, waves, currents and wind. Loose material can also fall, slide or
creep downhill in the process termed mass movement. Many landforms
have distinctive shapes which reflect the major processes by which they

112
were moulded. Typical examples include river valleys, glaciated
valleys, cliffed coastlines and landslip scars. No agent of erosion works
in isolation and all scenery is an assemblage of features shaped in
different ways.
Climatic factors, including the amount and seasonal distribution
of rain, snow and evaporation, the range of temperatures and the
strength and direction of the wind, control the process of erosion at
work in any region. This leads to the development of climatically
distinctive landscape types. World climatic patterns are, however,
constantly changing. At times during the past million years, ice sheets
covered vast areas of today’s regions. Changes of atmospheric
circulation brought sufficient rain to parts of the Saharan and American
deserts to support permanent rivers, whilst some tropical areas, now
humid, experienced desert conditions.
• Make up a cause - effect/result scheme.
• Describe the scheme.
• Explain the following:
prepare the way for erosion
elsewhere
they result in eventual lowering of the land surface
the driving force in all forms of erosion
some tropical regions experienced desert conditions

Text 22
Erosion (continuation)

Rocks of varying resistance brought into the zone of weathering

and erosion by folding, tilting and faulting are attacked at different
rates. Erosion also proceeds rapidly along lines of weakness such as
joints and faults. In the arid landscape the erosional forms reflect the
differing durabilities of the rock strata and the pattern of jointing. Over
long periods of time, erosion reduces the land to low-lying plains cut
across rocks and geological structures of all types. These plains may be
raised by crustal uplift to form plateaux. With greater elevation and
steeper gradients, rivers cut deep valleys and gorges. As the valleys
widen, the plateaux are progressively destroyed, leaving only a series
of peaks and ridges at approximately the same height. When uplift
occurs before the levelling of a region is complete, partially shaped
erosion surface form facets of the scenery. These vestiges provide clues
to the sequence of events in the evolution of the landscape.
Erosion is rapid in steep areas with heavy precipitation and in
semi-arid regions poorly protected by patchy vegetation, but slow in
deserts and cold lowlands.

5-I4S
113
 • Make up a cause - effect/result scheme.
• Compare the scheme of the given text to that of the previous
one. Say what additional information is included in the given text.
• Give a brief description of erosion using the information
available in both texts.
• Explain what is meant by:
lines of weakness (mind "such as")
differing durabilities
the levelling of the region
provide clues
poorly protected
patchy vegetation

Text 23
Sedimentation

The rock materials removed by weathering and erosion are

mostly deposited elsewhere as sediments, either by setting from
suspension or by precipitation from solution. Environments in which
sediments accumulate vary widely in their persistence through time, in
the size and geography of areas they occupy, and in their climatic
conditions. Sedimentary enviroments are essentially continental (on
land) or marine (on the floors of seas and oceans). A transitional
coastal enviroment is formed by beaches, lagoons, estuaries and deltas.
Sedimentary deposits in continentalenvironmentshave been laid down
either under water or on land. In addition to water-laid muds, sands
and gravels of rivers and lakes, there are rock screes, evaporite salt
deposites and wind-blown (aeolian) sands of deserts, and the ice-borne
(glacial) boulder clays of high mountain and polar regions. Although
fragmental (clastic) silts, sands and shingles form the bulk of
sediments laid down in coastal environments, conditions may permit
local accumulation of organic material, such as peat, shell banks and
coral reefs.
Marine sedimentary environments range from shallow-water
(neritic) continental shelf areas, through deeper-water (bathyal) areas
of the continental slope and rise, to the oceanic (abyssal) depths. In
general clastic sediments derived from land grade seawards into finer
sands, silts and muds. Accumulation of these sediments on the slope
may be dislodged and redeposited by strong gravity currents as
"turbidites" on the abyssal floor. Typical abyssal sediments are slowly
accumulating oozes and clays, together with such chemical precipitates
as manganese nodules.

11 4
 • Explain what is meant by:
persistence through time
are essentially continental
bulk of sediments
grade seawards into finer sands
• List the words to characterize
the kinds of sediments
the environments in which sediments accumulate
• Describe the process of sedimentation using the lists you have
compiled.

Text 24
Nature of Landslides

Landslides take place in widely differing rock types and are of

almost conceivable size and shape.
They are found at elevations ranging from lofty mountain peaks to
the sea floor, and occur in every climate from frigid Arctic to humid
tropic and arid desert. The resulting wide range of variables produces
many different kinds or types of landslides.
A complex landslide consists of any combination of the three
basic types.
Falls are limited to the free falling of earth material of any size.
The name "fall" is modified depending upon the principal material
involved: rock fall, debris fall, and soil fall.
Slides (rock slides, debris slides, and soil slides) occur where
movement takes place on one or more shear or slip surfaces and the
affected mass consists of single to numerous segments bounded by slip
surfaces.
Flows, the third general type of landslide movement, occur where
the displaced mass is deformed and moves like a viscous fluid.
• What determines the nature of the basic types of landslide? List
the corresponding variables and their characteristics.
• Compare the types of landslides.
Use proper connectives.

Text 25
Landsliding is an important agent shaping the earth’s surface
and it has been active as long as there have been natural slopes. As
canyons are cut by running water, or as mountains are thrust upward,
the force of gravity periodically pulls down masses of earth materials
from exposed slopes. This process produces much of the debris that is
later carried away by streams and rivers to be deposited as sediments in
intermountai basins and on the ocean floor.

5 * us
 Technically, landslides are part of a more general category of
erosional processes called mass-wasting - the term applied by geologists
to the process of downslope movement of earth materials, primarily by
gravity. This movement, either slow or rapid, occurs when the strength,
of the material is exceeded by the force of gravity. Greep is that part of
mass-wasting in which earth materials with poorly defined bounds
move at imperceptibly slow rates. When a discrete unit (or units) of
earth materials moves perceptibly, it is termed a landslide.
- How many definitions are given in the text?
- How many can be deduced from the information
presented?
- What variables can be deduced for the definition of
canyons and mountains?
- What is deposition?
- What is called sediments?
- What determines the defference between a creep
and a landslide?

• Compare the two texts on landsliding. Use proper connectives.

Text 26
Causes of Landslides
1.
The causes of landsliding can be traced to the inherent
properties of the rocks, and to external factors related to the geologic
setting. These terms, "inherent" and "external", correspond in general
to other twofold divisions of the cuases of landsliding, such as "real"
and "immediate".
The inherent properties of a rock unit which may lead to a "slide-
prone" condition include low strength minerals posessing perfect
cleavage rocks that swell. External conditions that cause landslides
range from gravity, which is always present, through erosion and
rainfall, which are commonly or periodically present, to earthquakes,
which are infrequent. Commonly a landslide results from inherent
properties plus external conditions.
The activities of man must be considered an external cause
contributing to the triggering of some spectacular landslides.
2.
Ground water may play an important part in the formation of
landslips. By the latter term is meant the slow motion of masses of
surface earth which is found to occur down the slopes of mountains,
hills, river valleys, sea coasts and lake shores. The phenomenon is due
to the natural cohesion between the different layers of the ground

116
having been disturbed. An artificial load placed on the ground in the
form of dams, buildings etc., may also be the cause of landslips. If the
weight of the ground is increased by its being saturated wiih water
during a period of heavy rains or melting snow, this may likewise result
in widespread landslips. Reduced friction between the different layers
of the earth which is caused by the contact surface being moistened
with water, for example, the reduced friction between clay surfaces, is
also a great factor in bringing about landslips.
• Make up a cause - effect scheme.
• Describe the scheme.
• Speak on landslides using the information of the above texts.
• Explain what is meant by:
a twofold division
a "slide-prone” condition
the triggering of landslides
• What does "the latter" refer to (text 2)?
• Explain what is meant by "an artificial load" using the
contextual clues.
• Compare the nature of landslides with that of landslips.

Text 27
Principle causes of land-surface subsidence are removal of solids
or fluids from beneath the land surface, either naturally or artificially;
solution; oxidation; compaction of soil or sediments under surface
loading; vibration; and tectonic movement.
The two types of fluid withdrawal by man that have caused
noticeable subsidence under favourable geologic conditions are 1) the
withdrawal of oil, gas, and associated water and 2) the withdrawal of
ground water. The withdrawal of stream for geothermal power has
caused subsidence; also, the withdrawal of brines, reportedly, has
caused subsidence.
Regardless of the nature of the fluid removed, the principles
involved are the same; therefore, the separation of subsidence
phenomena due to fluid withdrawal into those caused by exploitation of
oil and gas fields and those caused by pumping of ground water may
seem highly arbitrary. On the other hand, there are marked differences
in the character and dimensions of the two types of reservoirs and in
the magnitude of man-made stresses involved.
• What are the key points of each paragraph?
• Describe subsidence presenting the main information in one
sentence.
• Say it in another way:
the fluid removed

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 the principles involved
man-made stresses involved
• What does "those" refer to in the last paragraph?
• What makes the difference between the types of land-surface
subsidence caused naturally and artificially?

Text 28
Earthquakes

Seismic phenomena, or earthquakes, are the most terrible

catastrophes occurring in nature. A strong earthquake may destroy
whole towns in the course of several minutes and even seconds.
It has been scientifically proved that the majority of earthquakes
are directly connected with dislocations and mountain-making
processes and generally occur in young mountains which have not yet
ceased growing.
However, in some cases earthquakes may occur in older
mountains, in which the mountain-making processes have been revived.
Almost all the destructive earthquakes which have occurred within
living memory belong to this class of so-called tectonic earthquakes.
However, there are other seismic phenomena which are not
directly connected with mountain-making processes. These are known
as volcanic earthquakes. Volcanic earthquakes are due to the explosion
of volcanic gases, when the free escape of magma from the vent of the
volcanic crater to the earth’s surface is in some way obstructed. Such
shocks usually take place during periods of violent volcanic eruptions
and may be the cause of terrible catastrophes and destructions. But
they do not spread over areas as large as those involved in tectonic
earthquakes.
Besides the above mentioned earthquakes there are others
known as collapse earthquakes. These occur mostly in the regions of the
earth’s crust where readily soluble rocks are widely distributed. Some
regions contain underground caves which are sometimes vary large. It
is clear that if the roofs of such caves are not sufficiently strong, they
may give way under the weight of overlying strata and fall down into
the cave. This latter type of earthquake has a very limited range of actioi
• Paraphrase the following:
in the course of several minutes
have not yet ceased growing
within living memory
i s ... obstructed
give way under the weight

118
 • Group the key points to characterize different tvpes of
earthquakes.
• Make up cause-effect schemes to describe the earthquakes.
• Compare the types of earthquakes. Use proper connectives.

Text 29
The typical large earthquake starts with fracturing within the
earth where rocks are subjected to increasing strain until they break.
The sudden fracturing is violent enough to vibrate the surrounding
solid rocks. These vibrations, called seismic waves, pass through the
earth like waves through water they compress and expand materials in
their path or shift it from side to side. Seismic waves travel over the
whole surface of the earth and penetrate to its very center.
In many important earthquakes fracturing extends to the
surface, where it follows established lines of weakness. The parts
played by the fracturing and the resulting waves are very different.
Although heavy losses may be due directly to fault movement, most of
the property damage and loss of life in earthquakes are caused by
seismic waves shaking the ground. The waves originate at the fault but
spread out from it with such intensity that serious damages result one or
two hundred miles away.
While the degree of shaking tends off with distance from the cen­
tre of disturbance, it varies greatly depending on the solidity of the
ground on which structures stand. Other circumstances being equal, the
intensity of shaking and, consequently, the destructive effects are much
greater on unconsolidated foundation than they are on firm rock.

• List the points to describe an earthquake.

• What processes are mentioned in the text?
• Complete the sentences:
The increasing strain results in...
Seismic waves are...
Vibrations of solid rocks lead to...
Seismic waves result from... and result in...
• Say how these can be characterized:
fracturing strain
losses spread
damage degree
shaking effects
foundation

• Give a one-sentence definition of an earthquake.

119
 Text 30
Geologic Hazards

'There is no geologic hazards without

people; the ’hazards’ arise from man’s
unwise, inept, and careless occupation
and use or abuse of geologic
environment"

Geologic hazards are those geologic features and events that are
hazardous or harmful to the extent that they frequently result in
injuries or loss of life and property. Natural geologic processes which
have been going on for millions of years may become geologic hazards
when people get in the way. They include such diverse geologic
phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides,
subsidence, tsunamis, soil creep, and glacier bursts. If not recognized,
clearly understood, and accounted for in the activities of man, almost
any geologic processes or features can become a geologic hazard.
Throughouthistory, there are many examples of geologic
hazards which have resulted in disaster and have greatly affected the
activities of man. Volcanic eruptions such as those of Vesuvius,
Krakatoa, andMt. Pelee are just a few examples. Ten great
earthquakes in China between the 11-th and 12-th centuries resulting
in landslides and collapse of loessal cliffs, killed 1,5 million people. We
can cite numerous well-known earthquakes experienced by North
Americans in this century. The list of disasters caused by "naturally
occurring geologic hazards", or those hazards over which man has no
apparent control would indeed be lengthy.
Another category of geologic hazards is that of "man-induced
hazards". Man’s acitvity has helped to change the rate and place of
occurrence of certain natural phenomena, resulting in hazards to
himself. Some examples of man-induced hazards include: land
subsidence caused by withdrawal of ground water and petroleum
resulting in damage to foundatons and other structures, and landslides
and slumping resulting from highway construction which modifies
stable slopes.
Both naturally occurring and man-induced geologic hazards are
merely normal geologic processes or events until man gets in the way;
then these processes or events become hazards. Earthquakes are
hazards when man lives too close to the active fault area, volcanic
eruptions become so when man lives in close proximity to the volcano,
and floods become hazards when man inhabits the flood plain.

120
 What can the geologist do about geologic hazards? Working with
adequate knowledge he can conduct proper geologic investigations that
can be used to prevent a geologic hazard from becoming a disaster.
Recognition or identificaiton of a geologic hazard at a certain locality
must first be made. Once clearly identified and defined, there are
several approaches to solving the problem, depending on the type of
Tiazard. One solution is to avoid the problem by changing the proposed
location of a structure such as a reservoir, nuclear power plant or
highway. This solution is often necessary in the case of naturally
occurring hazards. Other alternatives are to eliminate the hazard.
Normally, the latter approaches are more costly than avoiding the prob­
lem. The urgency to avoid or prevent geologic hazards is a necessary
outgrowth of a society characterized by increasing population and
urbanization.
What hope do we have for eliminating disasters caused by
geologic hazards? There is little hope that they can be eliminated
completely, but they could be greatly reduced with an understanding of
the geologic aspects of the environment. Hopefully, prediction and
control of many geologic hazards will become a reality in the near
future.
• Answer these questions:
What makes geologic features and events hazard­
ous?
In what way do earthquakes, volcanic eruptions,
floods, landslides, subsidendce, tsunamis, soil
creep, and glacier bursts affect people?
What other examples of man-induced hazards could
you provide besides those given in the text?
How can one recognize or identify a geologic
hazard? (Use the information accumulated.)
What do you think can be done to avoid, prevent or
eliminate different kinds of disasters?

