INTRODUCTORY

GEOLOGY

Lecture Notes for B Tech SEM III- PEGS 2001

DR. ATUL KUMAR PATIDAR

Associate Professor

2018

Disclaimer: This presentation/ Notes is prepared only for the understanding of the students about the Origin and
interior of the earth. Reference sources are from various literature books and google.com.
 Suggested readings for the
Course
TEXT BOOK:
1. Physical and Engineering Geology by S. K. Garg. ISBN: 81-7409-032-0
2. 2010 Petroleum Geoscience by Knut Bjørlykke. ISBN 978-3-642-02331-6
3. 2010 Structural Geology by Fossen. ISBN-13 978-0-521-51664-8
4. Mahapatra, G.B., Textbook of Geology. CBS Publication ISBN 10: 8123900139
5. Bangar, K.M., Principals of Engineering Geology. Standard Publishers Distributors ISBN-13: 978-
8180141157
6. Mukherjee, P.K., Textbook of Geology. The World Press Private Limited ISBN-13: 9788187567547

REFERRENCE BOOKS:
7. Thornburry, W.D., Principles of Geomorphology Second Edition. ISBN 13: 9780471861973
8. Condie, Kent C., Plate Tectonics, Fourth Edition. ISBN 9780750633864
9. Prothero, D.R., Bringing Fossils to Life - an Introduction to Paleontology. McGrawHill, Boston, etc., 1998
ISBN 0-07-366170-8

WEB RESOURCES:
• NPTEL Lectures
• Science Direct resources
• You tube videos relate to topics,
 ORIGIN OF THE
EARTH
It’s Interior and
Exterior
The origin of the
Earth…

Ref: www.google.com
 Origin of the Earth & other planets of the Solar
System
• Gravity makes hydrogen and helium gas amalgamate to
form giant clouds that will became galaxies, smaller
clumps of gas collapse to form the first stars.

• There are few famous theories of the origin of the Earth

and Solar system.

Monistic or Parental Hypothesis

• Nebular hypothesis
a) Kant’s Gaseous hypothesis (1755)
b) Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace (1796)

Dualistic or Biparental Concept

• Collision or encounter hypothesis
• Planetesimal hypothesis
• Tidal hypothesis (By Harold Jeffreys and
James Jeans 1916)
• Big bang theory (George Gamow 1948)
• Binary Star hypothesis
• Interstellar Dust Theory
 Nebular
• Hypothesis
The idea that the Solar System originated from a nebula was first proposed in 1734
by Swedish scientist and theologian Emanual Swedenborg.

• Kant, developed the theory further and gave Theory of the Heavens (1755).

• In this, he argued that gaseous clouds (nebula) slowly rotate, gradually collapsing
and flattening due to gravity and forming stars and planets.

• A similar but smaller and more detailed model was proposed by Pierre-Simon
Laplace, which he released in 1796.

• Laplace theorized that the originally had an extended hot

Sun
throughout atmosphere
the Solar System, and that this “protostar cloud” cooled and
contracted. As the cloud spun more rapidly, it threw off material that eventually
condensed to form the planets.

• The Laplacian nebular model was widely accepted during the 19th century, but it
had some rather pronounced difficulties.
The main issue was angular momentum distribution between the Sun and planets, which the nebular
model could not explain.
For more details – video link-https://
 Nebular
Hypothesis
• In this theory, the whole Solar System starts as a large cloud of gas that contracts
under self-gravity.
• Conservation of angular momentum requires that a rotating disk form with a large
concentration at the center (the proto-Sun) and within the disk, planets form.

Kant, explained

Angular

velocity

Temperature

Concentric ring formation

Summary: A huge cloud of dust and gas (called a Nebula) spun faster and flattened as it cooled and
shrank. It threw of 9 rings of matter which compressed into planets. The central strongest cloud
became the sun.
 Encounter Hypothesis (by G.L.L. de Buffon in
1745)
It’s one of the earliest theories for the formation of the planets-
This theory proposes that the planets formed from material ejected from the sun or
acompanion star during the encounter with another star.

