Life and Earth Science Reviewer

EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
(SHS):
THE COMPLETE FIRST

QUARTER LESSONS:
feat. EARTH SCIENCE
by:
DELA CRUZ, IAN ANGELO P.
“THE WHOLE UNIVERSE WAS IN A HOT, DENSE
STATE BUT NEARLY 14 BILLION YEARS AGO,
EXPANSION STARTED WAIT!
THE EARTH BEGAN TO COOL. THE

AUTOTROPHS BEGAN TO DROOL.
NEANDERTHALS DEVELOPED TOOLS.
WE BUILT A WALL. WE BUILT THE PYRAMIDS.
MATH, SCIENCE, HISTORY.. UNRAVELING THE
MYSTERY THAT ALL STARTED WITH A
BIGBANG!!! HEY!”
THE BIGBANG THEORY SONG
UNIVERSE (COSMOS)
• Cosmology: a branch of science that
studies the origin, evolution, and fate
of the universe.
The Solar System
• A Sense
The Solar System
• Inventory
• Sun 99.85% by mass

• Planets 0.1 % by mass
• Satellites and Rings
• Asteroids
• Comets
• Meteroids
• Dust
• Solar Wind (ionized gas)
The Solar System
• General Characteristics of Major Planets - Dynamical
• Nearly circular orbits (Mercury and Mars most eccentric)

The Solar System

• All orbit within 10o of Earth’s orbital plane
The Solar System

• All orbit within 10o of Earth’s orbital plane
• All revolve in the same direction
• All rotate in the same direction (except Venus)
The Solar System
• General Characteristics of Major Planets - Radius
The Solar System
• General Characteristics of Major Planets - Age
• Earth - Oldest rocks 3.9 billion yr (4.5 billion yr inferred)

• Moon - 4.5 billion yr
• Meteorites - 4.6 billion yr
• Sun - 4.6 billion (theoretical)
• Universe - 12 billion yr
The Solar System
• General Characteristics of Major Planets - Physical Properties
Terrestrial 7 Giant Satellites Jovian
Location Inner Outer Outer

Size Small (104 km) Small (4000 km) Large (105 km)
Mass 0.1 - 1.0 MEarth 0.01 MEarth 15 - 300 MEarth
Density 5 gm cm-3 2-3 gm cm-3 1 gm cm-3
Appearance Rock with craters, Rock, ice with craters, Gaseous, with
volcanos volcanos rock cores
Composition Heavy elements Heavy elements, ices Hydrogen, helium
Notes:
1) Densities: Rock = 3 gm cm-3, Water = 1 gm cm-3
2) Composition of Sun and Universe by numbers of atoms:

Jupiter94% H, 6% He, 2% all else
Saturn Uranus Nepture
Mercury Io Venus Europa Earth

Ganymede Mars
Callisto
The Formation of the Solar System
The Formation of the Solar System
• Interstellar Clouds
By Mass
• 73% Molecular Hydrogen

• 25%Atomic Helium
• 2% Dust (Metals)
What does the solar system look like from far
away? NASA Figure
• Sun, a star, at the center…

• Inner Planets (Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars) ~ 1 AU
− They are all rocky
planets…
• Asteroid Belt, ~ 3 AU
• Outer Planets (Jupiter, Saturn,
Neptune, Uranus), ~ 5-40 AU
− They are all gaseous
planets..
• Pluto: odd ball planet, more
like a comet…
• Keiper Belt ~ 30 to 50 AU
• Oort Cloud ~ 50,000 AU
− Where comets come
from…
The Orbits of the Planets
• All the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction
• The rotation axes of most of the planets and the Sun are
roughly aligned with the rotation axes of their orbits.
• Orientation of Venus, Uranus, and Pluto’s spin axes are Why do they spin in
roughly the same
not similar to that of the Sun and other planets.
orientation?
Why are they

different?
What do the inner planets look
like?
They are all…
• rocky and
small!
• No or few
moons
• No rings
The Jovian Planets
They are all…