CHECK-READING

Crumbling Rocks

Probably there is nothing in Nature more grand and imposing

than a lofty mountain, its towering peak snowcapped and glistening like
a diadem in the sunlight, its enormous bulk fashioned from massive,
solid rock. By contrast, nothing else on earth seems to be more firm and

121
stable... There are numerous sayings to the effect that something is "as
old as the hills" or "as hard as a rock”.
On the other hand, if one will pause to think a moment, it is self*,
evident that even the hardest rocks are subjected to breakdown and
decay. There are various examples of this on every hand. Inscriptions
on old tombstones are slowly obliterated after many decades; surfaces
of old stone edifices creemble away; stone steps of public buildings are
gradually hollowed out by the constant tread of leather soles. Along
country roads where the highway has been cut through rock strata, the
stone soon loses its appearance of freshness, pitted surfaces develop,
and pieces of rock slough off to collect in heaps at th base. If changes
such as these occur within a few years or decades, infinitely greater
ones must take place over periods of thousands or millions of years.
Detailed study of such phenomena has shown that over long,
periods of time all rocks exposed at the earth’s surface are readily
altered. For the most part, these changes are accomplished, directly or
indirectly, by the action of the atmosphere and precipitation and hence
are appropriately termed rock-weathering. Depending upon the
prevailing weather and climate and kind of rock in any given region, the
alteration process may be dominantly chemical, mechanical or a
combination of both. In humid regions the rock surfaces become dull
and stained, crumbly and pitted, as a result of chemical action of the
moisture upon the minerals comprising the rocks, causing the latter
literally to decay or decompose. It is this same process that causes old
tin cans or the unpainted surface of bridges and other structures to
flake off in the form of rust. In arid regions, of the other hand, the
surfaces of the rocks may remain reasonably fresh, but cracks and
fissures appear, and thin slivers and shells break away from the
surfaces. Because here the air is relatively dry, the process is
essentially mechnical in nature. Both processes, however, are forms of
rock-weathering.
As a result of either of these processes or both of them, solid and
firm rock ultimately crumbles into small pieces, grains and dust. If the
exposed rock forms the side of a cliff, steep valley or mountain side, the
weathered and loosened fragments slide or creep downgrade to build up
heaps of debris, called talus, at the base of the parent rock mass. In
some mountainous regions such heaps of slide-rock finally become so
great as to bury the whole mountain side. If the bedrock is only gently
inclined or essentially horizontal, the small fragments remain scattered
on the surface,eventually weathering into smaller and smaller particles
to form the mantle of soil that characteristically covers extensive areas
of the earth’s surface. In any region where soil lies on the surface,
observation shows that with depth it grades downward into coarser and

122
coarser fragments until the parent bedredk is reached. Such depths
may, in various regions, be a matter of only a few inches or of hundreds
of feet.
Because this mantle of broken rock and soil consists of relatively
small particles, it is readily carried away by such mechanical forces as
wind, running water or ice, giving rise to the familiar phenomenon
known as erosion. Thus rock-weathering and erosion operate hand in
hand to break down the solid rock and carry it away bit by bit to lower
levels and finally to the sea. Through these combined processes,
operating continuously through the ages, mountains are worn low and
continental areas of past times have been literally washed away.
Geologically, such events are of little moment in themselves because
new lands and new mountains have continually been rebuilt or re­
elevated from time to time to take place of those that have been
destroyed. From the human viewpoint, however, rock-weathering and
the resulting erosion are of tremendous consequence, particularly
where agriculture and related industries depend upon the use of the
soil.
In nature, rock-weathering and erosion more or less keep pace
with each other,thereby insuring retention of the soil mantle in regions
where it has been developed. Here, ground water and air, penetrating
downward through the interspaces of the soil, slowly weather the
bedrock beneath, breaking it into smaller particles, even though the
rock is blanketed by many feet of mantle. If the topsoil is not carried
away too fast, this slow weathering of the rock beneath continues in
pace with the normal erosion of the world, the soil mantle, as a unit,
would remain essentially static were it not for improper agricultural
practices that permit erosion to operate faster than new soil can be
formed by weathering. If researchers in rock-weathering could discover
practical means whereby natural weathering could be greatly speeded,
some of our serious erosion problems might be solved.
Theoretically, rock-weathering is considered by geologists as
being merely the process whereby massive rock is disintegrated or
decomposed into smaller and finer particles, regardless of the manner
in which it is accomplished. Erosion, on the other hand, involves the
removal of these particles from their original sites to any other location,
their ultimate destination usually being the sea. From a practical
standpoint, however, it is not always possible to differentiate clearly
between weathering and erosion, since the two are so interrelated that
they usually aid and abet each other. This is particularly true where so-
called mechanical weathering appears to be the dominant factor. Because
rock is a relatively poor conductor of heat, the sun’s rays cause exposed
surfaces to become heated and expanded more than the interior,

123
resulting in strains that weaken the rock. At night there may be a
reversal of his condition, the rock surfaces losing their heat and
becoming colder than the inside. Such expansions are characteristic of
desert and semiarid regions where temperatures may be quite high in
the daytime and correspondingly low at night. As a result of these
expansions and contractions over long periods, the rock finally yields
by shelling off its outer layer. As fresh surfaces are exposed, the
process is repeated. Although such action may be primarily mechnical,
it is aided by chemical reactions when small amounts of moisture enter
the cracks developed in this way and further the decomposition of the
mineral matter comprising the rock. The loose shells of rock which thus
fall away from the parent mass are not completely weathered, however,
and may lie for many years on the ground before they are finally
broken into particles small enough to be picked up by erosion agents
and carried away. The great structure known as Half Dome, in
Yosemite National Park, exhibits this form of weathering in enormous
degree.
Closely related to the foregoing process is that wherein water
enters the crevices and pores of rocks and becomes frozen when the
temperature drops. The expansion of the ice may exert sufficient
pressure to pry the rocks apart, and, with alternate periods of thawing
and freezing, great chunks of rock may be loosened and fall away from
the main rock mass. In the same way, the roots of trees penetrating-
down into small rock fissures may exert sufficient force while growing
to lift and pry away large slabs of rock. In addition, the mere difference
in physical characteristics of alternating layers of rock may contribute
to their disruption. Common examples of this may be seen wherever
there are overhanging cliffs. Here soft, or more easily weathered, strata
of rocks are topped by more resistant layers. The former, in
weathering, are cut back under the overlying layers, eventually
contributing to the downfall of the harder layers.
Theoretically, mechanical weathering can be distinguished from
chemical weathering. The former is simply the breakdown of the parent
rock mass into smaller pieces of varying size and shape, enabling them
to be moved by gravity or by eroding agents. Chemical weathering,
however, involves an actual chemical change in the composition of the
minerals comprising the rocks. Air and water, particularly if combined
with carbonic acid from decaying vegetation, are powerful decomposers
of rock materials; hence these agents literally tend to eat away the rock
minerals. If any part of the mineral constituents of a rock mass is thus
decayed away, the remaining structure may become so porous and
weakened as to be much more easily attacked by mechnical processes.
Only under very limited conditions are rocks completely weathered

124
solely by one or the other means. Usually both forces operate together.
It can be readily understood that when rocks are disintegrated by
mechanical means, the smaller fragments expose a greater total surface
area to the attack of chemical agents, permitting the latter to perform
their work more effectively. And this, in turn, may quicken further
mechanical breakdown. Some types of rocks and minerals, such as
limestone, marble, salt and gypsum, are quite susceptible to chemical
attack; whereas others, such as shale, quartzite and many volcanic
rocks, are not and are therefore broken down principally by mechnical
means.
Having been weathered, all rock particles are subjected to
transport, technically called erosion, whereby they are removed to
other location^fend ultimately to the sea. Depending upon the region,
the erosion agents are wind, ice or water. Operating most effectively in
arid regions, the wind picks up the smaller weathered particles, such as
dust and fine sand grains, often carrying them great distances before
dropping them again. During the exceptionally dry periods of 1934-36,
enormous dust storms, originating in the Great Plains of the United
States, swept eastward across the continent. At Chicago, Detroit and
farther east, these storms were of such intensity as to black out the sun
at midday. In some instances, the storms raced onward over the
Atlantic and sailors on ships at sea swept the dust of our Western
prairies from their decks.
The wind, as an erosion agent, may also do much weathering.
The loose sand grains, as they are blown along, may be hurled against
projecting masses of rock with such force as to abrade, or wear away,
their surfaces by a natural sandblast. Since the wind usually cannot lift
sand grains high from the ground, most of the sandblasting action
occurs within a few feet of the ground. This results in undercutting of
the rocks to produce many curious rock formations, such as "toadstool
rocks”, balanced rocks and oval caves in cliff sides. Oftentimes
telephone poles and fence posts are cut off near the ground line by such
sandblasting.
Running water, because of its almost universal distribution, is
generally concidered to be the most important erosive agent. Most
readily understood of all geologic processes is the part that surface
streams play in land erosion by carrying away in suspension most of the
weathered products of their drainage areas. In order to study the
transporting power of streams, gauging stations are maintained near
the mouths of many large rivers. In this way it has been determined
that the Mississippi River normally carries more than a million tons of
sediment daily to the Gulf of Mexico. Less well known, however, is the
fact that these suspended particles of sediment may themselves act as

125
further agents of weathering, as do the wind-carried particles. While
being swirled along in the streams, the grains strike against the sides
and the bedrock of the stream channels, grinding off additional
particles of rock. It is also recognized that streams may transport stones
that are too large and heavy for them to carry by suspension. They do
this simply by rolling or buffeting them along their beds. Because cf
their greater gradients, tiny mountain streams may do this even mors
effectively than large, sluggish rivers. Frequently such stones roll into
irregular depressions of the stream bed. If they are too heavy to roll out
of the depression again, they may be swirled around and around in it.
resulting in the grinding out of deep hollows, termed potholes. A long
series of these may be spaced so close together as to coalesce, or cut into
one another, eventually lowering the stream bed.
Any stream, whether it be on the surface or underground, and
depending upon the kind of rock over or through which it is flowing may
also dissolve the rock. This is most pronounced where subsurface
streams flow through crevices in limestone or other soluble types of
rocks. This is, of course, a chemical action wherein the rock is
weathered and carried away immediately in solution. All our large and
beautiful caverns, such as Carisbad, Mammoth and Luray, were
hollowed out by extended enlargement of cracks in the limestone by
this dissolving power of running water.
Even nonflowing waters, such as the sea itself, are powerful
weathering and eroding agents along the shores where they come into
direct contact with the land. Rocky sea cliffs are battered to pieces by
the onslaught of the waves. This is accomplished largely by the air that
occupies the crevices in the rocks becoming compressed when the waves
slap against it. The compressed air then tends to spread the rock apart,
eventually weakening them to the crumbling point. The broken rocks
fall to the beach, where the waves pound them into fragments smal
enough to be carried out to sea by the undertow and longshore currents.
In some respects, ice may be the most powerful eroding agent o!
all, particularly in regions where it occurs as enormous glaciers.
Because of its rigidity, ice offers greater resistance than does either
water or wind; therefore, when glacial ice moves over rock surfaces it
may actually gouge out rocks that neither wind nor water cound easily
reach. The rock fragments thus gouged out may then become frozen in<
the bottom of the glacier and abrade the surfaces over which they move.5
In this way the glacier acts like a gigantic piece of sandpaper, grinding
down the lands over which it passes. Also, in contrast to flowing water,
which receives its momentum from gravity, glaciers may actually move
uphill, wearing the tops of hills and mountains as they ride up and over
them. The method of uphill movement of ice may be visualized by

126
|kening a glacier to a string of railroad cars that are being pushed
^pgrade by a locomotive. The glacial ice accumulates from compacted
|now that has fallen in the region of greatest precipitation. After a
sufficient thickness of ice has thus been mounded up (usually several
|undred to a thousand feet or more), it begins to move under its own
yeight, continuing to move thereafter as long as snow continues to be
£dded at the accumulation point. The pressure thus created may cause
pie extremities of the glacier to move uphill if any elevations stand in its
path. Thus the forward end of a glacier may act like a giganic plow as it
is shoved along.
Valley giaciers, those long, narrow rivers of ice that charac­
teristically move down the sides of high mountains, are enormous
carriers of rock debris. As they slowly wind their way down through the
valleys, the flowing ice tends to comform to the valley shapes; but
because the ice is nevertheless rigid, it cuts away at the sides and
bottoms of the valleys, ever widening and deepening them by abrasion
against the rock. As the valleys are cut wider and deeper, the upper
parts of the valley walls may be left so poorly supported that slides and
avalanches catapult down upon the glacier from overhead. This
material, often consisting of rocks and boulders of immense size, then
rides along on top of the glaciers as though on great sleds. In this way
rocks larger than houses can be carried along by the moving ice, a feat
impossible for wind or water to accomplish.
Since, by definition, rock-weathering is the process of
disintegrating or decomposing the rock into smaller pieces, and erosion
is that of carrying these particles away, it should follow that the two
processes are distinct in themselves. Yet, when one observes these
activities taking place, it is virtually impossible to draw sharp lines be-
|ween them. At what point do wind, water and ice cease to break rock
and, thereafter, merely transport it? The two processes may actually
work simultaneously, and further weathering may continue while the
fragments are being transported. Only in the case of chemical
weathering, wherein the rock material is completely dissolved and
combined with the moving water, does weathering cease before final
deposition in the sea. It is also true that neither weathering nor erosion
could long continue without the other. Without weathering there would
be no rock particles to be transported; and without erosion the
weathered fragments would accumulate to such depths that the agents
<5f weathering could not penetrate beneath the debris, and further
weathering would cease. We have only to study the surface of our moon
in order to visualize a condition wherein weathering and erosion do not
occur. Because there is no atmosphere and no water on the moon, its
surface remains unchanged except for the impact of falling meteors.