1. In this scenario, a rogue star passes close to the Sun about 5

billion years ago.

2. Material, in the form of hot gas, is tidally stripped from the

Sun and the rogue star.

3. This material fragments into smaller lumps which form the

planets.

4. This hypothesis has the advantage of explaining that why all

the planets revolve in the same direction (from the
encounter geometry) and also provides an explanation for
why the inner worlds are denser than the outer worlds.

However, there are two major problems for a theory of this type.
• One is that hot gas expands, not contracts. So lumps of hot
gas would not form planets.
• The second is that encounters between stars are extremely rare, so rare as to be improbable in
 Planetesimal Hypothesis (By T.C. Chamberlin and F.R. Moulton 1901-
05)
• They suggested that a passing star caused the Sun to eject filaments of
material. These condensed into planetesimals from which the planets formed
by accretion.

• Also, suggested that the close passage of a star…..? to the sun caused many
small bodies (Planetesimals). Which are drown from the sun, eventually
coalescing to form the planets.

• The planets and satellites of the solar system were formed by gravitational
aggregation of planetesimals.
Cold Sun

Intruding star

Gravitation
al Pull…..
Mass ejected
(Planetesimal
s)
 Tidal theories (By Harold Jeffreys and James Jeans
1916)
Hot
• This Theory of the origin of the solar sun
system, involving the approach near the
Sun of another star. This set up tidal forces,
and the instability of the Sun resulted in
part of its mass being torn off to form the
planets. The theory was proposed by Sir
Gravitation
James H. Jeans and Sir Harold Jeffreys. al Pull

• They suggested that a star grazed the Sun,

drawing out into solar orbit a cigar-shaped
filament of material that fragmented to Cigar shaped
filament
form the planets: the larger planets –
Jupiter and Saturn – condensed from the
thicker central regions of the filament.

Schematic representation of the Jeans-Jeffreys tidal hypothesis.

(a) A tidal bulge is induced….. (b) A filament of material is drawn out in which condensations form.
(c) The produced protoplanets orbit the Sun with high eccentricities.
Image credit: Stephen Oxley, doctoral thesis, Univ. of York, 1999
 Origin of Universe (BIG BANG
THEORY)
An surprising observation was made in the late 1920's. The light from distant galaxies is
shifted to lower frequencies (red shift) similar to the way the sound of a horn on a
passing train or car shifts to a lower pitch (The higher the frequency, the shorter the
wavelength). The light frequency shift can be explained in the same way; the distant
galaxies are moving away from us.

About 4.6 billion years ago our solar system formed from a cloud of gas and dust which slowly
contracted under the mutual gravity of all of its particles.
 Big bang theory (George Gamow
1948)
• The Big bang theory is the dominant scientific theory about the origin of the
Universe.

• This theory suggest that the universe was created sometime between 10-20 billion
years ago from a cosmic expansion that continue to spread matter in all directions.

• George suggested that the if this universe was created with a hot big bang, then the
various elements, such as H, He, would be produced for a minutes immediately after
the Big bang due to the extremely high temperature and density of the universe.

• As the universe expanded, H and He would cool and condense into stars and
galaxies.

• The high density would cause rapid expansion.

Support: (a) Distant galaxies are travelling away from us at great speeds. (b) Cosmic radiation can be
observed.

Problem: (a) 1st law of Thermodynamics- energy can neither be created nor destroyed. (b)
Doesn’t
account for organic living matters, only gas….?
Described various hypothesis of the Earth origin in previous
lecture,
I think rest theories u can read from the reference
books….

Lecture
2
 RECA Origin of the Earth & other
planets
Pform giant clouds that will became galaxies, smaller
• Gravity makes hydrogen and helium gas amalgamate to

clumps of gas collapse to form the first stars.

• There are few famous theories of the origin of the Earth

and Solar system.