• gaseous and
BIG!
• Rings
• Many moons
Quantitative Planetary Facts
Terrestrial and Jovian Planets
The Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud
Kuiper Belt
A large body of small objects NASA Figure
orbiting (the short period

comets) the Sun in a radial
zone extending outward from
the orbit of Neptune (30 AU) to
about 50 AU. Pluto maybe the
biggest of the Kuiper Belt
object.
Oort Cloud
Long Period Comets (period >
200 years) seems to come
mostly from a spherical region
at about 50,000 AU from the
Sun.
Common
Characteristics
and Exceptions
of the Solar
System
Common Characteristics and Exceptions
The earth’s orbit
• The Greek philosophers including Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC )
observed the Sun rising in the east and setting in the west and
inferred that the Sun revolved around Earth in a geocentric (Earth-
centered) orbit.
Galileo's Letter to the Prince of Venice
Aristotle’s model is wrong
Europa
Io
• Galileo’s observations of the orbits of Jupiter’s four largest satellites
revealed that the Aristotle-Ptolemy model is unbelievable
• Objects that do not orbit the Earth.
• We now know that the planets, including the Earth, orbit the Sun.
Callisto
Ganymede
A new law
• Isaac Newton (1665) discovered the force that held the
planets in their orbits around the sun - gravity.
• gravitation, "every body in the universe attracts every other
body.“
• Force = mass x acceleration = ma
• Gravitational Force = gm1m2/r2
• Sun is much more massive, appears to hold

still while the earth orbits around it.
How Far Away?
• We use the speed of light to indicate distance – light years
9460 billion kilometers
• Nearby Cepheids (variable stars) maximum brightness varies

with period
• Measure apparent brightness and get distance

of far away Cepheids
• Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 100,000 light years across

(diameter)
Continuous, Emission and Absorption
Spectra
White light contains a continuum of colors from short wave violet to long wave red
Hot, dense materials emit discrete "emission" spectra Hydrogen
When light with a continuous spectrum passes through a

cold, rarefied gas, an absorption spectrum results.
Each gas absorbs the same wavelengths that it emits when it is hot.
The spectrum of the light from our Sun is an Absorption spectrum.
Helium
Redshift: absorption spectra shift to red with
retreat of the emitter
Analogy: Passing train whistle, high to low frequency = short to long wavelength
“Doppler Effect”
Blue, moving toward us
Very distant objects aren’t just single

stars, those are galaxies of stars!
Hubble: What if their colors reflect
their speed and direction?
Red, very distant, moving away fast
Hubble Space Telescope

Very red and
far object
The Hubble Redshift

• Hubble discovered that the most distant galaxies with
Cepheids had their light
shifted to the red end of the spectrum. This meant
that they are moving away from us.
• Hubble: Turn this into a new yardstick: the redder the
shift, the further the galaxy
• Result: the edge of the universe (furthest objects we
can detect) is approximately 15 billion light years
away.
THEORIES BEHIND THE ORIGIN OF
THE UNIVERSE
• BIG BANG THEORY
• STEADY STATE or THE INFINITE UNIVERSE THEORY
• PULSATING UNIVERSE
• NEBULAR THEORY
• NON-SCIENTIFIC
1. Egyptian Gods (First rising of the Sun comes forth the world from sea.
2. Creation Theory (Supreme beings/Biblical)
3. Kuba ver. of Creation (M’bombo)
4. India ver. of Creation (Purusha)
5. Philippine ver. Of Creation (Maguayan and Captan)
Origin of the Universe
• The spectral shift of light coming from distant galaxies tells
us that the universe is expanding out of a very small
volume that began at most 15 billion years ago
• Estimates vary according to method
• The universe expanded from a state of pure energy,

hydrogen atoms condensed from energy in a process
called nucleosynthesis E=mc2
Planetary Nebula or Close Encounter?
Historically, two hypothesis were put forward to explain the formation of the solar
system….
• Gravitational Collapse of Planetary Nebula (Latin for “cloud”)
Solar system formed form gravitational collapse of an interstellar cloud or gas
• Close Encounter (of the Sun with another star)
Planets are formed from debris pulled out of the Sun during a close encounter with
another star. But, it cannot account for
• The angular momentum distribution in the solar system,
• Probability for such encounter is small in our neighborhood…
The Nebular Theory* of Solar System
Formation
*Itis also called the
Interstellar Cloud (Nebula)
‘Protoplanet Theory’.
Gravitational Collapse
Protosun Protoplanetary Disk
Heating  Fusion Condensation (gas to solid)
Sun Metal, Rocks Gases, Ice
Accretion Nebular
Capture
Leftover Materials Terrestrial Jovian Leftover Materials
Asteroids Planets Planets Comets

Gravitational
A Pictorial Collapse
History
Interplanetary Cloud Condensation
Accretion Nabular Capture