127
 The profound effects resulting from the combined action ofi
weathering and erosion account for nearly all the geologic changes that
occur on the surface of the earth. The only exceptions are the processes
of volcanism, faulting and regional uplift, wherein new lands may be
built and old ones shifted in position...
To weathering and erosion, then, may be attributed nearly all
those natural features of the earth considered beautiful in the eyes of
man: the towering mountains, peaceful valleys, sweeping hills, broad
plains and dashing waterfalls. There are few individuals who can look
upon beautiful scenery without experiencing some inward feeling of
emotion at the wonders displayed before them. Such vistas may at first
appear mysterious and meaningless but, upon study and
contemplation, may be read like the pages of a book. It is the mighty
history of an ever changing earth wherein rock piled on rock is slowly
crumbled away, only to be rebuilt from the products of its own
destruciton into new rocks of some succeeding age. The words of the
prophet, written several millennia ago, still ring with truth:
T he everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did
bow: his ways are everlasting.
 S E C T I O N IV

Earth has Place for Everything

FUTURE GENERATIONS
M U ST BE IN H E R ITO R S N O T
JU ST SURVIVORS

Kimberlite Pipes

These remarkable fossil volcanoes rise from a great depth. They

are the ultimate source of diamonds and also of rocks that may be
specimens of materials from the earth’s mantle.
Living on the surface of the earth, geologists have little direct
knowledge of the planet’s interior. Of the three broad layers that make
up the earth’s structure - the crust, the mantle and the core - only the
crust is accessible, and even in its thickest regions the crust represents
only about I per cent of the earth’s radius. Certain physical charac­
teristics of the deeper layers, such as their average density and the
speed with which they transmit earthquake waves, can be deduced from
the surface. For studies of chemical composition, however, there is no
adequate substitute for a specimen of mantle material.
An extraordinary source of such specimens is the rare rock type
called kimberlite. Kimberlite formations generally take the form of
small vertical shafts, called pipes, which are demonstrably of volcanic
origin. The pipes have been studied extensively, in large part because
they are of economic importance: they are the ultimate source of natural
diamonds. For the geologist, however, kimberlite pipes supply gems of a
different kind: rocks brought up from a great depth. Some of these rocks
may be samples of material characteristic of that found in the upper
portions of the earth’s mantle.
Until about 100 years ago the only known deposits of diamonds
were in river gravels. In 1870, however, allivial diamond deposits in
southern Africa were traced to their source, the kimberlite pipes near a
town that is now the South African city of Kimberley. Several other
pipes have since been discovered at Kimberley, and isolated pipes and
small groups of pipes are scattered in other parts of southern Africa.
Elsewhere in the world the only comparable concentration of kimberlite
deposits is in the Yakutsk Republic in Siberia.

129
 Compared with the commoner remnants of volcanic activity on
the earth’s surface, kimberlite pipes are quite small features. The
largest have diameters at the surface of less than two kilometers, and
many pipes of economic importance are only a few hundred meters in
diameter. The pipes generally have the form of a cylinder or a narrow
cone that tapers slightly with increasing depth. In the vicinity of the
pipes kimberlite can also be found in associated formations called
dikes, which are vertical dabs formed by the intrusion of molten
material into fissures in the surrounding rocks.
The pipes probably erupted at the surface when they were
formed and were then marked by an open crater and a small cone of
ejected material. In almost all cases, however, subsequent erosion has
removed the surface features and the uppermost strata of both the
kimberlite and the surrounding rocks. The pipes now available for
study are exposed at deeper erosion levels.
Diamonds are released from kimberlite in stream beds. Sub­
sequent geological changes may bury and consolidate these alluvial
deposits, but the diamonds, being extremely durable, remain
unaltered. Most of the known kimberlite pipes were emplaced in the
Cretaceous period, some 70 million to 130 million years ago. Diamonds
are found in alluvial deposits of several geological ages, however,
indicating that there were also pipes in earlier periods.
Kimberlite is a highly variable rock type. Most kimberlite
exposed at the surface, called "yellow ground" by miners and
prospectors, is severely weathered. At deeper levels there is a material
that is better preserved called "blue ground", but only in recent years
have samples of the native kimberlite become readily available. Fresh
kimberlite.is a hard, dark grey or blue rock whose structure gives
unmistakable evidence of an igneous origin. The kimberlite was
extruded into its present position as a molten liquid; it was then cooled
by contact with the volcanic conduit and finally solidified.
The major constituents of kimberlite are silicates, that is,
compounds of silicon and oxygen with metal ions. In general, minerals
cannot be defined as simple chemical compounds because their
composition is not determined by fixed ratio of atoms. Often two or
more compounds are present and are said to be in solid solution with
one another. As in a liquid solution, the component substances can be
mixed in any ratio over a wide range. One important constituent of
kimberlite is the mineral called olivine, which is a solid solution of
magnesium silicate and iron silicate. Another silicate is phlogopite, a
kind of mica rich in potassium and magnesium, and there are also
various silicate minerals that are classified as serpentines. The
se~oentines are formed by the hydration of olivine, or in other words by

13 0
chemically adding water to it. Kimberlite' also contains the mineral
calcite, which is not a silicate but consists of more or less pure calcium
carbonate.
Of the materials found in kimberlite pipes kimberlite itself may
be less interesting than some of the foreign bodies that appear as
inclusions within the kimberlite matrix. Among these inclusions, of
course, are diamonds, and it is to their presence that we owe much of
our knowledge of these remarkable volcanoes. Another type of
inclusions in kimberlite, and one that is far commoner than diamond,
consists of rocks torn loose from the walls of the volcanic pipe during
the eruption. These inclusions are called xenoliths (from the Greek for
foreign rocks).
Perhaps the greatest scientific interest in kimberlites. derives
from a third kind of intrusion: the rocks called ultramafic nodules. Like
diamonds, they are thought to come up from a great depth, perhaps as
much as 250 kilometers below the surface. They have a characteristic
rounded form, like beach stones, .caused by abrasion in the pipe.
The interpretation of kimberlites is complicated by the eventful
history of the upper mantle. Even several hundred kilometers under the
surface the composition and crystal structure of rocks are altered
repeatedly by a variety of chemical and physical processes. For
example, fluids containing dissolved salts can penetrate the grain
boundaries and microfractures of solid rock. Chemical reactions with
the dissolved ions can completely change the character of the host rock.
Melting followed by slow cooling and recrystallization has also
probably altered the structure of many rocks incorporated in kimberlite
nodules. Much of the evidence required for recognition of their source is
thereby destroyed.
The origin of the kimberlite matrix is perhaps even more obscure
than that of the ultramafic nodules. The interpretation of kimberlite
and the nodules it contains would surely be more secure if their history
were less complicated. Even if the story they tell is for now confusing
one, however, they remain among the best available sources of
information about the material of the upper mantle.
Task 1
Say
1) why kimberlite pipes can be called "fossil" volcanoes;
2) what sort of information on the Earth’s interior can be
obtained from the surface;
3) what sort of information can be obtained from kimberlite
pipes.

131
 Task 2
Comment on the following:
"Kimberlite pipes are the ultimate source of natural diamonds.
For the geologists, however, kimberlite pipes supply gems of
different kind".
Tusk 3
Explain whether alluvial diamonds and kimberlite pipe diamonds
are of similar or different origin.
Task 4
Choose the right answer. Explain your choice.
Diamonds can be found in dikes
volcanic lavas
kimberlite pipes
sea sediments
stream beds.
TaskS
Identify the main stages in the process of kimberlite formation.
Task 6
Say what is meant by "solid solution ". Compare: solid solution
- liquid solution - simple chemical compound.
Task 7
Fill in the table:

Kimberlite Pipes
Size Form C haracteristics and Composition
Properties

Task 8
Using the above table give an extensive definition of a kimberlite
pipe.
Task 9
Classify kimberlite inclusions. Give their main characteristics.
Task 10
Develop the following idea:
"The interpretation of kimberlite is not simple..."
Task 11
Give definitions of these words. Mind that a word may be
defined
1) by stating the general classification into which it
falls and
2) by giving the characteristics that distinguish it
from other members of its class.
132
 The three steps in making the definition of a word are these:
1) name the word to be defined;
2) name the general class to which it belongs;
3) name the characteristics that make it different
from all others in its general class.

T he word to be defined G eneral class P articular characteristics

Diamond
Dikes
Silicates
Solid solution
Serpentines
H ydration
Inclusions
Ultramafic nodules

Task 12
Follow the word "however" and account for its use in each case.
Task 13
Explain the difference between the underlined word groups:
"... alluvial diamond deposits in southern Africa were traced to
their source, the kimberlite pipes near a town that is now the
South African city of Kimberley".
Task 14
Analyse the S-P -0 structure of the sentence: "Melting followed
by slow cooling and recrystallization has also probably altered
the structure of many rocks incorporated in kimberlite nodules".
Task 15
Define the functions of "that":
1) Some of these rocks may be samples of material
characteristic of that found in the upper portions of
the earth’s mantle.
2) Among these inclusions are diamonds, and it is
to their presence that we owe much of our
knowledge of these remarkable volcanoes.
3) The major constituents of kimberlite are
silicates, that is, compounds of silicon and oxygen
with metal ions.
4) Kimberlite pipes were traced near a town that is
now the South African city of Kimberley.
5) The origin of the kimberlite matrix is even more
obscure than that of the ultramafic nodules.
6) At deeper levels there is a material that is better
preserved called "blue ground".

133
 Task 16
Say what the difference between the two sentences is:
1) Ultramafic nodules come up from a great depth.
2) Ultramafic nodules are thought to come up from
a great depth.
Task 17
Look through the words, analyse their structure and fill in the
scheme adding the missing word forms (derivatives) wherever
possible.
Demonstrably, extensively, durable, remarkable, deep, depth,
living, accessible, represent, characteristics, density, transmit, deduce,
extraordinary, vertical, origin, extensive, importance, brought, charac­
teristic, comparable, active, economic, important, generally,
associated, formation, surrounding, finally, consolidate, unaltered,
indicating, variable, constituent, solution, present, classify, inclusions,
scientific, rounded, cause, dissolved, information, eventful.

Noun Verb Adjective Adverb Participle I Participle II

(active) (passive)

Task 18
Explain the choice of tense forms in the following sentences:
The interpretation of kimberlite and the nodules it contains
would surely be more secure if their history were less complicated. Even
if the story they tell is for now confusing one, they, however, remain
among the best available sources of information about the material of
the upper mantle.

Task 19
Find English equivalents for the following adverbs. Write them
down from the text with corresponding words.
- в конце концов
- очевидно
- широко
- вероятно
-легко
- повторно

Task 20
Make up a plan of the text.

13 4
 Task 21
Write an indicative abstract based on the plan. Make use of the
following introductory phrases:

deals with...
is concerned with.,
discusses...
The article presents... something.
describes
aims at...

or

is discussed
Something is presented in the article.
is described

The Lava Lakes of Kilauea

The eruptions of the Hawaiian volcano leave pools of molten

basalt that can take as long as 25 years to solidify. They provide a
natural laboratory for studying the nature of magma from the earth’s
mantle.
Magma - molten rock - from the interior of the earth is
responsible for a host of phenomena at the earth’s surface. The flow of
magma out of the mid-ocean rifts adds to and pushes apart the rigid
plates that make up the earth’s surface and carry the continents on
their backs. All igneous rocks are by definition formed by congealing of
magma. If the magma is erupted at the surface as lava, it forms
extrusive igneous rocks such as basalt; if it slowly crystallizes below the
surface, it forms intrusive igneous rocks such as granite. In spite of the
importance of magma, however, there is much that is not known about
it. Most studies of the cooling crystallization and other properties of
magma have centered on the laboratory analysis of small samples and
on theoretical extrapolation from already solidified lava. A different
approach is the studying of molten and solidifying lava in situ by
examining three lakes of lava left in the wake of eruptions of the volcano
Kilauea on the island of Hawaii.
The three lakes are filled with basaltic lava. Basalt is .the
commonest rode formed by the solidification of magma extruded to the
surface of the earth, the moon and perhaps other bodies in the solar
system. Basalt is found on all the continents and covers huge expanses

135
of land. Basaltic lavas, erupting from the mid-ocean rifts to create the
floor that underlies the sediment of the ocean basins, have poured forth
throughout geologic time from the early Precambrian to the present.
Although basalt vary significantly in chemical and mineralogical
composition, they have all formed at high temperatures. In principle the
high temperature of the molten rock makes it attractive as source of
energy, although in practice numerous obstacles stand in the way of
tapping its heat.
Most of the more than 500 active volcanoes on the earth are
entirely or predominantly basaltic, including the active volcanoes that
make up the southern two-thirds of the island of Hawaii. The basaltic
magma that feeds the eruptions comes from the earth’s mantle at
depths of at least 50 kilometers below the surface. Geological and
geophysical data suggest that magma rising from these depths is stored
in an irregularly shaped reservoir. In the formation of a lava lake lava
from the reservoir erupts to the surface and flows into a depression.
Eventually the natural dikes that channel the lava into the lake
collapse, and so the lake is cut from a source of lava and starts to
solidify.
lik e a freezing lake of water, a lava lake solidifies from the top
down. The surface of a lava lake is cooled by air and particularly by
rain, which falls copiously on Hawaii. Unlike a water lake, however, a
lava lake also solidifies from the bottom up. That happens because the
rock under a lava lake is cooler than the molten lava. As a result the
molten lava is sandwiched between two layers of solidified crust and
takes the shape of a lens.
The crust at the bottom of the lake is always thinner than the
crust at the top because the rock under it has a low thermal conductivity
and is not rapidly cooled by rainwater. The molten lens decreases in
thickness as the lake solidifies from the top down and from the bottom
up. A lava lake, like a lake of water, is shallowed at the edges than it is
at the center, so that the top and bottom crusts fuse at the edges of the
lake, separating the molten lens from the rock enclosing the lake basin.
As the top and bottom crusts continue to thicken the lens decreases in
diameter and thickness until it disappears and the lake becomes a
single body of solidified lava.
The ice on a lake of water is quite distinct from the water below
it. That is not the case with a lake of basaltic lava, which consists not of
one chemical compound but of different minerals that crystallize at
different temperatures and rates. The solidified top crust grades slowly
downward into the fluid lava through a region of partially molten crust
several tens of centimeters thick. Within this region the temperature
and the ratio of crystal grains to melt increase smoothly with depth.