Monistic or Parental Hypothesis

• Nebular hypothesis
a) Kant’s Gaseous hypothesis (1755)
b) Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace (1796)

Dualistic or Biparental Concept

• Collision or encounter hypothesis
• Planetesimal hypothesis
• Tidal hypothesis (By Harold Jeffreys and
James Jeans 1916)
• Big bang theory (George Gamow 1948)
• Binary Star hypothesis
• Interstellar Dust Theory
Video
Links
The Formation of the Solar System
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1QTc5YeO6w

The History of Earth - How Our Planet Formed - Full Documentary

HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHUTbq-j0UU

Formation of the Solar System (Stephen Hawking)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhy1fucSRQI

The Encounter Theory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxRflR9dGfY

Nebular Hypothesis - Origin of the Earth Solar

system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ESGUAU2Du0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL3YNQK960Y
Physical and Engineering Geology by S.
K. Garg. ISBN: 81-7409-032-0
 Lectures Outline- Interior of the
Earth
• Earth Interior
• Three major Layers of the Earth’s Interior
• Structure and the thermal history of the Earth’s Interior
• Major Concepts of Earth origin
• How do we know about the Earth’s Interior…? Different
Methodologies
• Fundamental properties of the Crust, Mental and Core
• Relation of Temperature, Pressure and Density of the Earth’s
Interior
• Summary - History of the Earth
 About the
Earth
• Third planet from the sun
• Also called as Blue Planet
• Geoid shaped planet
• Diameter at equator: ~12756 km
• Diameter at poles: ~12713 km
• Fifth largest planet of solar
system
• Land to Water ratio: 29% : 71%
• West to East moving
• Avg. Density: 5.52
• Age of the Earth: 4.6 Billion years
• Moon is the only Satellite
 THE
EARTH

Interior and Exterior:

• Earth's interior is made up of a series of layers that sit below the surface crust.

• In order of depth, these layers include the solid, but flowing mantle, the liquid outer core and the
solid iron outer core, which helps create Earth's protective magnetic field.

• The layers can also be categorized into the rigid outer lithosphere (which includes the crust and top
portion of the mantle and makes up Earth's tectonic plates)

• The asthenosphere, the portion of the mantle that is solid, but made up of hot, weak, flowing
rock.
 Three major Layers of the Earth’s
Interior
1. Thin oceanic and continental crust of silicates.
The upper mantle contains two mechanically
significant layers:

Lithosphere, a rigid layer that includes the

chemically distinctive crust. Surrounding the entire
planet is a blanket of surface fluids water and air.

Asthenosphere, a soft low seismic velocity layer.

2. Thick, solid mantle of iron and

magnesium
silicates, and

3. Dense core of metal with a solid inner core

and a molten outer core,

Fundamental properties of the Crust, Mantle & Core

are…..
Structure of the Earth’s
Interior

Ref: www.clearias.com
The thermal history of the
Earth
It formed by accretion and consequently became hot
enough for internal differentiation to occur very early in
its history.

Following differentiation
• The planet has cooled, but its internal temperatures
have been moderated by radiogenic heat.

• Because of its larger size, Earth cooled more slowly

than Mars, its interior is still hot,

• Following a very active period of volcanism thick crust

formation, and recycling, Earth's lithosphere became
thicker and stronger,

• Development of plates of lithosphere that

were periodically pulled back into the mantle.