The Interstellar Clouds
• The primordial gas after the Big

Bang has very low heavy metal
content.
• The interstellar clouds that the
solar system was built from gas
that has gone through several
star-gas-star cycles.
Collapse of the Solar Nebula
Gravitational
Collapse
Denser region in a interstellar cloud, maybe compressed

by shock waves from an exploding supernova, triggers
the gravitational collapse.
1. Heating  Proto-sun  Sun
In-falling materials loses gravitational potential energy, which were converted into kinetic
energy. The dense materials collides with each other, causing the gas to heat up. Once the
temperature and density gets high enough for nuclear fusion to start, a star is born.
2. Spinning  Smoothing of the random motions
Conservation of angular momentum causes the in-falling material to spin faster and faster
as they get closer to the center of the collapsing cloud.  demonstration
3. Flattening  Protoplanetary disk. Check out the animation in the e-book!
The solar nebular flattened into a flat disk. Collision between clumps of material turns the
random, chaotic motion into a orderly rotating disk.
This process explains the orderly motion of
most of the solar system objects!
Origin of the Elements
• Very small volume expands “Big Bang”
• A few minutes energy cools to form H
• Hydrogen gas clouds condensed to form main sequence stars.
• H fuses to form He and heavier atoms
• “Main sequence stars” form Oxygen and Carbon.
Water = 2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen
H 2O
Symbols for elements
Origin of Heavy Elements
• A star more than 8-20 times the mass of our sun burns faster, then
expands into a red super giant star, similar to Betelgeuse.
• Pressure is high enough to also produce the heavier elements
including silicon Si, magnesium Mg, iron Fe.
• Once its fuel is exhausted,
a supernova explosion occurs.
8 Most rocks are Main Sequence Stars
14 made of these two
Super Giant
Stars
Origin of Our Solar System
• Our solar system with its abundant collection of

heavier elements condensed from the gas cloud left
after the explosion of a supernova.
Supernova ejects matter-rich
pressure waves into space
Local concentrations of dust

coalesce
Balance between gravity

and solar wind
During coalescence: 1. Rub your hands together.
Particles assemble Motion (“kinetic”) energy
due to gravity – Planetesimals is converted to heat.
strike growing
heat up Earth
Iron melts and

begins to sink
Lighter materials
DIFFERENTIATION
concentrate
closer to surface
Crust and
mantle
Liquid
core
The moon formed
Atmosphere after a Mars-sized
Crust planet hit earth,
Mantle about 4.6 bya
Outer core
We got most of the
Inner core core material in the
exchange
Earth’s Internal Structure
• Earth’s internal layers defined by
• Chemical composition
• Physical properties
• Deduced from Seismographs of Earthquakes
• Meteorites lend support
• Layers defined by composition

• Crust
• Mantle
• Core
Iron-Nickel Meteorite
Earth’s internal structure
• Main layers of Earth are based on physical properties including mechanical strength
• Outer layers mostly Silicate Minerals: Crust and Mantle

• Lithosphere (behaves like a brittle solid)
Crust and uppermost mantle
• Asthenosphere “weak sphere”
Rest of Upper Mantle
Heat softened, plastic solid
• Lower Mantle
Solid due High Pressures
Inner Layers Core: Iron and Nickel,

Outer core hotter than melting point - liquid,
Inner core solid due to high pressures
CRUST Continental crust
(least dense)
Upper mantle
Oceanic crust
MANTLE 0 km Lithosphere
Note progression of ~100 km
Lower mantle ~350 km Asthenosphere
densities
Oil and water
CORE
(most dense)
Outer ~2900 km
core
Conversion Factors
~5155 km
Inner
core 6370 kilometers to the center of the Earth
6370 km x 5 miles/8 km = 3981.25 miles
Earth has a radius of about 4000 miles