136
There is an interface, however, across which the physical properties of
the partially molten lava change sharply. Above the interface, the lava is
solid enough to be drilled. Below the interface the lava is a fluid that
yields like taffy when a drill probe is pushed into it. At the interface,
whose temperature is 1,070°C, crystal grains and melt are equally
abundant. At 980°C the lava is entirely crystallized except for a small
fraction in the glassy state: a supercooled liquid in which the silicon
oxide molecules have not been organized into crystals.The rate of
thickening of both the top and the bottom crust decreases with time
because the solidified material is a poor conductor of heat and so acts as
an insulator.
As molten lava cools, gas in the melt is driven out of solution.
The gas either escapes into the atmosphere or remains in the lava as
vesicles, or bubbles. The vesicles that were frozen into the crust at
shallow depths are chiefly spheres as much as a centimeter in diameter.
They were apparently created at high temperatures when the lava
became supersaturated with gas on the reduction of the confining
pressure above it, just as bubbles appear in a bottle of soda water when
the cap is removed. With increasing depth in the lava the confining
pressure increases, and so the vesicles become smaller and scarcer.
Below six meters in lava lake most of the vesicles are minute angular
pores less than a millimeter in diameter. They were apparently created
when gas was driven out of solution by crystallization of the cooling
lava. The composition of the gases expelled from the lava also changed
as the lake cooled: water vapour increases in abundance at the expense
of the more rapidly exsolved gases of carbon and sulphur compounds.
Although a solidifying lava might be expected to sink because its
crystals are denser that the melt, the lava in some lakes became more
buoyant as it solidified because it was filled with gas vesicles. Therefore
as the lens of molten lava below the surface at the center of the lake
solidified it pushed up the surface above it. At the edges of the lake,
where there was no solidifying lens because the top bottom crusts had
fused, the surface subsided as the cooling lava thermally contracted
and became denser; since this lava had already solidified, no bubbles
were being formed in it that would make it more buoyant. The entire
surface of other lakes, on the other hand, has generally subsided as the
lakes have cooled. Since these lakes are deeper, the higher pressures
within them have hindered the formation of vesicular lava that would
have pushed up the surface.
Another phenomenon that alters the cooling crust of the'lava
lakes is that large cracks developed in the crust as cooling basalt
contracts. Such cracks open a minute or so after incandescent lava
appears at the surface in the course of an eruption. As the crust
continues to cool and thicken, the cracks propogate downward by

137
further fracturing and new cracks open that divide the surface of the
crust into polygons. Within a few hours the polygons become deformed
as their centers are elevated by vesicular expansion of the solidifying
lava under them. Then still more cracks open, the rate of cracking being
greatest at times when the crust is being chilled by heavy rains.
The investigations of lava lakes provide a good opportunity to
study' the physical and chemical properties of basaltic magma and to
discover more about its nature.
T a sk l
The article aims at discussing
a) the origin of magma;
b) the composition of basalts;
c) the distribution of basaltic volcanoes;
d) the differences of basaltic volcanoes;
e) the process of solidification of molten magma and
corresponding alterations in its physical and
chemical properties.
Task 2
Could you comment on the following:
"The flow of magma out of the mid-ocean rifts adds to and
pushes apart the rigid plates that make up the earth’s surface
and carry continents on their backs”.
What do you know about mid-ocean rifts?
What is meant by "plates”?
Task3
Give definitions of intrusive and extrusive rock. What variables is
your definition based on?
What other variables can be taken as the base for definitions?
Task 4
Say what advantages of studying lava lakes in situ are?
TaskS
Say what conclusions could be drawn from the fact that basalts
are found on the moon and other bodies in the solar system.
Task 6
Basalt - "solid solution" or "chemical compound"?
Task 7
Compare kimberlites and basalts. Can basalts be called "fossil
volcanoes"?
Task 8
Describe the process of formation of a lava lake. Compare it with
the process of formation of a kimberlite pipe.
Task 9
Fill in the table and compare water and lava lakes.

138
 Similarities D ifferences
lik e ... Unlike.*.

Task 10
Say how the lens form of lava lakes can be accounted for?
Task 11
Say why 1,070° is considered to be a "critical" point. Illustrate
your explanation with a diagram.
Task 12
Describe the changes in the rate of thickening with time. Give
your reasoning.
Task 13
Say what the ultimate fate of the gases expelled from the lava on
its cooling is.
Task 14
Say what phenomena alter the cooling crust of the lava lakes.
Task 15
Make up a plan of the text.
Task 16
Sum up the text. Make use of your plan, pictures, diagrams and
schemes.
Task 17
Read the sentence and say what part of speech the word
"channel" is.
Eventually the natural dikes that channel the lava into the lake
collapse, ...and so the lake is cut from a source of lava.
Task 18
Say what forces gas out of solution.
Give some examples of "process - effect" relationships described
in the text, using different language structures (f.e.
on cooling..,
in cooling..,
while cooling... (cooled),
when codling... (cooled),
with increasing depth..,
depth being increased.., etc.)
Task 19
Follow the underlined words in the sentences and identify their
meaning in each case.
A: 1) If magma is erupted at the surface as lava, it
forms extrusive igneous rocks such as basalt;

139
 1) If magma is erupted at the surface as lava, it
forms extrusive igneous rocks as basalt;
if it slowly crystallizes below the surface, it forms
intrusive igneous rocks such as granite.
2) As a result the molten lava is sandwiched be­
tween two layers of solidified crust.
3) As the cooling lava contracted it became denser.
4) The entire surface of other lakes has generally
subsided as the lakes have cooled.
B:
1) Although basalt vary significantly in chemical
and mineralogical composition, they have all
formed at high temperature.
2) In principle the high temperature of the molten
rock makes it attractive as source of energy,
although in practice numerous obstacles stand in
the way of tapping its heat.
C:

At the edges of the lake, where there was no

solidifying lens because the top bottom crusts had
fused, the surface subsided as the cooling lava
thermally contracted and became denser; since this
lava had already solidified, no bubbles were being
formed in it that would make it more buoyant. The
entire surface of other lakes has generally subsided
as the lakes have cooled. Since these lakes are
deeper, the higher pressures within them have
hindered the formation of vesicular lava that would
have pushed up the surface.

Task 20
Combine groups of Russian-English equivalents.
I. В пределах, следовательно, за счет чего-либо, однако, хотя,
за исключением, по определению, несмотря на, непосредственно,
на месте, на протяжении, в основном, на деле, по крайней мере, по­
добно, в отличие от, в результате;
И. Therefore, within, however, at the expense, except for, in
spite of, by definition, although, throughout, in situ, at least, unlike,
like, as a result, in practice, in principle.

Task 21
Fill in the table.

140
N oun Verb Adjective Participle I Participle П
(active) (passive)
solidify
definition
crystalline
solidifying
frozen
various
attraction

task 22
Comment on the usage of the words "minute" in each case.
...most of the vesicles are minute angular pores...
Such cracks open a minute or so after lava appears at the
surface...
Task 23
Make up a "thesis plan” of the article.
Task 24
Write a short summary of the text based on the plan.

THE DEEP-EARTH-GAS HYPOTHESIS

There is much evidence indicating that earthquakes release gases

from deep in the earth’s mantle. Such gases may indicate methane of
nonbiological origin, which could be a vast resource of fuel.

It is widely believed that the earth’s supply of hydrocarbon fuels

will be largely used up in the foreseeable future, the most desirable
ones (oil and natural gas) within a few decades and coal within a few
centuries. Diverse evidence leads us to believe that enormous amounts
of natural gas lie deep in the earth and that if they can be tapped, there
would be source of hydrocarbon fuel that could last for thousands of
years. The hypothesis that there is much gas deep in the earth also
provides a unified basis for explaining a number of otherwise rather
puzzling phenomena that either give warning of earthquakes or
accompany them.
The exact composition of the gas is not known, since the
observational evidence is scattered and not easily interpreted. Volcanic
eruptions bring gas out from the interior of the earth. It is not possible,
however, to deduce from such observations the initial composition of
the gas while it was still deep in the earth.
Gases released during earthquakes are probably more reliable
samples of what resides in the deep crust and the upper mantle. The

141
sampling of such gases is just beginning, and the data will not yet
support cpjofident conclusions. One can assume that the composition of
the deep-earth gases varies from place to place, since the location of
mineral deposits in the crust suggests that the underlying mantle is
quite heterogeneous. For a variety of reasons we think methane of
nonbiological origin is one of the principle deep-earth gases, and it will
be the focus of our discussion here, although we do not mean to
minimize the possible importance of other deep-earth gases in the
phenomena associated with earthquakes.
The notion of nonbiological methane runs counter to the
prevailing view in petroleum geology that virtually all the oil and
natural gas in the earth is of biological origin. In that view the carbon in
hydrocarbon fuels was originally derived from atmospheric carbon
dioxide, and the energy to dissociate the carbon and the oxygen came
from sunlight in the course of photosynthesis by green plants. The
bural of some of these organic compounds before they could become
oxidized would then have provided the source materials for oil and gas.
It cannot be doubted that this process contributed to the genesis of
much of the petroleum that has been recovered, but there may be more
to the story.
The hypothesis that the earth contains much nonbiological
hydrocarbon begins with the observation that hydrocarbons are the
dominant carbon containing molecules in the solar system. The
universe is made mostly of hydrogen, and the evidence of
cosmochemistry suggests that the earth and the rest of the solar system
originally condensed out of a hydrogen-saturated nebula. Most of the
carbon in meteorites, which provide the best clues to the original
composition of the inner planets, is in the form of complex
hydrocarbons with some chemical similarity to oil tars.
The picture we favour is of dual origin, with some hydrocarbons
derived from buried organic sediments and probably much larger
amount added to those hydrocarbons by augmentation from a stream of
non-biological methane.
Let us now examine some of the evidence for the escape of
methane from the interior of the earth. A likely place to look is along
the crustal faults and fissures of the tectonic-plate boundaries, which
ought to provide the best access to the deep interior. Indeed,
hydrocarbons appear to be clearly associated with such plates.
Another line of evidence connecting nonbiological hydrocarbons
with such features is the striking correlation between the major oil and
gas regions and the principal zones of past and present seismic activity.
Oil fields often lie along active or ancient lines. Most of the known
natural seeps of oil and gas are found in seismically active regions. The

142
association suggests to us that the deep faults may provide a conduit for
the continuous input of nonbiological methane and other gases
streaming up from below. Moreover, the upward migration of methane
and other gases in fault zones may contribute to the triggering of
earthquakes.
Seismologists have long recognized a difficulty in accounting for
deep earthquakes. Yet earthquakes have been recorded from depth of as
miidt as 700 kilometers and if the fracture is strong enough to fracture
the ground up to the surface, the gas escaping may generate some of the
peculiar phenomena that have been reported to accompany many major
earthquakes. The phenomena include flames that shoot from the
ground, "earthquake Ughts", fiece bubbling in bodies of water,
sulphureous air and visible waves rolling slowly along alluvial ground.
Tsunamis (large, earthquake-caused waves at the sea that are often
highly destructive) may be an analogous phenomenon. It is usually
assumed that they are generated by a sudden displacement of an
enormous area of the sea floor over a vertical distance comparable to the
height of the wave.
There is as yet no proof that any of the effects we have
mentioned are caused by eruption of gas during earthquakes, but at
least for the flame and bubbling water phenomena it is difficult to
imagine a likely alternative.
Many of the precursory phenomena are detected only by
instruments. Included in this category are changes in the velocity of
seismic waves through the ground, in the electrical conductivity of the
ground, in the tilt and elevation of the surface, in the chemical
composition of gases in the soil and the ground water. The time be­
tween the onset of a precursor and the earthquake ranges from minutes
to years.
Not all precursors of earthquakes can be detected only by
instruments. Some are so obvious to the senses that they have been
recognized since ancient times. We believe these effects too are caused
by an increased flow of gas through the .ground. Among these
"microscopic" precursors are dull explosive noises of unknown origin,
the strange behaviour of animals, local increases of temperature,
bubbling of water in wells and flames from the ground.
Many other lines of investigation can elucidate the degassing
processes of the earth. Variations of the methane content of the atmos­
phere may be observable. Changes of fluid pressure in the ground can
be monitored. No one has any firm evidence on the diverse gas regimes
more than a few kilometers below the surface or on the quantity or
frequency of the various gases emerge.

14 3
 Our present attempt to formulate a relatively simple hypothesis
to account for numerous previously unrelated facts will doubtless turn
out to be in places oversimplified or overstated. We hope, however, that
it will stimulate further research in this fundamental field of geophysics
and geochemistry, leading perhaps to the discovery of large new
sources of fuel and in any case to an improvement in the understanding
of the earth and its resources.

T a sk l
Read § 1-3 and say
- why the problem of hydrocarbon fuel supply is
considered to be urgent;
- whether it is possible to deduce the exact
composition of the gas released during volcanic
eruptions? during earthquakes? Why? Give reasons.
Task 2
Complete the sentence below so that it agree with the
information in the paragraphs you have just read.
The exact composition of the deep-earth gases is not known
because
- it varies from place to place;
- gases are not accessible for direct observation;
- there are difficulties in data interpretation;
- the gas is contaminated while rising to the surface;
- the underlying mantle is heterogeneous.
Task3
Comment on the following:
- The notion of*nonbiological methane is prevailing
in petroleum geology.
- Organic processes can’t contribute to the geneses
of petroleum.
- There is no doubt that organic processes do
contribute to genesis of petroleum but there may be
more to the story.
Task 4
Say what the relationship between tectonic-plate boundaries and
nonbiological methane is.
TaskS
Identify all the major and minor factors that either give warning
of earthquakes or accompany them. Could you trace the cause-effect
relationship between the observed phenomena?

144
 Task б
Say which of the hypotheses mentioned
(biological/nonbiological/ of dual nature) the author favours? Why?
What is your opinion?
Task 7
Split the words. Identify their meaning.
Foreseeable, foretaste, forethought, forefront,
forehead; counteract, counter-intelligence,
counterbalance, counter-revolution.
Task 8
Say what "up” means in each pair of words:
come - come up
stand - stand up
eat - eat up
What does "up” mean in "use up" in the text (§ 1)?
Task 9
Say if there is any difference in meaning between the sentences:
- The earth’s supply of hydrogen fuel will be largely
used up in the nearest future;
- the earth’s supply of hydrogen fuel is believed to
be largely used up in the future.
What meaning is closer to that expressed in the text?
Task 10
Translate the following:
- The hypothesis that there is much gas deep in the
earth also provides a unified basis for explaining a
number of otherwise puzzling phenomena that
either give warning of earthquakes or accompany
them.
- The notion of nonbiological methane runs counter
to the prevailing view that virtually all the oil and
gas in the earth is of biological origin.
- It cannot be doubted that this process contributed
to the genesis of much of the petroleum that has
been recovered, but there can be more to the story.
- The picture we favour is of dual origin.
Task II
Give Russian equivalents for the following:
Diverse evidence leads us to believed that...
It is widely believed th at...
One can assume that...
For a variety of reasons...
It cannot be doubted that...