• The movements of these slabs of lithosphere carry

the
less dense continents with them.
 Major Concepts of Origin of
Concepts Earth Explanation
Earth, like the other rocky inner planets, is differentiated with a dense iron-rich core that is
Dense iron- still partially molten, a thick mantle of iron- and magnesium-rich silicates, and a crust of
rich core silica-rich and magnesium-poor rocks.
Present The present atmosphere contrasts sharply with those around other inner planets because
atmospher it is poor in carbon dioxide, rich in the residual nitrogen, and also rich in oxygen.
e Earth's lithosphere is ten to several hundred kms thick and is thinner and more mobile
than
Earth's that of the Moon, Mercury, or Mars.
lithosphere
The continents and ocean basins are the principal surface features of Earth. They are
The continents created and modified by a distinctive tectonic style called plate tectonics that reflects the
and ocean style of convection in the upper mantle. Deep mantle convection is driven by mantle
plumes like those on other planets.
basins
Liquid water is stable at the surface of Earth and forms deep oceans. It is in constant
Liquid water is motion, driven by energy from the Sun and Earth's gravity to form an integrated hydrologic
stable at the system. In dry regions, the wind, also driven by solar energy, creates vast dune fields. In
surface of Earth's polar regions and at high altitudes, water is stable as solid ice, which deforms and
Earth flows as glaciers.
Earth formed 4.6 billion years ago by accretion. It differentiated during this time of heavy
meteorite bombardment. Liquid water existed from at least 3.8 billion years ago, the age
Stages of of the oldest rocks. Life developed in these warm seas by about 3.5 billion years ago.
formation of
High-standing continents began to form at this time and were not recycled back into the
the Earth mantle. As the planet cooled, modern-style plate tectonics developed by about 2.5 billion
years ago. Repeated cycles of ocean basin formation and closing shaped the present
appearance of the planet's surface.
 How do we know about the Earth’s
Interior…?
• It is not possible to know about the earth’s interior by
observations
direct because of the huge size and the changing nature of its
interior composition.

• It is an almost impossible distance for the humans to reach till the

center of the earth (The earth’s radius is 6,370 km)

• But still, through some direct and indirect sources, the scientists have
a fair idea about how the earth’s interior look like.
 How do we know about the Earth’s
OptionsInterior…? Explanations
By It gives us information about the composition of the rocks and minerals of
studying the other planets.
Meteorite • Stony meteoritesare rich in olivine and pyroxene Similar to
s. Earth’s lithosphere.
• Iron meteorites are made of iron and nickel Earth’s interior (core) is similar.

Large Volcanic Eruptions

• Voluminous volcanic eruptions
• Can infer something about mantle composition
Direct
observation Study of the propagation of mechanical energy released by earthquakes.
(Rocks originating
from depth) When energy is released, waves of motion (like the effect of a pebble tossed
into a pond) are set up in the Earth.

Seismic velocity (how fast earthquake waves travel through rocks) depends
on the composition of material
By studying
earthquake waves We can use the behavior of seismic waves to tell us about the interior of
(Seismology) the
Earth. (Changes in P- and S- wave Velocity Reveal Earth’s Internal Layers)

Experiments By Multi-anvil Press technique in high temperature high pressure condition,

at high etc
pressure
 Sources to study Earth’s
Interior
Direct Sources:
1. Rocks from mining area
2. Volcanic eruptions

Indirect Sources:
3. By analyzing the rate of change of temperature & pressure from the surface towards the
interior.
4. Meteorites, as they belong to the same type of materials earth is made of.
5. Gravitation, which is greater near poles and less at the equator.
6. Gravity anomaly, which is the change in gravity value according to the mass of material, gives
us information about the materials in the earth’s interior.
7. Magnetic sources.
8. Seismic Waves: the shadow zones of body waves (Primary and secondary waves) give us
information about the state of materials in the interior.

Structure of earth’s interior is fundamentally divided into three layers...

– Crust, Mantle & Core
 Fundamental properties of the
Crust
1. It is the outermost solid part of the earth, normally about 8-40 kms thick. It’s
brittle in nature.

2. Nearly 1% of the earth’s volume and 0.5% of earth’s mass are made of the
crust.

3. The thickness of the crust under the oceanic and continental areas are different.
Oceanic crust is thinner (about 5kms) as compared to the continental crust
(about 30kms).
The
Crust 4. Major constituent elements of crust are Silica (Si) and Aluminium (Al) and thus,
it’s often termed as SIAL (Sometimes SIAL is used to refer Lithosphere, which is
the region comprising the crust and uppermost solid mantle.