Liquid Outer Core causes
Magnetic Field
“Lithosphere”
“Asthenosphere”
Earth has a large liquid outer core, makes a magnetic field, and so a thick atmosphere
The Layers of the Earth
The Four Layers The Earth is composed of four
different layers. The crust is
the layer that you live on, and it
is the most widely studied and
understood. The mantle is
much hotter and has the ability
to flow. The outer core and
inner core are even hotter
with pressures so great you
would be squeezed into a ball
smaller than a marble if you
were able to go to the center of
the Earth!
The Crust
The Earth's Crust is like
the skin of an apple. It is
very thin in comparison to
the other three layers. The
crust is only about 3-5
miles (8 kilometers) thick
under the oceans (oceanic
crust) and about 25 miles
(32 kilometers) thick under
the continents (continental
crust).
The Lithospheric Plates
The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called

plates. The plates "float" on the soft, semi-rigid
asthenosphere.
The Asthenosphere
The asthenosphere is the

semi-rigid part of the
middle mantle that flows
like hot asphalt under a
heavy
weight.
The Lithosphere
The crust and the upper layer of the mantle together make up a zone
of rigid, brittle rock called the Lithosphere.
The Crust
The crust is composed of two rocks. The continental

crust is mostly granite. The oceanic crust is basalt. Basalt
is much denser than the granite. Because of this the less
dense continents ride on the denser oceanic plates.
The Mantle
The Mantle is the
largest layer of the Earth.
The middle mantle is
composed of very hot
dense rock that flows like
asphalt under a heavy
weight. The movement of
the middle mantle
(asthenosphere) is the
reason that the crustal
plates of the Earth move.
Convection Currents
The middle mantle "flows"
because of convection
currents. Convection
currents are caused by the
very hot material at the
deepest part of the mantle
rising, then cooling and
sinking again --repeating
this cycle over and over.
Convection Currents
The next time you heat anything like
soup or water in a pan you can watch
the convection currents move in
the liquid. When the convection
currents flow in the asthenosphere
they also move the crust. The crust
gets a free ride with these currents, like
the cork in this illustration.
Safety Caution: Don’t get your face

too close to the boiling water!
The Outer Core
The core of the Earth
is like a ball of very
hot metals. The
outer core is so hot
that the metals in it
are all in the liquid
state. The outer core
is composed of the
melted metals of
nickel and iron.
The Inner Core
The inner core of the
Earth has temperatures
and pressures so great
that the metals are
squeezed together and
are not able to move
about like a liquid, but
are forced to vibrate in
place like a solid.
Lithosphere – Rock – Geology
Atmosphere – Air - Meteorology & Climatology
Hydrosphere – Water – Oceanography
Biosphere – Life - Biology
The Earth System
Terrarium
The Earth System
• “Earth is a complex system
of interacting physical,
chemical and biological
processes, and provides a
natural laboratory whose
experiments have been
running since the
beginning of time.”
NASA
Earth As A Closed System
Closed system: exchange of energy but negligible

exchange of mass with surroundings
Earth System Science
• Earth is a dynamic body

with many separate, but
highly interacting parts or
spheres.
• Earth system science
studies Earth as a system
composed of numerous
parts, or subsystems.
The Earth System M. Ruzek, 1999
The Earth’s Four Spheres
Earth’s Four Spheres
The Earth is a system consisting of four major

interacting components:
Geosphere: comprises the solid Earth and includes

both Earth’s surface and the various layers of
the Earth's interior.
Atmosphere: gaseous envelope that surrounds the
Earth and constitutes the transition between its
and the vacuum of space
Hydrosphere: includes all water on Earth (including
surface water and groundwater)
Biosphere: the life zone of the Earth and includes all
living organisms, and all organic matter that has
not yet decomposed.
Overlapping Cycles in the Earth System
The Atmosphere
The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of
air, which we call the atmosphere.
• The atmosphere consists of four
unique layers (the troposphere, the
stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the
thermosphere).
• The atmosphere reaches over 560
kilometers (348 miles) up from the
surface of the Earth.
• The atmosphere is primarily
composed of nitrogen (about 78%) and
oxygen (about 21%). Other
components exist in small quantities.
Atmosphere
• consists of a mixture of gases composed primarily of
nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapour
•The mesosphere,
thermosphere, and
exosphere are zones of
diffuse atmospheric
components in the far
reaches of the
atmosphere.
The stratosphere
(10 to 50 km),
•The troposphere (0-10 contains ozone that
km) constitutes the protects life on the
climate system that planet by filtering
maintains the conditions harmful ultraviolet
suitable for life on the radiation from the
planet's surface. Sun.
Atmosphere: Interactions with other Earth System components
Hydrosphere: The gases of the atmosphere readily exchange

with those dissolved in water bodies (e.g. oceans, lakes, etc.)
Biosphere: The atmosphere supplies oxygen and carbon