6-148
145
 In that view...
to account for numerous previously unrelated
facts...
in any case...
another line of evidence...
many other lines of investigation...
Task 12
Give English contextual equivalents:
- Широко известно, что...
- Разнообразные факты заставляют нас поверить
в то, что...
- Гипотеза дает универсальную основу для пони­
мания природы явлений иначе трудно объясни­
мых...
- Данные наблюдения разрознены, и интерпрета­
ция их затруднена...
- Из подобных наблюдений невозможно сделать
вывод о составе газа...
- По ряду причин данные не дают пока достаточ­
ных оснований для надежных выводов...
- Не пытаться приуменьшить важность других
исследований.
- Противоречить общепринятым взглядам.
- Не может вызвать сомнения тот факт, что...
- Данные дают основания полагать, что...
- Другая линия доказательств заключается...
- Попытка предложить относительно простое
объяснение сложным, не связанным между собой
фактам, может привести к несколько упрощен­
ному пониманию...

Task 13
Make up a review of the text using the above expressions.

TEST-READING

WATER UNDER THE SAHARA

'Below the arid surface of the great desert are huge natural
s of water. These resources are now beginning to be studied
ted for the benefit of the Sahara nations.)

146
 At the center of the "arid zone" in the lower latitudes is tne great
desert of the Sahara. Its area is some 3,089,000 square miles; the area
of the entire U.S. is not much larger. It stretches across North Africa for
3,000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. (Indeed the desert
continues beyond the Red Sea into Arabia, but that part of it is not
called the Sahara.) Geographically the Sahara constitutes a complete
break between the lands of Africa that lie along the Mediterranean Sea
and the rest of the continent.
Except where the Sahara meets the Red Sea and the Atlantic, its
boundaries are somewhat imprecise. They coincide approximately with
the contour line that traces out the areas with an average annual rainfall
of 100 millimeters (about four inches). Within these limits the rainfall
can be as little as 25 millimeters a year. The rainfall is notably
irregular; sometimes a large region will have no precipitation for 10
years and then the region may have several rainstorms in a year. In
summer the daytime temperature is often as high as 120 degrees
Fahrenheit in the shade.
In the light of the fact that the only source of water for an aquifer
is rainfall, which either percolates directly into the aquifer or reaches it
indirectly through streams, the existence of substantial stores of water
in Saharan aquifers at first seems a paradox. The explanation is
geological. Most of the water now in the aquifers was laid down in past
millenniums during pluvial periods when the Sahara had substantially
more rainfall than it does now. Even today, however, the aquifers are
recharged to a considerable extent by rain falling at the periphery of
the desert.
The full extent of the Sahara’s groundwater resources remains a
matter of conjecture; specialists are only beginning to understand the
disposition and volume of the tremendous reservoirs. Part of this
information has been acquired in the process of the explorations that
led to and have followed the discovery of oil in the Sahara. Part comes
from a moderate amount of hydrogeologic prospecting that has been
carried out in the desert during the past decade.
The groundwater of the Sahara is to be found mainly in seven
major basins, each virtually a dosed hydrologic system. Although each
of these basins has individual characteristics, the basins also have much
in common in their geology, in the crucial question of recharge and in
the problems of development.

The major aquifers are found in three kinds of formation, two of

which are geologic series: a related group of rocks formed in a particular
period or epoch. One of the series is the main geologic feature
underlying the Sahara: a sandstone series that recent oil explorations
6 *

147
have shown to be of lower Cretaceous age. This sandstone, which in
many places is interbedded with shale and marl, is more than 1,000
meters thick and rests on Paleozoic or Precambrian rocks that are
impervious to water. The French name for it is the Continental
Intercalate; the English, the Nubian sandstone. It constitutes an
excellent aquifer.
Overlying this sandstone series is a limestone and marl series of
marine origin, dating from periods when much of the Sahara was under
water. About 1,000 meters thick, it is of upper Cretaceous lower Eocene
age and almost impervious to water. Above it lies the second major
aquifer formation: a sandstone series of Miocene-Pliocene age. This
series, also about 1.000 meters thick, is called the Continental
Terminal and represents the second important aquifer of the Sahara.
The third class of aquifer is represented by sand dunes, riverbeds and
other surface formations dating from the Pleistocene and Recent
epochs.
Water occupies an aquifer under one or the other of two distinctly
different conditions. If it is overlain by an impermeable stratum, it is
likely to be under pressure that will cause the water to rise above the
top of the aquifer when the aquifer is penetrated by a well. This is the
condition described as artesian, the term is used whether or not the
water rises high enough to flow at ground level. A large part of Saharan
groundwater is under artesian conditions. If the water in an aquifer is
not confined by an overlying impermeable stratum, it is said to be
under watertable conditions. Such water is not under pressure and can
be extracted only by pumping or gravitational flow through
underground canals.
Groundwater is seldom immobile in an aquifer. Artesian water in
particular is likely to move over considerable distances from a recharge
area. This movement is attributable to gravity. In the Sahara
evaporation is also a powerful mechanism of vertical movement: it
operates as a huge pump to lower the head of the groundwater.
Evaporation, which probably accounts for the largest discharge
from the aquifers, takes place in vast depressions called chotts. Under
the more normal climatic conditions of the past a chott would be a lake
recharged by both rainfall and the artesian aquifers. Today the chotts
are dry except during periods of rain.
In this connection there arises an interesting possibility of
prospecting for water by zoological means. Experts in the behavior of
the desert locust say that these insects need a humid environment for
the laying and hatching of their eggs. In the Sahara one can observe
locusts laying eggs in areas that are apparently dry. Evidently they are
detecting the invisible outlets of the aquifers - the areas of evaporation.

148
Close attention to the egg-laying habits of the locusts could conceivaoly
lead to new sources of accessible groundwater.
The question of recharge has to be considered in two aspects.
One concerns the recharge that is occurring at present; the other, the
recharge that took place long ago. Today’s recharge occurs mainly at
the edge of the desert, where the rainfall increases over a relatively
short distance from 100 millimeters a year to 1,000 millimeters and
where the water of rivers percolates into the aquifers. As far as recovery
of the water is concerned, the present recharge is immediately
significant only for aquifers in which the discharge and recharge areas
are close together or in which the aquifer formation outcrops (is
exposed at the surface). This situation exists in the Great Eastern Erg
and the Niger basin.
In all the other basins the present recharge moves through the
aquifers quite slowly. The speed of this movement is unlikely to be more
than half a mile a year; in some places it is only a yard or two a year.
This means that in most of the basins the present recharge will not
reach the discharge area for 15 centuries or more. In other words, the
water coming out of those discharge areas today is rain that fell be­
tween the last Saharan pluvial period and the time of the Roman
Empire.
Accordingly the question of greatest interest in the modern
exploitation of Sahara groundwater is what kind of recharge was
occurring some 2,000 years ago. For this purpose the technique of
radioactive dating has recently been applied. The technique is based on
the groundwater’s content of tritium, carbon 14 or naturally occurring
isotopes of uranium and thorium. Natural tritium is suitable for dating
relatively young groundwater, with an age of less than 100 years, while
carbon-14 dating is suitable for dating older groundwater. The results
so far, however, are somewhat inconclusive, partly for the lack of
sufficient data and partly because the uncertainty in the determination
of an age can range from 1,300 to 5,700 years as a result of the fact that
the water in the Nubian sandstone has a small content of carbon. The
sources of the carbon are dissolved carbonate, carbon dioxide in the
air and plant carbon from the decay of organic matter in the
soil.
Thus, groundwater is the key to any development effort in the
Sahara. If development is to be planned and executed soundly, it
should be preceded by a survey of groundwater resources on a Sahara-
wide scale. Such a survey would take into account the geographical
distribution of the water and the need for equitable treatment of its
users regardless of political boundaries. Several elements would be
needed in such a survey. Data must be collected from the various

149
nations that include parts of the Sahara within their boundaries. In
addition to a survey of the groundwater resources, there would have to
be findings about the water requirements, desirable development plans,
the technology of extraction and the organizations that would be
needed to carry out the plans. Presumably the results of the survey
would be published. The report would constitute the first official
assessment of the entire groundwater situation in the Sahara.
Some difficulties stand in the way of achieving these objectives. For one
thing, investigations of groundwater resources are expensive,
particularly in the Sahara. Moreover, most of the nations involved are
facing economic difficulties, and their priorities of development are still
focused on areas far from their Sahara regions. These difficulties point
to the wisdom of a survey carried out by an international committee
representing the local nations, under the sponsorship and technical and
financial assistance of the UN and perhaps a group of other nations.
That problem must be dealt with on the natural scale of the Sahara and
on an international basis that would use modern concepts of
development to make the desert’s groundwater a resource benefiting all
the nations involved.

THE CONTROL OF SNOW AVALANCHES

(As more people and their works push into mountain areas the
hazard of snowslides increases. A number of methods have been
developed both to prevent the slides and to provide protection against
them.)

The hazard of snow avalanches to life and property increases

from year to year. It is enhanced by the general rise in population,
which places more communities and structures in the hazardous areas;
by the growing popularity of skiing,which attracts ever more thousands
to the snowy mountainsides, and by the expanding networks of
communications - highways, pipelines, power lines, electronic relay
systems - whose mountain crossings must be protected. Concern about
the avalanche problem is by no means new, but in recent years there
has been an intensification of efforts to find effective ways of control­
ling the hazard. Several useful techniques have been developed, and
other interesting ideas are under study.
There are two basically different types of snowslide, one much
more dangerous than the other. They are known respectively as "loose
snow" avalanches and "slab" avalanches.

150
 Loose-snow slides occur frequently, but they seldom grow very
large or cause much damage. It is the slab type of avalanche, which sets
in motion as one massive body a large area of snow, that presents the
principal menace and is the main object of control efforts.
Investigations of the predisposing conditions are focused
essentially on the structure and nature of the snow itself, particularly
its cohesion. This has two aspects: on the one hand, the strength of
bonding between the snow crystals within a layer; on the other, the de­
gree of bonding of one layer to another. Cohesion between the snow
particles depends in large part on the age and nature of the snow
crystals, which vary considerably in form. Crystals of certain compact,
nonstellar types tend to become firmly cemented together. Weather
conditions also play a part: strong bonding between crystals is
encouraged by windpacking and by riming - the accretion of
supercooled water droplets as the snow is deposited.
A well-cemented layer of snow can cling to the steepest
mountainside. Whether or not it will do so depends, however, on how
securely the slab is anchored to an underlying layer of snow or the
ground. This bond may be insecure to start with or it may be weakened
by certain natural processes.
A smooth layer of ice under the slab can be a highly inssure
foundation. Such a layer may have been formed by freezing rain before
the upper snow fell. In the spring a lubricated layer is often produced
under the slab by meltwater that percolates below it. Of the various
processes that may undermine the slab, one of the most treacherous - a
prime cause of dangerous avalanches - is "constructive metamorphism"
of the snow. This is most likely to take place in comparatively fluffy
snow subjected to a steep temperature gradient, particularly at high
altitudes. Such snow sublimates - evaporates from the solid state. The
water vapour is then redeposited within the snow layer as new crystals
in the form of hoar frost. An entire layer may be converted to hoar in
this way. The metamorphosed snow has a fragile structure, and any
snowfall deposited on this "depth hoar" has a precarious foundation. A
slab on top of depth hoar can easily be triggered into an avalanche.
Any snow layer on a mountainside tends to creep gradually down
the slope under the influence of gravity. Stresses develop within the
layer, because of variations in its depth and irregularities of the terrain,
and they generate zones of tension. The conditions are then ripe for a
sudden fracture of the slab. On a slope of 30 degrees or more a very
slight disturbance, even as small as a clump erf snow falling from a tree,
can provide the trigger. The slab may crack along a long fracture line
and start sliding with almost explosive violence. Even a layer of soft,

151
new snow, if its bond to the substratum is sufficiently weak, can behave
as a slab break away in this fashion.
A large avalanche of wet snow will often strip the entire snow
cover from the soil and sweep all vegetation before it. A slide of dry
snow sometimes generates a huge cloud of snow particles that, like a
heavy gas, charges ahead of the main mass of the avalanche at velocities
as high as 200 miles per hour. This "wind blast" can be powerful
enough to dislodge a steel bridge or mow down a stand of big trees like
a giant scythe.
The most elementary defense against avalanches is to attempt to
forecast their occurrence so that people and transient traffic can be
warned to stay clear. Although physical studies and experience have
armed us with many clues, avalanche forecasting is still an art rather
than a science. The variables that determine when conditions aneripe for
the triggering of a slide are numerous and complex. It is difficult to
measure the mechanical properties of snow samples with any precision
even in the laboratory, because the characteristics of a sample can
change rapidly while it is being handled. There are, however,
significant factors that can be measured in the field: the density and
thickness of the snow slab, the size of the load compared with the shear
strength of the substratum, certain patterns of the snow structure. This
structure can be examined by cutting pits through the layers or by
plumping them with instruments, and a trained observer can recognize
danger signs such as an underlying layer of ice or snow converted to
depth hoar. With information thus obtained it is possible to predict
quite accurately the probability of the occurrence of avalanches within
given areas. It is not possible, however, to forecast precisely where and
when a slide will take place, because of unknown variables such as the
existence of creep tensions and the unpredictability of the various
natural or manmade shocks (earth tremors, construction blasting or
the like) that can trigger the fracture of a slab.
The kind of avalanche threat described above takes some time to
mature: the formation of the slab and its preparation for release are
products of aging, temperature changes and various other slow
processes. Quite different is the "direct action" type of slab avalanche
that develops during or immediately after an intense winter snow­
storm. Given certain meteorological conditions,such a storm can
produce avalanches of massive proportions. The conditions have to do
mainly with the depth of the snowfall,the density of the snow and the
action of the wind in piling and drifting the snow. The probability that
an avalanche will develop can be forecast by means of relatively simple
measurements made during the storm. The two most significant factors
are the precipitation intensity (the amount of water, in inches per hour,