5. The mean density of the materials in the crust is 3g/cm3.

6. The discontinuity between the hydrosphere and crust is termed as the Conrad
Discontinuity.
 Fundamental properties of the
1. The portionMantle
of the interior beyond the crust is called as the mantle.

2. The discontinuity between the crust and mantle is called as the Moho discontinuity. The
mantle is about 2900 kms thick.

3. Nearly 84% of the earth’s volume and 67% of the earth’s mass is occupied by the mantle.

4. The major constituent elements of the mantle are Silicon and Magnesium and hence it is
also termed as SIMA.

5. The density of the layer is higher than the crust and varies from 3.3 – 5.4g/cm3.
The 6. The uppermost solid part of the mantle and the entire crust constitute the Lithosphere.
Mantl 7. The asthenosphere (in between 80-200km) is a highly viscous, mechanically weak and
e ductile, deforming region of the upper mantle which lies just below the lithosphere.

8. The asthenosphere is the main source of magma and it’s the layer over which the
lithospheric plates/ continental plates move (plate tectonics)

9. The discontinuity between the upper mantle and the lower mantle is known as Repetti
Discontinuity.

10. The portion of the mantle, just below the lithosphere and asthenosphere, but above the
core is called as Mesosphere.
 Fundamental properties of the
1.
Core
The core consists of two sub-layers: the inner core and the outer core.

2. The inner core is in solid state and the outer core is in the liquid state (or semi-
liquid).

3. The innermost layer, the core is separated from the mantle by

Guttenberg’s Discontinuity.

4. It is composed mainly of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) and hence it is also called as
The NIFE.
Cor
e 5. The core constitutes nearly 15% of earth’s volume and 32.5% of earth’s mass.

6. The core is the densest layer of the earth with its density ranges between 9.5-
14.5g/cm3.

7. The discontinuity between the upper core and the lower core is called as Lehmann
Discontinuity.

8. Barysphere is sometimes used to refer the core of the earth or sometimes the whole
interior.
 Temperature, Pressure and Density of the Earth’s
Interior
1. A rise in temperature with increase in depth is observed in mines and deep wells.

2. These evidence along with molten lava erupted from the earth’s interior supports
that the temperature increases towards the center of the earth.

3. The rate of increase of temperature is not uniform from the surface towards the
earth’s center. It is faster at some places and slower at other places.

4. This rate of increase of temperature is at an average rate of 30C for every 100m
increase in depth.
Temperature
5. While in the upper 100kms, the increase in temperature is at the rate of 120C per km
and in the next 300kms, it is 200C per km. But going further deep, this rate reduces
to mere 100C per km.

6. The temperature at the center is estimated to lie somewhere between 30000C and
50000C, may be that much higher due to the chemical reactions under high-pressure
conditions.

7. Even in such a high temperature also, the materials at the center of the earth are in
solid state due to the heavy pressure of the overlying materials.
 Temperature, Pressure and Density of the Earth’s
Interior
1. Just like the temperature, the pressure is also increasing towards the center of the
earth.

2. It is due to the huge weight of the overlying materials like rocks.

3. It is estimated that in the deeper portions, the pressure is tremendously high which
Pressure will be nearly 3 to 4 million times more than the pressure of the atmosphere at sea
level.

4. At high temperature, the materials beneath will melt towards the center part of the
earth but due to heavy pressure, these molten materials acquire the properties of a
solid and are probably in a plastic state.