dioxide that form the basis of life processes (photosynthesis
and respiration).
Geosphere: Gases in the atmosphere react with water to

produce weak acids that aid in the breakdown of rock.
System Interactions
Hurricanes (atmosphere) sweep
across the ocean (hydrosphere) and
onto the land (geosphere), damaging
the dwellings of people (biosphere)
who live along the coast.
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere Geosphere
Biosphere
The Biosphere
The biosphere is the “life zone” of the Earth, and includes all
living organisms (including humans), and all organic matter that has not
yet decomposed.
• The biosphere is structured into a hierarchy known as the food chain
(all life is dependant 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.
http://www.geology.ufl.edu/Biosphere.html
Biosphere: Interactions with other Earth System components
Atmosphere: Life processes involve a many chemical

reactions which either extract or emit gases to and from the
atmosphere (e.g. photosynthesis consumes carbon dioxide
and releases oxygen, whereas respiration does the
opposite).
Hydrosphere: Evaporation of water from leaf surfaces

(transpiration) transfers water to the atmosphere.
Geosphere: The biosphere is connected to the geosphere

through soils (mixtures of air, mineral matter, organic matter,
and water). Plant activity (e.g. root growth and organic acid
production) are also for the mechanical and chemical
breakdown of the rocks.
Hydrosphere
The hydrosphere contains all the water
found on our planet.
• Water found on the surface of our planet
includes the ocean as well as water from lakes
and rivers, streams, and creeks.
• Water found under the surface of our planet
includes water trapped in the soil and
groundwater.
• Water found in our atmosphere includes
water vapor.
• Frozen water on our planet includes ice caps
and glaciers.
• Only about 3% of the water on Earth is http://water.tamu.edu/watercycle.html
“fresh” water, and about 70% of the fresh

water is frozen in the form of glacial ice.
Subcomponents of hydrosphere are
connected via the hydrologic cycle
Hydrosphere: Interactions with other Earth System components
Atmosphere: Water is transferred between the hydrosphere

and biosphere by evaporation and precipitation. Energy is
also exchanged in this process.
Biosphere: Water is necessary for the transport of nutrients

and waste products in organisms.
Geosphere: Water is the primary agent for the chemical and

mechanical breakdown of rock (weathering), to form loose
rock fragments and soil, and sculpts the surface of the
Earth.
Geosphere
The geosphere is the solid
Earth that includes the continental
and ocean crust as well the various
layers of Earth’s interior.
• 94% of the Earth is composed of
the elements oxygen, silicon, and
magnesium.
• The geopsphere is not static
(unchanging), but its surface
(crust) is in a constant state of
motion.
• Mineral resources are mined
from the geosphere.
http://ess.geology.ufl.edu/ess/Introduction/Geosphere.html
Earth’s Layers: Composition and Mechanical Characteristics
Composition Physical Characteristics
crust Primarily silica
lithosphere brittle solid
plus light solid (but
asthenosphere
metallic nearly
elements liquid)
mantle
mesosphere solid
Primarily
silica plus
iron and
magnesium
outer core liquid

Primarily iron
core and nickel
inner core solid
Note: Lithosphere contains both crust and uppermost (brittle) layer of mantle
Geosphere: Interactions with other Earth System components
Atmosphere: volcanism spews significant amounts of gases

into the atmosphere. For example, volcanoes inject large
amounts of sulphur dioxide to the upper atmosphere, resulting
in global cooling.
Hydrosphere: The formation of many minerals involve

incorporation or release of water. Also, water speeds up
chemical reactions that produce or destroy minerals, and aids
in the melting of rock.
Biosphere: Nutrients released from rocks during their

breakdown are dissolved in water (to be used by aquatic
plants).
System Interactions
Volcanoes (geosphere) erupt, sending

ash and gases into the air (atmosphere)
and sending lava and ash down onto
surrounding forests (biosphere) and
human habitations (biosphere).
Geosphere
Atmosphere Biosphere http://www.ecuador-

travel.net/information.volcano.pichin
cha.eruption.htm
System Interactions
Earthquakes (geosphere) can damage
buildings which may kill people
(biosphere), as well as cause fires which
release gases into the air (atmosphere).
Earthquakes in the ocean may cause a
tsunami (hydrosphere) which can
eventually hit land and kill both animals
and people (biosphere).
Biosphere
Geosphere Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Where Do Humans Fit In ?
As components of the biosphere, humans are temporary

receptacles of the matter and energy that flows through
the Earth System
“You are what you eat, drink, and breathe”
Human health is, to some degree, a function of how this

flow of matter and energy flows through, and interacts
with, the human body
In many cases, problems of human health are

fundamentally linked to the natural distribution of Earth
materials
The Bottom Line
Considerations on how processes within the Earth System

interact are extremely important in the understanding of
the real world !
Understanding physical and chemical processes in the