152
represented by the falling snow) and the wind intensity. The
combination of prolonged high precipitation intensity and high wind is
almost always followed by a series of spontaneous avalanches. Like
river floods, snow avalanches constitute an annual phenomenon that
varies in severity from year to year and can have catastrophic results.
Today there are available a number of engineering techniques for
control of avalanches, some providing passive defense (protection
against actual slides), others designed to prevent their occurrence.
Fundamentally there are two different ways to prevent or control
avalanches: (1) modification of the terrain and (2) modification of the
snow, which includes the deliberate release of slides when and where
they will do little or no harm. The first general method is expensive and
requires continued maintenance, but it is reasonably permanent and
offers maximum protection. The second is comparatively cheap but
must be applied repeatedly, perhaps many times each winter.
Modification of the terrain is usually chosen when the problem is to
protect a large area or fixed installations; modification of the snow is
employed most commonly for protecting highways and ski slopes.
Much of the recent research on defenses against snow avalanches
has been directed to a search for simple methods of prevention. When
all is said and done, the attempt to control avalanches by means of
massive physical structures is an expensive and only partly effective
strategy. A barrier that breaks up or diverts a slide of snow along the
ground cannot offer much protection against the rush of a great snow
cloud or wind blast, which may cross a valley from one side to the other.
Moreover, the expensive structures for preventing the start of
avalanches cannot be built in all the places where important hazards
exist. Less expensive techniques, therefore,are continually being
sought.
One recent innovation, still largely in the experimental stage, is
the use of wind baffles to channel the distribution of snow during a
storm so that the snow will not form a large slab. The baffles, usually
made of wood, are arrayed to face the prevailing storm winds, with the
object of breaking the wind flow into an irregular pattern that will cause
the snow to be deposited in clumps deep drifts alternating with intervals
of shallow snow or even bare ground. Tests have indicated that the
baffles may be effective in certain climates if they are placed in a
sufficiently dense array, but the method has not been widely adopted.
We are led then to the possibilities of preventive action on the
snow itself, designed to forestall any large or destructive slide. One of
the oldest and simplest strategies is the artificial triggering of small
avalanches before the potential for a large one has developed. Properly
applied, artificial release can bring down piecemeal the snow load

153
deposited along a path where avalanches are likely to occur.
Furthermore, in any circumstances the deliberate release of the snow at
chosen times makes it possible to give adequate warning and see that
the danger zone is cleared.
In theory it should not be difficult to strengthen snow and stabi­
lize it. Snow is a substance particularly sensitive to alternation by
mechanical disturbance and other treatments. Compacting it or even
simply shaking it will initiate sintering, or cementing, of the bonds be­
tween crystals so that the snow hardens in a matter of hours - a process
known as age-hardening. The compaction of snow has indeed been a
useful practice. Obviously this is not a practicable program for an
avalanche path covering a wide mountainside, but it is feasible for short
paths or critical spots where large avalanches are most likely to start.
Of the most efficient techniques, in terms of the small amount of
energy required, is an operation on the slab layer. This consists in
breaking up the slab, with the aim of relieving the stresses of creep
tension and thus allowing the slab to settle and establish a firm bond to
the underlying base. Often blasting done to release an avalanche
artificially will provide a stabilizing effect by cracking a slab and
relieving creep tension even when no slide actually occurs.

TEST TRANSLATION

WHAT IS SCIENCE?

To understand what earth science means we should first look at

the meaning of the broader area of science. Science is a creative and
dynamic activity. It is an expression of human experience - an
expression that seeks to provide an understanding of the total
environment and the forces that shape it. Science is the process
whereby man, individually and collectively, uses this experience to
devise a commonly accepted explanation of the workings of the universe
around him. Science involves observation, and measurement,
imagination and hypothesis, communication and criticism, in an
endless assault on the unknown or little-known aspects of our
surroundings.
The scientist who is involved in such activities observes and
measures objects and phenomena of the physical world. To
experimental results, he applies imagination in an effort to discern
some common action or behavior of matter and energy. He generalizes
from the collection of observations and measurements and

I S 4
relationships and laws that have been accumulated, to develop theories
which can in some coherent way explain what is taking place; and then
these predictions serve as guides to new experiments and observations.
The scientist maintains continual communication with his
colleagues in a variety of ways. This communication is carried out
through the scientific literature, in scientific meetings, and in informal
person-to-person seminars and discussions. So important is the role of
communication among scientists to the process of mutual criticism that
this has led to the assertion by some that modem science is
communication.

SCIENCE VS HUMANITIES

Having briefly discussed the role of the scientists and what

science is, we may now compare science to other forms of human
endeavour with which most people are more readily familiar.
These endeavours are the humanities, including art, literature,
music and history, to name a few. Each of these, like science, is in its
own way an expression of human experience. The artist, like the
physicist, considers his environment, interprets it, and presents his
view for criticism. The fact that the two see the world in different terms
in no way detracts from the basic premise that all these endeavours are
primarily based upon the individuars experience and are his
interpretations of the universe. In both instances, and in fact in all
creative endeavour, the work is presented in one form or another for
general review and criticism.
Scientists make use of data or facts as do historians, but the
collection of facts in either case is not an end in itself. Facts are used to
establish or reinforce a theory or to explain the occurrence of an event.
Facts serve to illustrate a law or support a hypothesis. The relationship
of facts to the development of a theory applies to the interpretation of
history as it does in the development of a law in physics.
It is not our intent to imply that the humanities and sciences are
identical, because this is not the case. There are substantial differences
in that some sciences are essentially quantitative, whereas the
humanities tend to be more qualitative or descriptive. However, while it
is relatively simple to separate, for example, history and physics into
either the humanities or sciences category on such a basis, there is no
definite dividing line between the sciences and the humanities.
Returning to earth science,we find this is in reality an
assemblage of subjects that deal with various aspects of the earth and

tss
its environment. Astronomy, geology, meteorology and oceanograpny
are most commonly included, but other sciences may be also
considered: for example,the newly developing environmental sciences,
soil sciences, and some aspects of conservation. None of the subjects in
earth sciences are regarded as "pure" sciences, since each includes
elements of other sciences. For example, in each of the subjects listed,
physics, chemistry, and mathematics play an important role.
From these relationships it must soon become evident that earth
science deals with the inanimated structures and processes in nature
sciences such as physics and chemistry play a support role for earth
science by dealing with the nature of matter, the changes that occur in
substances, the energy relationships that cause these changes, and the
forces of nature. Mathematics enables the scientist to quantify these
phenomena and deal with the forces in a manner that is easily
recognizable by other scientists.

THE SCOPE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF GEOLOGY

The study of geology has firmly established the great fact that
the face of the earth, and the life upon it, represent merely a single
phase of a tremendously long history which has involved many
profound and far-reaching changes. For untold millions of years rocks
at and near the surface of the earth have been crumbling under the
weather; streams have been sawing incessantly into the lands; the sea
has been eating into continental masses; the winds have been
sculpturing desert lands; and more locally and intermittently, glaciers
have plowed through mountain valleys and even vast sheets of ice have
spread over considerable portions of continents. The outer shell of the
earth has shown marked instability throughout geologic time. Slow
upward and downward movements of the lands relative to sea level have
been very common, in many cases amounting to thousands of feet.
Various parts of the earth have been, and are being, affected by sudden
movements along fractures in the outer crust. During the eons of
geological time, vast quantities of molten materials have, at intervals,
been forced not only into the earth’s crust, but also often out upon the
surface. Mountain ranges have been brought forth and cut down, and
sometimes rejuvenated. Sea waters have spread over many parts of
what are now continental areas. There have been repeated advances
and retreats of the sea over many districts. Lakes have come and gone.
Plants and animals have inhabited the earth for many millions of years.
The length of time of known human history is very short as compared to
that of known geologic time. The former is to be measured by

156
thousands of years, and the latter by tens or possibly hundreds .of
millions of years.

THE MARGINAL WORLD

The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place. All through
the long history of the Earth it has been an area of unrest where waves
have broken heavily against the land, where the lides have pressed
foreward over the continents, receded, and then returned. For no two
successive days is the shore line precisely the same. Not only do the
tides advance and retreat in their eternal rythms, but the level of the
sea itself is never at rest. It rises or falls as the glaciers melt or grow, as
the floor of the deep ocean basins shifts under its increasing load of
sediments, or as the earth’s rust along the continental margins warps
up or down in adjustment to strain and tension. Today a little more
land may belong to the sea, tomorrow a little less. Always the edge of
the sea remains an elusive and indefinable boundary.
The shore has a dual nature, changing with the swing of the
tides, belonging now to the land, now to the sea. On the ebb tide it
knows the harsh extremes of the land world, being exposed to heat and
cold, to wind, to rain and drying sun. On the flood tide it is a water
world, returning briefly to the relative stability of the open sea.
Only the most hardly and adaptable can survive in a region so
mutable, yet the area between the tide lines is crowded with plants and
animals. In this difficult world of the shore, life displays its enormous
toughness and vitality by occupying almost every conceivable niche.
Visibly, it carpets the intertidal rocks; or half hidden, it descends into
fissures and cravices, or hides under boulders, or lurk in wet gloom of
sea caves. Invisibly, where the casual observer would say there is no
life, it lies deep in the sand, in burrows and tubes and passageways. It
tunnels into solid rock and bores into peat and clay. It encrusts weeds
or drifting spars or the hard, chitinous shells of a lobster.
It exists minutely, as the film of bacteria that spreads over a rock
surface or a wharf piling; as spheres of protozoa, small as pinpricks,
sparkling at the surface of the sea; and as Lilliputian beings swimming
through dark pools that lie between the grains of sand.
The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an
earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and
water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation
and of the relentless drive of life.

157
 PLATE TECTONICS AND MAN

Science is cumulative, and advances are made in the light of

knowledge gained painstakingly by many researchers. A survey of the
development of plate tectonics illustrates the progressive and
cooperative nature of science and the way in which research in diverse
fields produces unifying concepts of practical value to society.
The basic understanding of plate motions was considered as a
conceptual revolution as profound for the earth sciences as were earlier
developments of the concept of evolution in biology and of the concept
of atomic and molecular structure in physics and chemistry. We know
the new fields as plate tectonics: the "plate” is the basic unit of the
system, and "tectonics" (from the Greek word "tekton", meaning
builder) refers to the processes and products of motions within the
Earth.
According to the theory of plate tectonics the Earth’s crust is
broken into moving plates of "lithosphere". The plates tend to be
internally rigid, and their interact mostly at their edges. All plates are
moving relative to all others. Although velocities of relative motion be­
tween adjacent plates are low by human standards, they are extremely
rapid by geologic ones. Plates are pulling apart primarily along the
system of great submarine ridges in the world’s oceans. Where plates
converge, one tips down and slides beneath the other. Generally, an
oceanic plate slides ("subducts") beneath a continental plate or another
oceanic plate. A trench is formed where the undersliding plate tips
down, and the ocean-floor sediments it carries is scrapped off against
the front of the overriding plate.
We now know much about the mechanics of these motions from
geophysical studies and particularly from seismic-reflection profiles
made with instruments developed for oil-field exploration.
New oceanic-plate material is generated by the upwelling
processes at spreading ridges. Old lithosphere is consumed, and
recycled deep into the mantle. The balance is global only: the formation
of lithosphere at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is compensated by subduction
primarily in the western Pacific.
Although the integrated concepts of plate tectonics were proved
primarily by geophysical studies of the ocean basins, they have
revolutionized our understanding of continental geology. Earthquakes
are the most dramatic way in which these plate motions affect man.
Most volcanic eruptions are also produced by the plate motions. The
distribution of the mineral deposits and fossil fuels upon which our
civilization depends has to a large extent been controlled by plate
motions and interactions.

158
 The course of evolution of life on Earth has been much
influenced by plate motions too. The Earth has had contrasted areas of
land and sea throughout its geologic history, although how much of the
present water was early at the surface and how much has since been
differentiated out by volcanic processes is debatable. The initial
continents of an internally stable Earth, without the rejuvenating
processes of uplift, mountain building, formation of new continental
material, and magnetism, would long since have disappeared beneath
the sea levelled by land and sea erosion, limiting potential life forms.

THE GREAT DYING

About 225 million years ago, at the end of the Permian period,
fully half the families of marine organisms died out during the short
span of a few million years - a prodigious amount of time by most
standards, but merely minutes to a geologist.
This late Permian extinction was the greatest of several mass
dyings that have punctuated the evolution of life during the past 600
million years. No problem in paleontology has attracted more attention
or led to more frustration that the search for the causes of these
extinctions. Since the Permian extinction dwarfs all the others, it has
long been the major focus of inquiry. If we could explain this greatest of
all mass dyings, we might hold the key to understanding mass
extinctions in general.
During the past decade, important advances in both geology and
evolutionary biology have combined to show which one of the many
proposals is correct and even how it happened. This solution has
developed so gradually that some paleontologists scarcely realize that
their oldest and deepest dilemma has been resolved.
If we reconstruct the history of continental movements, we
realize that a unique event occurred in the latest Permian: all the
continents coalesced to form the single supercontinent of Pangaea.
Quite simply, the consequences of this coalescence caused the great
Permian extinction. But which consequences and why? Such a fusion of
fragments would produce a wide array of results, ranging from changes
in weather and oceanic circulation to the interaction of previously
isolated ecosystems. Here we must look to advances in evolutionary
biology - to theoretical ecology and our new understanding of the
diversity of living forms.
Many studies now indicate that diversity - the numbers of
different species present in a given area - is strongly influenced, if not

159
 largely controlled, by the amount of habitable area itself: the larger the
area, the greater the number of species.
We must first understand two things about the Permian
extinction and the fossil record in general. First, the Permian
extinction primarily affected marine organisms. It did not strongly
disturb the few terrestrial plants and vertebrates then living, and
diversity of land organisms may have increased at the time. Second, the
fossil record is very strongly biased toward the preservation of marine
life in shallow water. We have almost no fossils of organisms
inhabitating the ocean depths. Thus, if we want to test the theory that
reduced area played a major role in the Permian extinction, we must
look to the area occupied by shallow seas. We can identify, in a
qualitative way, two reasons why a coalescence of continents would
drastically reduce the area of shallow seas. The first is basic geometry:
If each separate land mass of pre-Permian times were completely
surrounded by shallow seas, then their union would eliminate all area
at the sutures. The second reason concerns the mechanics of plate
tectonics.
That paleontology’s outstanding dilemma should be solved with
the help of advances in two other disciplines is not surprising. When a
problem has proved intricable for more than 100 years, it is not likely
to yield to more data collected in the old way and under the old rubric.
Theoretical ecology and plate tectonics have provided paleontologists
with the right questions to solve their hardest riddle.

