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From Core to Crust Geologists use 3 basic principles: a) Superposition: the lower the layer of undisturbed rock, the

older it is b) Unifomitarianism: natural processes occur in the same way today as they did in the past c) Fossil Correlation: in different soil deposits that contain the same fossils, the soil and the fossilized animal in both deposits are from the same time period -the time when the animal existed fossil correlation helps date sediment layers relative to each other climate (temp and precip) can also be determined by fossils found -paleoclimatology Crust -outermost layer of the Earth deeper ocean floors mainly composed of basalt -a silicate of iron and magnesium (sima silicon and magnesium) continents are composed mainly of less dense aluminum silicates -granitic rocks (sial silicon and aluminum) lighter rocks float on asthenosphere; heavier rocks sink (ocean basins) So how do seismologist and geologist know what's inside the Earth? Earthquake Waves: 3 main types of waves generated by earthquakes: P or Primary waves fastest wave; can penetrate the earth's interior compressional; can push and pull can travel through liquids and solids S or Secondary waves slower, transverse waves; moving from side to side can only pass through solids L or Long Waves travel only on the surface of the earthquake shake rocks sideways

Video Notes: October 9, 2012 Tectonic Europe, Iceland: -glaciers/volcanoes relationship -Iceland part of the ocean floor -study how seafloor is spreading by magma coming up -steam from ground used to heat pipe water for town -Iceland = 6.4 earthquake, steam fissures created = displacement of earth -Eurasian and North American plate meets -raw energy -bore holes, crust is thin and cracked, so close to source (mantle), funnel water into cracks, heat water and capture steam to spin turbines for energy -magma is coming out of entire length of rift, where plates are being built, magma comes up from diverging plates and pushes land up -Iceland rocks on the surface -plate creation and plate destruction, Iceland is growing in size -diverging plates -oldest rocks on the edges and bottom, newer rock towards the middle -rate of plate movement = rate of growth of your finger nail, measuring distance (ridge) between Europe and Iceland -North Atlantic ridge -floor is always spreading along mid-ocean ridge -surface eruption same as sea bed, Iceland is the only place where ridge is above water Scotland: -Romans built wall separate Scots from England -Scotland = from North America/Greenland (fossils, geology, coastline fit) -European plate -layers of sediment, fossils trapped between shale (metamorphic rock, heated/compressed mudstone) -Superposition -African plate colliding with European plate (African plate pushing north, causing sediments of England/Scotland to ripple, make fold mountains)

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