Earth System is as important as understanding
biological entities in terms of understanding biological
systems (all are connected)
The Magnetic Field protects the Atmosphere. The
Atmosphere protects Earth from most meteors
Origin of magnetic field: the liquid outer core

An Important Magnetic Field
A magnetic field once surrounded Mars. The red planet lost its protective
magnetic field as the smaller planet cooled down more rapidly than Earth,
losing its hot liquid core. Mars retains just isolated remnants of its atmosphere where
pockets of relict magnetism remain.
A Perfect Spot
• Earth's distance from the Sun allows water to exist as a liquid.
• The biosphere of Earth has moderated the composition of the atmosphere to

make it more suitable for life. Vegetation absorbed large volumes of carbon
dioxide and produced oxygen O2 and Ozone O3.
• Earth's atmospheric gases protect the planet from all but the largest incoming
space projectiles (comets, meteorites) and ozone blocks harmful ultraviolet
radiation from the Sun
ROCKS & MINERALS
• Minerals are the
ingredients of
rocks.
Or
• Rocks are made up

of minerals.
Minerals
• Defn: naturally occurring, inorganic elements or
compounds with specific physical and chemical
properties.
Mineral Properties
 Used to identify minerals
1. Color
• Least useful property in identifying minerals.
• Why?
All of these are varieties of quartz!
2. Streak
• The color of a minerals powder.
• “streak test”
3. Luster
• How the minerals surface reflects light.
• Metallic vs. non- metallic.
4. Hardness
• The ability of a mineral to resist being scratched.
• “Scratch test”
• If mineral A can scratch mineral B, what does that

tell us about the relative hardness of each mineral?
Moh’s Hardness Scale
Soft
Hard
5. Fracture/ Cleavage
Fracture Cleavage
• Mineral breaks • The tendency of a
unevenly or Mineral to break
irregularly evenly along its
weakest plane.
6. Crystal Form
• Some minerals tend to form crystals that aid in the
identification of the mineral.
7. Specific Gravity
• The ratio of the density of the mineral to the
density of water (1 g/cm3)
• If a mineral has a specific gravity of 5 that means it

is 5 times as dense as water.
8. Others
• Acid test – Calcite
• Magnetic – Magnetite
• Taste - Halite
A minerals properties are due to the
internal arrangement of its atoms.
Silicate Minerals
• Minerals that contain a combination of silicon and
oxygen.
Silicon-oxygen tetrahedron
The basic structural unit of silicate minerals
Rocks
Monomineralic Polymineralic
• 1 Mineral • More than 1 Mineral
 Rocks are classified by

how they are formed!!!
Sedimentary Rocks:
1. Clastics
• Rocks that form when sediments (sand, silt etc.) are lithified.
Processes
• Compacting and cementing
• Vary due to grain size!
2. Non-Clastics
A. Organics (bioclastics)
• Form from living things.
Examples: Coal, limestone
B. Chemical (crystaline)
• Formed from the evaporation or precipitation of sea
water.
Examples: Halite, gypsum

Igneous:
- Form when liquid rock cools and solidifies
Intrusive Extrusive
• Cools below the earths surface • Cools at the Earths surface
(slowwwwly!) (quickly!)
• Magma • Lava
• “Plutonic” • “Volcanic”
The longer the rock takes to cool, the larger the
crystals!
• Cools slow …..Large crystals

• Cools fast …….small crystals
• Cools immediately……NO Crystals (glass)
Vesicular- gas pockets
Metamorphic:
• Rocks that are changed due to extreme heat
and/or pressure.
• DO NOT MELT!!! (they recrystalize)
Metamorphic rocks become…