CORALS AS PALAEONTOLOGICAL CLOCKS

The astronomers, geophysicists and other investigators whose

concern is the origin and evolution of the earth are handicapped by a
shortage of evidence. The events of interest to these workers occurred
in times so distant that even geological records are seldom available. As
a result the theories that have been advanced about such matters as the
origin of the continents are largely conjectural. Moreover, as might be
expected in the circumstances, the theories differ considerably and
therefore are highly controversial.
An example of the kind of information that would help to
overcome the handicap is a reliable measurement of the length of the
day, that is, the speed of the earth’s rotation on its axis. It is clear that
the length of the day has increased slowly throughout geologic time; the
earth’s rotation has been slowed by the friction of the tides and may
also have been changed slightly be internal processes. Hence the
number of days in the year has decreased. If a "clock" could be found

160
that had recorded the days of ancient geological periods, it would be
possible to arrive at a more precise measurement of a number of days in
the year and so to obtain evidence about the earth’s rotation and the
factors affecting it.
Such a fossil clock may be at hand in certain corals. These
organisms have long been known to have distinct bands that represent
annual growth. The bands are themselves made up of narrower bands
that seem to represent monthly growth and are probably related to the
tides and monthly cycle of the moon. The intriguing possibility nbw
under discussion is that the still finer ridges or bands found in some of
the corals represent daily growth. If this is the case, a coral that could
be accurately assigned to a particular geological period (by radioactive
dating or the evidence of stratigraphy) would provide a measurement of
the number of days in the year at that time.
It was once taken for granted that the earth originated as a
molten object and has gradually cooled. Mountains were thought to
have formed through the consequent contraction of its interior, so the
length of the day will shorten as the earth contracts and its mass moves
toward its axis.
Since the discovery that rocks likely to be those making up the
earth’s interior contain radioactive elements, it has been proposed to
assume that the earth’s heat has been generated by radioactive decay
and that the earth was originally cold. This theory fits in with modern
ideas on the origin of the solar system, which is thought to have started
as a defuse cloud of gas and dust, in which the planets grew by
accretion. Such an evolution would cause the day to shorten gradually,
but by a much larger amount than on the basis that the earth began hot
and has cooled.
There are some other hypotheses according to which the earth
contracts and the length of the day shortens.
In contrast to these theories postulating a gradually shortening
day, certain other theories assume that the earth has expanded and
that the day has grown longer. An earth that has heated up will have
expanded. The long ridges that run down the middle of several of the
oceans offer some evidence that the earth has expanded and not
contracted.
These various theories involve considerable disagreement over
the length of the day in distant geological periods.
It seems clear that more observations on corals of different
geological age will make it possible to determine the length of the day
and month throughout the geologic past. Those data in turn will yield
important information on the earthly history of the earth-moon system
and may provide an important clue to their origin.

161
 Corals may not be alone in this field. If other marine organisms
have recorded time in the same say as the corals, we shall indeed have
factual information on the early history of the earth.

THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH

What does modern science have to say about the future

development and fate of the earth? Any prediction, of course, can be no
more than a speculation. Astrophysicists who have been studying the
development and the life cycles of typical stars have accumulated
enough information to make trustworthy predictions about the future of
the sun.
At some time in the future the hydrogen supply of the sun will
begin to run low. It might be concluded that this will cause a slow but
steady decrease of the intensity of solar radiation. However, this will
not be the case. Paradoxically, a star increases its emission of light
when its hydrogen supply is being reduced. The sun in the far distant
future will not become hotter, but will substantially expand.
It is not difficult to imagine what will happen when the increasing
solar radiation gradually affects the earth.
First, the oceans will evaporate; the water vapour, together with
the atmosphere, will escape into space. Then, the temperature of the
surface will rise until the surface materials again assume the liquid
state, life on earth will have terminated by that time.
The next step in the development at the sun will occur suddenly,
within a few days or weeks, the sun will change into a completely
different type of star, a white dwarf. It will be a sphere no bigger than
the earth, with almost the same mass. The sun will still be able to hold
all its planets in their orbits. In fact, the planets, including the earth,
will survive this cosmic catastrophe without any significant change in
their orbital parameters. As the sun is transformed from a red giant into
a white dwarf, its total luminosity will again decrease substantially. It is
quite possible that the sun will then continue to shine for some further
billions of years, with a brightness much like the present.
These thought have stimulated a great deal of speculation. It is
not impossible that at that time a second act in the history of life on
earth will start anew. When the solar radiation on earth has gradually
been reduced, the earth’s crust wiH resolidify, and volcanic activity will
persist sufficiently to give our planet a new atmosphere - and even a
new ocean. The new atmosphere and the new ocean may have a
lifetime of several billion years. So, there will be a chance for life to
develop. Thus the fantastic story of life on earth might repeat itself.

162
 All these events, if they occur at all, are mostly of academic
interest only. They will not directly influence the fate of mankind.
There is, however, the chance that, in the less distant future, other
events and changes of earth will threaten mankind - for instance,
natural catastrophes, such as floods or earthquakes. They occurred in
the past, and they will surely occur in the future.
Earthquakes and volcanic activity are closely related. Volcanic
eruptions have been of great significance during the geological evolution
of the earth. There would otherwise be no oceans. Earthquakes,
therefore, should be considered as a necessary evil, as they are among
the geophysical processes that the earth will never be without.
Still other phenomena on the earth’s surface cause catastrophes,
though of less immediate danger because they arise from gradual
processes. It is known, for example, that the level of the sea has been
rising slowly ever since the end of the last ice age. The reason for this
rise is that much of the ice that covered large areas on the earth a
hundred thousand years ago has melted, and the melt water has caused
the oceans to spill over. This will go on for the next fifty thousand
years; as a result, the level of the oceans will rise by another hundred,
two hundred, or even three hundred feet.
A new ice age would be another catastrophe of the slow kind.
This could occur during the next fifty thousand to one hundred
thousand years. It would prevent the further rise of the sea level, but it
would cause a sharp worsening of the climate all over the earth.
In fact, an extensive glaciation of the planet would cause consid­
erable lowering of the sea level, which in turn would uncover millions of
square miles of new land in nonglaciated areas. These drastic changes
would not have catastrophic consequences because mankind would have
thousands of years to adapt to them.

SUPPLEMENTARY

• Using the information below speak on any of the branches of

geology.

PALAEONTOLOGY and STRATIGRAPHY

1. Reconstruction of environments of faunas and floras.

2. Reconstruction of mode of life and environmental conditions,
ecological classifications.
3. Microstructural and chemical aspects of fossils.

163
 4. Biomineralization and evolution: experimental and theoretical
aspects.
5. Fundamental bioticchanges in the Earth’s history and the
extinction of fossil groups.
6. Interrelations between events in marine and terrestrial biotas.
7. Colonization of the land by plants and animals.
8. Major events within the Earth’s organic world and their
evolutionary consequences.
9. Origin and evolution of palaeofloristic provinces.
10. Prehistoric man and traces of this activity as stratigraphic
elements.
11. Migration of fauna as related to changes of the ocean basins.
12. Changes of the World Ocean level and their relation to
palaeoclimate and glaciation.
13. Physical methods applied to stratigraphy.

SEDIMENTOLOGY and MARINE GEOLOGY

1. Transportation and accumulation of sediments under various

conditions including recent and ancient rivers and underwater currents.
2. Processes occurring at the continent-ocean boundary.
3. Climatic changes in the history of the Earth and their
influence on sedimentation.
4. Lithological indicators of climate in the geological history of
continents and oceans.
5. Influence of diastrophism on sedimentation.
6. Sedimentary processes and sedimentation under various
tectonic conditions.
7. Types of deposits in different structural and climatic zones of
oceans.
8. Formation of thick sediments in oceans and seas.
9. Computer modelling of geologic processes.

TECTONICS

1. Principles of tectonic zonation of continents.

2. Zonation according to age of deformation and combination of
geological and geophysical data.
3. Tectonic stratification of the lithosphere.
4. Differential movements between the upper mantle and crust.
5. Continental and oceanic rift systems.

164
 6. Types of active continental and oceanic rift systems.
7. Magmatizm, deformation and sedimentary history of rift
systems.
8. Plastic and brittle deformation in micro-, meso-, and macro­
structures.
9. Deep-seated heterogeneities in the structure of the Earth’s
crust and their tectonic implification.
10. Identification of layers, zones and bodies in the crust and
mantle on the basis of geophysical data.
11. Mathematical models of tectonic processes.

GEOPHYSICS

1. Seismic zonation of the lithosphere.

2. Structure of the Earth’s crust in seismically active zones and
regions of erathquake generation.
3. Structure of the Earth’s crusts in regions of active volcanism.
4. Methods of prediction of volcanic eruptions.
5. Formation of magma and mechanism of magmatic and volcanic
activity.
6. Evolution and formation of crustal structures.
7. Interpretation of seismic data.
8. Geophysical fields, nature and geological interpretation.
9. Methods of prediction of seismic activity.
10. Modelling and interpretation of geological data by
geophysical methods.

PETROLOGY

1. Igneous and metamorphic rocks as indicators of the Earth’s

deep structures.
2. Changes in mineralogy of igneous and metamorphic rocks with
depth.
3. Comparative characteristics of igneous rocks of crustal and
mantle origin.
4. Comparative characteristics of oceanic and continental rock
formations.
5. Oceanic and continental igneous rocks formed in similar
structural and geodynamic environments.
6. Evolution of magmatic and metamorphic processes in the Earth
and its major regions.

165
 7. Composition of igneous rocks as indicators of upper mantle
heterogeneity.
8. Origin and evolution of magmas and their role in the formation
of continental crust.

MINERALOGY

1. Minerals as indicators of the conditions of their formation.

2. A comparative study of minerals and mineral assemblages
from different geologic epochs.
3. Experimental investigations of the dependence of mineral
composition and properties on condition of formation.
4. Crystal structures of minerals and the crystal chemical
classification of mineral species.
5. Spectroscopy and electronic structure of minerals.
6. Physical properties of minerals at high pressures and
temperatures.
7. Molten and gas - liquid microinclusions in mineral-forming
substances.
8. Microinclusions in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary
rocks.
9. Microinclusions in hydrothermal systems and mineral
deposits.
10. New methods of investigations of microinclusions and
interpretation of resultant data.

GEOCHEMISTRY

1. Geochemical cycles and the distribution of elements in the

Earth’s crust.
2. Geochemical cycles and crust, ocean and atmosphere
evolution.
3. Models of the chemical structure of the crust.
4. Geochemistry of sedimentary and metamorphic processes
(physico-chemical analysis and observations).
5. Geochemistry of elements in major types of magmatic
formations.
6. Structure of magmatic melts and glasses.
7. Geochemical methods of earthquake prediction.
8. Theoretical and experimental investigation of isotope
fractionation in natural processes.

166
 9. Study of the Earth’s crust m'antle system based on isotopic
data.
10. Isotope geochemistry in ore processes.
11. Origin and evolution of the Solar System.
12. Nuclear and other physical and chemical processes in
interstellar dust.
13. Geochemistry of extraterrestrial matter.
14. Petrochemistry, mineralogy and geochemistry of luna rocks.
15. Geochemistry and mineralogy of meteorites.
16. Geochemistry of the lithosphere of Venus and Mars.
17. Types of meteoritic matter and the distribution of chemical
elements in them. Structural features of meteorites.

OIL and GAS GEOLOGY

1. Identification of oil/gas regions in terms of the modern

concepts of the Earth’s crustal structure.
2. Conditions governing formation of major oil/gas accumulation
zones, their localization and description of new giant fields.
3. Oil and gas potential of submarine continental margines.
4. Methods of exploration for hydrocarbon pools within
submarine continental margins.
5. Formation of petroleum source rocks and accumulation of
hydrocarbons within them.
6. Identification of zones of hydrocarbon production.
7. Methods of quantitative prediction of hydrocarbons in
sedimentary rocks.
8. Comparison of oil and gas formatioa in different types of
sedimentary rock.
9. Economic and technical problems facing exploration for oil
and gas at great depths.
10. Statistical prediction of number and sizes of future oil and gas
accumulations.

NON-METALLIC MINERAL ORES GEOLOGY

1. Geology, genesis and localization of industrial minerals.

2. Possible substitutes for traditional raw materials in industrial
and agricultural chemistry, construction etc.

167
 3. Global and regional correlation between phosphorus mineral
concentrations and endogenous and exogenous processes.
4. Distribution and genesis of feldspar, mica, quartz etc in
granites and hydrothermal alteration of such rocks.
5. The composition, distribution and properties of clay and day
minerals. The utilization of clays and clay minerals.
6. Formation of deposits of different types of precious and semi­
precious stones.
7. New types of precious and semi-precious stones.
8. Mathematical methods of studying ore-deposit variability.

HYDROGEOLOGY

1. Origin of underground water, processes in the formation of

underground water resources and their composition.
2. Scientific principles of the forecasting of the quantitative and
qualitative changes of underground water under natural and artificial
conditions.
3. Theory and methods of modelling of hydrological processes.
4. Hydrological problems in optimum underground water
utilization and control of underground water regimes.
5. Interaction of components in natural and artificial systems,
forecasting and control of these interactions as the basis of ecosystem
protection.
6. Application of computers to hydrogeology.

Engineering GEOLOGY

1. Theoretical and methodical problems in engineering geology.

2. The fundamentals of the interaction of geological and other
external environment.
3. Construction of the theoretical system "Man - Geological
Environment".
4. Engineering - geological fundamentals for the rational use and
protection of the geological environment.
5. A study and estimate of geological environmental changes
under the impact of engineering and economic activities of man
(hydrotechnical construction, mining, urban and industrial
constriction, land reclamation, etc.).
6. The role of physical and chemical processes in the
development and changes of rock properties.

168
 7. The theoretical and methodical aspects of quantitative
temporal-spatial prediction of endo- and exogenous geological
processes induced by the engineering activities of Man.
8. The theoretical and methodical fundamentals of controlling
geological and engineering geological processes occurring during the
economic development of an area.
9. Quantitative methods in engineering - geological mapping of
urban areas, large construction sites and mineral deposits.
10. Application of computers to engineering geology.
11. Study and prediction of catastrophic geological processes and
phenomena (landslides, earthquakes etc.).
12. Engineering - geological and hydrological studies related to
economic development of permafrost regions.
13. The physical and chemical properties of permafrost soils.
14. The palaeogeographical conditions of permafrost
development.

