History of Earth

The name derives from Old English and

Germanic.
In Roman Mythology, the goddess of the
Earth
was Tellus the
fertile
soil
(Greek: Gaia, terra mater - Mother Earth).
It was not until the time of Copernicus (the
sixteenth century) that it was understood
that the Earth is just another planet.
Planet Profile
Orbit:
149,600,000 Km (1.00 AU)
From Sun
Diameter:
12,756.3 Km
Mass:
5.972e24 kg
Circumference
:
40,075.017 km (equatorial)
40,007.86 km (meridional)
Surface area :
510,072,000 km2
148,940,000 km2 (29.2%) land
361,132,000 km2 (70.8%) water)
Volume:
1.083211012 km3

Earth is the only terrestrial planet

having
a
moderately
strong
magnetic field.
Earth is the only terrestrial planet
having a large satellite.
Earth is the largest and most
massive of the four terrestrial
planets, but smaller and less
massive than the four giant planets.
Earth is third in distance from the
Sun among the four terrestrial
planets.
Earth has a moderately dense
atmosphere; 90 times less dense
than that of Venus but 100 times
denser than that of Mars.
Earth
Movement
Landforms

Germany in 1910s
What ?

Mantle - Mainly iron (Fe) and

magnesium (Mg) silicate minerals

Core - High-density, mainly iron (Fe)

and nickel (Ni)

water on its surface.

Earths atmosphere is the only one
having
a
significant
(21%)
proportion of molecular oxygen.
Earth is, to our best current
knowledge, the only planet in the
solar
system
having
living
organisms.

These 2 landmasses continued to

break up & drift apart to their present

positions
The Theory of Plate Tectonics

modifies the old idea of continental

drift

Earth is also unique in many respects:

Earth is the only planet with liquid

proposed that about 200 million

years ago, a super continent called
Pangaea (all Earth) slowly broke
up & drifted apart forming 2
landmasses
called Laurasia &
Gondwanaland

Crust - Low-density, mainly silicate

minerals

Resultant

The Continental Drift Theory

Who ?
Developed by Alfred Wegener from

Layers by Chemical Composition

and

describes the Earth as a restless

planet with plates drifting across the
surface

is accepted by most earth scientists

today as modern, most satisfactory
explanation of :

 It is divided into four principle

There are (at present) eight major plates:
North

American

Plate

North

America, western North Atlantic and

Greenland
South American Plate - South
America and western South Atlantic
Antarctic Plate - Antarctica and the
"Southern Ocean
Eurasian Plate -

eastern

North

Atlantic, Europe and Asia except for

India
African Plate - Africa, eastern South
Atlantic and western Indian Ocean
Indian-Australian Plate - India,
Australia, New Zealand and most of
Indian Ocean
Nazca Plate - eastern Pacific Ocean
adjacent to South America
Pacific Plate - most of the Pacific
Ocean (and the southern coast of
California)
Earths atmosphere is made up of
Nitrogen (78%)
Oxygen (20.9%)
Argon (.93%)
Carbon Dioxide (.0390%)
This composition could support life
Atmosphere absorbs/reflects harmful
radiation
Visible and Radio reach surface
ORIGIN OF EARTHS OCEANS
Outgassed water vapor fell as rain.
The first permanent oceans formed
4 billion years ago.
Salinity developed from dissolved
rock elements.
Early acidic rain dissolved
more crustal minerals than
today.
EARTHS OCEANS
Earth has one ocean.

oceans, and one other.

Pacific Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Southern, or Antarctic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Worlds largest ocean
Accounts

for

more

than half of Earths

ocean space
Worlds deepest ocean
Earths

largest

geographic

feature
Named in 1520 by Ferdinand
Magellan
Atlantic Ocean
Half the size of the Pacific
Ocean
Shallower than the Pacific
Ocean
Separates the Old World
from the New World
Indian Ocean
Smaller than the

Atlantic

Ocean
Similar depth as the Atlantic
Ocean
Primarily in the Southern
Hemisphere
Arctic Ocean
Seven percent the size of the
Pacific Ocean
Shallowest world ocean
Permanent layer of sea ice a
few meters thick
Southern Ocean or

Antarctic

Ocean
Circumnavigates Antarctica
Is really the parts of the
Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian
Oceans that lie south of 50
S latitude
THE SEVEN SEAS

 Before the 15th Century, Europeans

considered the seven seas to be the

following:
1. Red Sea
2. Mediterranean Sea
3. Persian Gulf
4. Black Sea
5. Adriatic Sea
6. Caspian Sea
7. Indian Ocean

COMPARING OCEANS TO CONTINENTS

Average ocean depth is 3729 meters
(12,234 feet)
Average continental elevation is 840
meters (2756 feet)
Deepest ocean trench is the Mariana
Trench at 11,022 meters (36,161
feet)
Highest continental mountain is Mt.

The biosphere is structured into a

hierarchy known as the food chain
(all life is dependent on the first tier
mainly the primary producers that
are capable of photosynthesis).
Energy and mass is transferred
from one level of the food chain to
the next.

Lithosphere
The Lithosphere is the solid Earth that
includes the continental and ocean crust as
well the various layers of Earths interior.

94% of the Earth is composed of

the elements oxygen, silicon, and
magnesium.

The Lithosphere is not static

(unchanging), but its surface (crust)
is in a constant state of motion.
Ancient Greek:

Everest at 8850 meters (29,935 feet)

lithos for "rocky", and sphaira for "sphere

rigid, outermost
shell
of
a

4 Spheres of Earths Systems

The Earth is a system consisting of four
major interacting components:

the Atmosphere

the Biosphere

the Hydrosphere

the Lithosphere (aka: geosphere)

rocky planet, and can be identified

on the basis of its mechanical
properties.
On Earth, it comprises the crust and

Biosphere
The biosphere is the life zone of
the Earth, and includes all living
organisms , and all organic matter
that has not yet decomposed.

the portion of the upper mantle that

behaves elastically on time scales of
thousands of years or greater. The
outermost shell of a rocky planet, the
crust, is defined on the basis of its
chemistry and mineralogy.