1. Harder
2. More dense
3. Banded or foliated
4. Distorted
Banding
Foliated
Regional Metamorphism
• Occurs when large areas of rock are changed.
• Usually deep below the surface where crustal plates
collide.
• The Adirondacks!
Contact Metamorphism
• Occurs when liquid rock comes into contact with
other rocks.
Identifying Characteristics of Rocks
Igneous Sedimentary
• Intergrown crystals • Cemented fragments
• Glassy texture (sediments)
• Fossils
• Organic material
Metamorphic
•Banding
•Foliated
The Rock Cycle
Geomorphic Processes:
Exogenous
II. Gradation Processes –
Weathering, Mass Wasting,
Erosion, Transportation
and Deposition/Sedimentation
Geomorphic Processes:
 Physical processes which create and modify landforms

on the surface of the earth
 Endogenous (Endogenic) vs.Exogenous (Exogenic)

Processes
 Rock Cycle 
A. Exogenous Processes
Also called Gradational Processes, they comprise degradation
and aggradation – they modify relief
 a continuum of processes – Weathering  Mass

Wasting  Erosion  Transportation  Deposition
 these processes are carried through by Geomorphic
Agents: gravity, flowing water (rivers), moving ice
(glaciers), waves and tides (oceans and lakes), wind,
plants, organisms, animals and humans
1. Degradation Processes  Also called Denudation Processes

a. Weathering , b. Mass Wasting and c. Erosion and
Transportation
2. Aggradation Processes
a. Deposition – fluvial, eolian, glacial, coastal
Degradation Processes:
Weathering,
Mass Wasting,
Erosion and
Transportation
Relationship:
Weathering
Mass Wasting
Erosion
and
Transportation
Together,
these processes are
responsible for
Denudation
of Earth’s surface
WEATHERING
Weathering is disintegration and decomposition of rocks in situ –

no transportation involved  produces regolith
 More precisely, it involves the mechanical or physical
disintegration and/or chemical decomposition that fragments
rock masses into smaller components that amass on-site, before
being moved by gravity or transported by other agents
 The processes begin in microscopic spaces, cracks, joints,
faults, fractures, lava vesicles and other rock cavities
Types of Weathering: 1) Physical or Mechanical Weathering,

2) Chemical Weathering, and 3) Biological Weathering
 Physical or Mechanical Weathering
 Disintegration and decay of rocks via weather elements: high
temperatures, extreme cold and freeze-thaw cycles
 No change in chemical composition of rocks
• Exfoliation – due to thermal expansion/contraction and/or release of
pressure when buried rocks are uplifted and exposed
e.g., Exfoliation Dome (Stone Mountain, GA) and Exfoliation Sheets (Sierra Nevada)
• Frost Wedging
• Salt Wedging
 Chemical Weathering
 decomposes rocks through a chemical change in its minerals
Oxidation – important in iron-rich

rocks – reddish coloration like rust
Hydrolysis – igneous rocks have

much silica which readily combines
with water
Carbonation and Solution –

carbon dioxide dissolved in water
reacts with carbonate rocks to
create a soluble product (calcium
bicarbonate)
 Biological Weathering
– plants and animals contribute to weathering.
 Roots physically break or wedge rock
 Lichens (algae and fungi living as single unit),

remove minerals and weaken rock by releasing acids
 Burrowing animals can increase weathering.
Lichens
Talus Cones
in the Canadian Rockies
Talus – pieces of rock at bottom of a rock fall
Landslides
Can cause much destruction
A masssive 300-ton boulder blocks

a road in Southern California
La Conchita Landslide, January 10, 2005
Monterey Park Debris Flow, 1980
PCH near Pacific Palisades, November 1956
EROSION and TRANSPORTATION
– Various Geomorphic Agents, associated Processes,

and resulting Erosional Features
• Flowing Water – Fluvial Morphology
Humid regions:
Perennial streams and entrenched
channels, rapids, waterfalls, plunge
pools, potholes, meandering streams,
bank erosion, oxbow lakes, etc.
• Wind – Eolian Landscapes
deflation hollows, ventifacts, yardang, etc
• Tides and Waves – Coastal Morphology

Sea cliffs, sea caves, sea arches, sea stacks,
wave-cut beaches, etc..
• Moving Ice – Glacial Morphology
glacial troughs (U-shaped valleys), hanging

valleys, glacial lakes,.
DEPOSITION
– Various geomorphic agents, associated processes and
resulting Depositional Features
• Fluvial – Humid regions: Braided streams, sand bars, floodplains
(alluvium deposits), natural
levees, distributaries, deltas
Arid regions: Alluvial fans, bajadas,
piedmont alluvial plains, playas,
playa lakes, Salinas (salt flats)
• Eolian – Sand dunes (Barchans, Parabolic, Transverse,