1. Due to increase in pressure and presence of heavier materials like Nickel and Iron
towards the center, the density of earth’s layers also gets on increasing towards the
center.
Density
2. The average density of the layers gets on increasing from crust to core and it is
nearly 14.5g/cm3 at the very center.
 Summary - History of the
Earth continued after formation of the planet by accretion of
(A) Intense bombardment
planetesimals. The planet differentiated, a solid crust formed, an atmosphere and hydrosphere
were outgassed.
• Meteorite bombardment and vigorous convection in the mantle recycled the primitive
crust
of Earth.
(B) Continents developed, probably by partial melting of basaltic crustal rocks over hot spots or
in primitive island arcs. The continental blocks became stabilized at the surface by intrusion of
low-density granitic rocks, so they could not be recycled back into the mantle.
• These highlands were immersed in an ocean of liquid water that was cycled across the
continents as rain and in rivers, which eroded the highlands.
• Simple forms of life evolved in the oceans.
(C) Continental platforms developed and sedimentary rocks were deposited in shallow seas
along their margins.
• Rift initiation and some type of plate tectonics began in this stage. Life expanded,
producing oxygen in the atmosphere.
• Carbon dioxide was removed to form carbonate sedimentary rocks, reducing the pressure
of
the atmosphere dramatically.
(D) Plate tectonics persisted as lithospheric slabs participated in the convection of the mantle.
• The continents grew slowly, but rifting, mountain building, hot-spot activity, and climate
change produced oscillations in the level of the sea, yielding cycles of marine deposition on
the continents.
• Pangaea, a large super continent, developed by collision of smaller blocks of continental
crust. Life rapidly diversified in the seas and eventually on land as well.
(E) The breakup of Pangaea about 300 million years ago followed as a result of rifting and the
growth of a new ocean basin. The continents took on their present outlines.

Details of these events will be discussed with the geological time

Lecture -
3
Brief summary about the
Lithosphere &
Exterior of the Earth
 The
Lithosphere
A geologic map of Earth shows it major features. Low ocean basins form most of the surface, and
transacted by the mid-ocean ridge system.

• The igneous rocks at the surface of the oceanic crust are mostly basaltic and young (<0.2 billion
years old).

• The high continental platforms are composed of older (as much as 4 billion years old), more
deformed, and less dense rocks that have granitic composition.
 The elevation and area of the continents and ocean
basins

• The data presented graphically in previous figure show that the continents
have a mean elevation of 840 m above sea level, and the ocean floor has a
mean depth of about 3700 m below sea level.

• The ocean basins are not only larger than the continental platforms, but
the average depth of the ocean floor is greater than the average height of
the continents.
 The Earth’s
Lithosphere
The Earth's lithosphere is relatively thin in contrast to inner part of the planets.

• Moreover, it is broken into a number of large fragments or plates, each of which is

in motion, and much of the planet's geological activity (earthquakes, crustal
deformation, and volcanism) occurs along plate margins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et0DcFhX8Ig
 Earth's lithosphere is divided into two principal
regions
Continents and Basins-
These major divisions differ markedly, not only in elevation, but also in geologic
history, rock types, age, density, and chemical composition.

• Oceanic lithosphere covers 60 percent of Earth and having variety of spectacular

landforms, most of which are due to extensive volcanic activity and movements
of the lithosphere that continue today.

• The difference in elevation between continents and ocean basins represents a

fundamental difference in rock densities in the two types of lithosphere.

• Rocks of the continents have a lower density than rocks of the ocean basins. It is
this density difference that causes the continents to rise and float higher than the
denser oceanic crust.
 Continent and ocean
basins
CO
B

Cross section of Continent and Ocean Basins. Not to Ref: S K

scale Garg
 Exterior of the
Earth
The Earth Lithosphere is surrounded on its exterior by different layers of the
gases, called Atmosphere.

Exterior part
(Extend upto 700
km)

Interior
part

Ref: S K
Garg
 Exterior of the
Earth
• Topmos laye exten upto 700k
t r d m
upward.
• This gaseous zone charge
atom
consisting molecules d
Atmospher

(IONS),
Ionosphere. calle
d
e

• This zone extends upto 104 km upwards,

• This layer is composed by different layers

of thermal and chemical properties.
(Ozonosphere, Mesosphere)

• Nearest gaseous zone extending upto 11km,

• Responsible for most of the meteorological processes/

weather forming
Ref: S K
Garg
 GEOLOGY: Geology is an earth science comprising the study of solid Earth, the
rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change.

Various branches of the

geology

The science which deals with the physical structure and substance of the earth,
their history, and the processes which act on them.
Thank
you