COMPARATIVE PLANETOLOGY

1. Surface evolution and major structures of terrestrial planets

and their moons.
2. Exogenous processes on the planets.
3. Models of planet’s internal structures.
4. Genesis and evolution of giant planets in relation to genesis of
their moons.
5. Origin and evolution of life on Earth.
6. Impact phenomena as factors in the evolution on the Earth.
7. Circular structures of the early stages in the development of
the Earth.
8. Cosmogenic and endogenic structures of the Earth.
9. Permafrost of Mars and Earth.
10. Unusual geologic features on Mars.
11. The origin of the primitive Solar Nebula.
12. Mathematical analysis of satellite information.
13. Computer processing of satellite information.

COAL GEOLOGY (SOLID FUEL)

1. The conditions of coal formations in different

palaeogeographic and geotectonic environments.
2. Types of coal metamorphism and factors controlling them.

169
 3. Distribution of solid fuel mineral deposits in different
structural zones.
4. The composition and characteristics of solid fuel minerals.
5. Solid fuel mineral classifications.
6. Minerals associated with the solid fuels and geological and
geochemical aspects of their study.
7. Mathematical methods for geological - economical evaluation
of deposits.

• Using the information below speak on the problem "MAN and

OCEAN".

В настоящее время освоение Мирового океана продолжается

при непременном участии науки, которая, во-первых, обеспечива­
ет рациональный характер этого освоения, во-вторых, позволяет
найти средства для поддержания оптимального равновесия между
использованием и охраной исключительно разнообразных морских
систем.

Физическая океанография

Ведущиеся в настоящее время исследования открывают но­

вые пути в изучении морфологии дна морей, особенно в таких отда­
ленных акваториях, как, например, Южный океан.
Новые методы исследований дают огромное количество ин­
формации. Хотелось бы упомянуть о двух областях физической
океанографии, где прогресс особенно заметен: исследования повер­
хностных течений и взаимодействие океана с атмосферой. Некогда
считалось, что Гольфстрим представляет собой непрерывный широ­
кий поток теплой воды, обогревающий Северную Европу. Однако
сейчас в нем обнаруживаются все новые и все более сложные проти­
воречия и вихри.
Выяснилось, что даже холодное Калифорнийское течение,
которое .океанологи раньше считали "широким, неглубоким, мед­
ленным и монотонным", тоже выписывает удивительные узоры и
завитушки.
Еще несколько загадок. Как, где и когда образуются поверх­
ностные течения? До каких глубин они распространяются? Влияют
ли на них особенности рельефа дна и очертаний береговой линии?
Выяснилось, что водные массы характеризуются резко выраженной
вертикальной стратификацией. Как образуются такие "фронталь­
ные разделы", каковы их последствия? Это очень важный вопрос,
ведь именно взаимодействие океана с атмосферой - главный меха­

1 7 »
низм мировой погоды, а климат есть не что иное, как "интеграль­
ный", или статистический многолетний, режим погоды.
Одним из наиболее значительных достижений последнего
времени была реконструкция палеоклимата (вернее, таких его по­
казателей, как зимние и летние температуры воды поверхностного
слоя океана), преобладавшего 18 тысяч лет назад во время макси­
мальной стадии последнего оледенения. Данные о палеотемперату­
ре хранят в себе скелеты планктонных организмов, погребенные в
морских осадочных отложениях этой ледниковой эпохи. Эти дан­
ные были введены в модель и легли в основу необходимых глобаль­
ных расчетов. Они очень важны для прогнозной оценки возможных
климатических изменений в будущем.

Гидрохимия океана

Появление более современных и точных приборов имело

большое значение для исследования гидрохимии океана. Благодаря
этому мы можем оптимизировать местоположение океанографиче­
ских станций, помогающих работе экспедиций.
Однако сведения о количественных характеристиках потоков
органических и неорганических веществ, включая микроэлементы,
различных изотопов и антропогенных соединений (в частности, ор­
ганических, пестицидов и некоторых тяжелых металлов) изобилу­
ют серьезными пробелами.
Морская вода не просто жидкость: она содержит множество
взвешенных частиц как органического, так и неорганического про­
исхождения. Океаны являются крупнейшими резервуарами дву­
окиси углерода. Нам нужно получить количественные оценки обме­
на С02 между: 1) атмосферой и океаном; 2) различными водными
массами; 3) морской водой и организмами; 4) морской водой и кар­
бонатными осадочными отложениями.
Известно, что рельеф морского дна может сказываться даже
на поверхностных течениях. Здесь мы имеем дело с взаимодействи­
ем между химическим составом морской воды и породами ложа оке­
ана.

Климат и глобальные циклы в природе

Взаимодействие океана и атмосферы определяет климат Зем­

ли, а циркуляция самого океана сказывается на химических- и био­
логических циклах, распространении загрязняющих веществ, на
морском транспорте и других факторах.

171
 В прошлом рост потребности в энергии и продовольствии
можно было удовлетворить путем экстенсивного развития, исполь­
зования химических удобрений и пестицидов и освоения доступных
запасов нефти и газа. Однако уже сегодня человечество осознает ог­
раниченность нашей планеты. Настало время, когда антропогенные
процессы оказывают влияние на региональные и даже глобальные
особенности климата всей Земли. Производя огромные количества
соединений углерода, азота, фосфора, серы и выбрасывая их в ат­
мосферу и гидросферу, человек вмешивается в планетарные циклы
этих элементов.
Далее, поскольку океаны влияют на климат, это облегчает
климатическое прогнозирование. По мнению многих специалистов,
замедленные изменения океанических течений могут быть ключом
к прогнозированию климатических изменений в атмосфере.
Слабо изученным фактором климатической системы являет­
ся ее связь со спецификой морских льдов и снега.
Одной из наиболее важных областей океана является конти­
нентальный шельф, ще ведется почти весь мировой рыбный промы­
сел. На материковой отмели в перспективе, возможно, будет добы­
ваться нефти больше, чем на суше, но здесь же сосредоточены прак­
тически все отбросы техногенных загрязнений, которые поступают
в океан. Континентальный шельф - это непосредственный источник
продовольствия для человечества, и нагрузка на него быстро увели­
чивается. Для того, чтобы понять механизмы, контролирующие пе­
ренос питательных элементов с суши в океанические акватории,
необходимо разобраться во взаимодействии между физическими и
биологическими процессами в морской среде.
Глобальные данные об атмосферных осадках - вот еще один
вид информации, которую мы можем получать из космоса.

Получение глобальных изображений

земной поверхности

Как получить общее изображение океана? Для того чтобы

сфотографировать всю планету сразу, мы должны разместить свои
приборы за ее пределами. Единственную возможность для этого
предоставляют спутники.
Обычно спутники получают энергопитание от Солнца. Их
можно разделить на активные и пассивные. Пассивные спутники
принимают и фиксируют излучение Земли. Активные спутники по­
сылают в море особые виды излучения и измеряют отраженные сиг­
налы.

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 В настоящее время мы располагаем спутниками, которые оп­
ределяют топографию и температуру поверхности океана, скорость
ветра в определенном слое атмосферы, границы распространения
полярных льдов, различные характеристики воздушного бассейна и
др.
В результате мы можем получать изображения земной повер­
хности глобального масштаба: либо одновременный снимок почти
целого полушария с геостационарного спутника, либо монтаж из не­
скольких кадров, снятых с орбитальных спутников, движущихся
ближе к Земле.
Благодаря подобным космическим фотографиям мы получи­
ли новые замечательные комплекты изображений океана и суши.
Изучение этих материалов резко изменило методы исследования
океана и позволило спланировать новые научные программы. Пе­
ред нами открылась возможность описать и понять закономерности
некоторых важных климатических циклов, круговоротов и мигра­
ций питательных элементов, а также других экологических факто­
ров, влияющих на глобальные особенности среды обитания челове­
ка.

Морская геология

Развитие наших знаний о земной коре в пределах Мирового

океана обусловлено конкретной стратегией исследований послед­
них десятилетий, разработанной в свете гипотез спрединга океани­
ческого дна и тектоники плит. Найдено много новых рудных скоп­
лений: окиси и гидроокиси железа и марганца, сульфидов меди и
цинка, а также других цветных металлов.
Что касается методов хроностратиграфци, то они сейчас ста­
ли достаточно совершенными и позволяют определять возраст по­
род с точностью до нескольких столетий.
Наши познания в области палеоокеаногафии, палеоклимато­
логии и палеобиогеографии, а также представления о колебаниях
уровня моря и о соответствующих изменениях океанических тече­
ний углубляются благодаря проведению геологической корреляции
в глобальном масштабе.
Новые научные концепции и методы исследований помогут
нам в ближайшее десятилетие получить дополнительные данные об
эволюции органического мира. Одним из наиболее важных дости­
жений нашего времени является подтверждение существования
циклических колебаний с периодами 100, 40 и 20 тысяч лет. Эти
циклы имеют большое значение как для изучения, так, возможно,
и для прогноза колебаний уровня моря и климата.

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 М и н еральн ы е ресуры М и рового о к еа н а

В результате знаменитой океанографической кругосветной

экспедиции 1872-1876 гг. на “Челенджере”было проведено первое
систематическое сравнительно полное изучение Мирового океана.
Было собрано более 12 тысяч геологических образцов, а на дне об­
наружены широко известные теперь марганцевые конкреции. Это
знаменовало начало изучения океанических минеральных ресур­
сов, о возможном экономическом значении которых мы начали за­
думываться лишь в самое последнее время.
Данные, собранные "Челенджером", ясно показывают, что
марганцевые конкреции сосредоточены главным образом в наибо­
лее глубоководных областях Мирового океана. Напротив, извлече­
ние поваренной соли из морской воды, осуществляемое с'незапа­
мятных времен, приурочено к очень мелким окраинным морям, где
можно добывать соль путем выпаривания небольших объемов воды.
Как марганец, так и солевые компоненты представляют собой
лишь часть чрезвычайно большого набора элементов, растворенных
в морской воде. В океане содержатся крупнейшие запасы металлов,
но концентрация большинства элементов так низка, что мы, воз­
можно, никогда и не сможем наладить промышленное получение их
из воды. Известно, что некоторые организмы обладают способно­
стью аккумулировать конкретные элементы.

Геологические особенности дна Мирового океана

Благодаря бурению у геологов появилась возможность разга­

дать историю океанических бассейнов. Они оказались заметно мо­
ложе, чем сама планета.
Ниже осадочных пород залегают базальты примерно одного с
ними возраста. В некоторых базальтах были обнаружены жильные
включения меди и цинка. Как базальты, так и покрывающие их
комплексы осадочных пород наиболее молоды в центральных час­
тях океанов; по мере приближения к материкам возраст формации
увеличивается.
Признание "расширения океанического дна" означает, что
океаны развиваются из небольших узких разломов, возникших в
бывших участках материковой земной коры. Этот процесс продол­
жается и поныне, и вскоре с помощью спутников можно будет про­
вести непосредственные измерения движения континентов относи­
тельно друг друга.

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 Границы плит могут быть подразделены на дивергентные, ще
плиты расходятся одна относительно другой и образуется новая
океаническая кора, и конвергентные, ще плиты сближаются и на­
рушаются, а их обломки погружаются или вздымаются, образуя
горные цепи. Оба типа границ представляют интерес с точки зрения
наличия минеральных ресурсов.
Границы плит могут совпадать с границами между материка­
ми и океанами; последние называются континентальными окраина­
ми. Если материк и океан расположены на одной плите, мы говорим
о "пассивной" окраине, такой, как в Атлантическом океане. Если
граница между континентом и океаном одновременно является гра­
ницей между плитами, мы говорим об "активной" окраине, такой,
как в Тихом океане.
В целом оба типа континентальных окраин характеризуется
тем, что их положение между материком и океаническими глуби­
нами создает условия для аккумуляции относительно мощных оса­
дочных слоев. В этом отношении пассивные окраины, однако, более
благоприятны.
Различные типы окраин перспективны на разные типы мине­
ральных ресурсов.

Технологические возможности
использования ресурсов Мирового океана

Для более эффективного использования ресурсов Мирового

океана огромное значение имеет учет специфики морской среды.
Все подвижные и стационарные объекты в океане подвержены воз­
действию двух главных физических сил: кинетической энергии
волн на поверхности и в приповерхностных слоях, а также давле­
нию воды на глубине. Кроме того, коррозионная агрессивность мор­
ской среды обусловливает проблему разрушения конструкций из
стали, которая наряду с цементом является одним из важнейших
строительных материалов.
Трудно предположить, что до конца нынешнего столетия им
найдутся заменители, хотя, несомненно, эффективность борьбы с
коррозией повысится, появятся более совершенные сорта этих ма­
териалов, в частности за счет создания более легких и прочных
сплавов и смесей. Некоторые из применяемых сейчас конструкци­
онных материалов уже вполне отвечают этим требованиям: корро­
зионная стойкость, легкость и прочность титана, а также (правда, в
меньшей степени) алюминия делают их ценнейшим сырьем для из­

175
готовления различных конструкций, предназначенных дял исполь­
зования в океане.
Представляются обнадеживающими и перспективы использо­
вания синтетических углеродных соединений и волокон.
Диапазон их возможного применения очень велик: от специ­
альных, исключительно сложных технологических процессов до
разнообразных конструкционных материалов.
Человечество имеет в своем распоряжении материалы, позво­
ляющие осваивать значительно более глубокие акватории Мирового
океана, а повышение прочности и легкости некоторых, на первый
взгляд дорогостоящих, материалов может сделать их применение
рентабельным в таких областях, как, например, использование
энергии волн для производства электричества.

Дифференциация и междисциплинарность

Процессами в океане управляют основные законы физики,

химии и биологии. Однако, мы должны помнить о многочисленных
факторах дифференциации океана. Климат порождает наиболее
явные неоднородности. Тем не менее океан как на поверхности, так
и в глубине открыт влиянию полярных морей. Указанное обстоя­
тельство придает различным акваториям известное сходство.
Региональные и местные особенности, возникающие в ходе
сложных взаимодействий, а также водообмен с соседними морями
определяет специфику солености и содержания растворенного кис­
лорода. Процессы, протекающие на поверхностях раздела между
океаном и атмосферой, между океаном и литосферой, и особенно у
побережий, ще происходит их взаимоналожение, испытывают раз­
нообразное влияние. В целом океан есть нечто большее, чем сумма
его частей, поэтому в океанологии всегда нужен междисциплинар­
ный подход.
Мы должны сделать все от нас зависящее дял развития все­
мирного равноправного сотрудничества, поскольку море является
одним из общих достояний человечества, почти таким же, как и са­
ма наука.

CONTENT

чсловие 3
т. Scientist studies Science 5
This is our Home 16
Tiange not Stability is the Rule 95
4h has Place for Everything 129