Longitudinal, Star), and sand sheets
• Coastal – Sea beaches and coral reefs
• Glacial – Alpine: Glacial drifts, tills, moraines (lateral, medial, end,

terminal, recessional, and ground)
Continental: Till plains, outwash plains, drumlins, eskers,
kames, erratic
B. Endogenous Processes
Endogenous Processes are large-scale landform
building and transforming processes
– they create relief.
1. Igneous Processes
a. Volcanism: Volcanic eruptions  Volcanoes

b. Plutonism: Igneous intrusions
2. Tectonic Processes (Also called Diastrophism)
a. Folding: anticlines, synclines, mountains

b. Faulting: rift valleys, graben, escarpments
c. Lateral Faulting: strike-slip faults
Earthquakes  evidence of present-day tectonic activity

Endogenic Processes
Endogenic processes change the Earth shape on time scales from seconds to
million of years
Endogenic Processes
Earthquakes cause significant 3-d deformations within seconds to minutes
Endogenic Processes
A 2.3 m coseismic displacement has distorted the railroad

track near the railway station Tepetarla in the region
between Sapanca Lake and Izmir Gulf, Turkey
(www.geopages.co.uk/news/rev002.html).
Folding & Faulting
Folding
 When Earth’s crust bends, folds occur
 Folding occurs under compression when forces act towards each
other, such as when plates collide.
Folding & Faulting
Definitions
• Compression
 Is a process of forcing something into smaller compass,
reducing it in volume by pressing it together
• Tension
 Is a pulling force, tending to stretch, to cause an extension of
a body or to restore the shape of an extended elastic object
A fold is a bend in the rock strata.
Folding: Is a type of earth movement resulting from the
horizontal compression of rock layers by internal forces of
the earth along plate boundaries.
The downfolds
are termed
synclines
A upfold are termed

as anticlines
Folding & Faulting
Parts of a fold :
• layers of rocks of continental crust bent in upfolds called anticlines &
downfolds called synclines.
• 2 sides of a fold are called the limbs.
• Generally, anticlines form fold mountains & synclines form valleys
Folding & Faulting
There are 2 main fold mountains systems in the world:
Old and young fold mountains, based on their geological age.
A) The old Caledonian fold mountains (formed 400 million

years ago)
B) The Circum-Pacific Region surrounding the pacific ocean

(formed within the last 100 million years)
Folding & Faulting
• amount of folding depends on force used by movement of the plates.
• When folding is very complex, there is little relationship between
anticlines & mountains & between synclines & valleys.
Anticline in Utah
Syncline
Syncline
Folding
Folding & Faulting
Faulting
Faulting occurs when Earth’s crust cracks:

1. under tension ( when forces are acting opposite each
other ) causing layers of rocks to stretch & crack ; a
normal fault develops & one block moves down
relative to other block in direction of fault to form an
escarpment
The process by which
rocks break and
move or are
displaced along a
fracture
Folding & Faulting
Block Mountain or horst
 block that is raised between 2 parallel faults forms a block mountain or horst if
the surface is horizontal or tilted plateau if block mountain is tilted eg : Deccan
Plateau in India.
 A horst can also be formed by sinking of blocks on either side of parallel faults,
leaving central block standing high as mountain
Folding & Faulting
Rift valley or Graben
 is formed when block between 2 parallel faults sinks or when block on either side
of 2 parallel faults are thrust up over central block .
 Egs are the Rhine Rift Valley (between the Black Forest of Germany & the Vosges
of France) & the East African Rift Valley.
Plate Tectonics
Continental Drift
• Evidence for Continental Drift
A. Theory of continental drift is the idea that the
continents have moved horizontally to their current
locations.
1. This theory was developed by Alfred
Wegener.
2. Wegener believed
that all of the continents
were connected as one
large land mass (he
called Pangea) about
200 million years ago.
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

B. Fossils of Mesosaurs have been found in South
America and Africa.
C. Glacial deposits and grooved bedrock were found in

southern areas of South America, Africa, India, and
Australia.
D. Parts of the Appalachian mountains in the eastern US
are similar to those found in Greenland and western
Europe.
How Could the Continents Drift?
• Rock, Fossil and Climate clues were the main evidence

for continental drift during Wegener’s lifetime.
• Wegener’s theory was often rejected because no one
could explain how the continents moved.
Theory of Plate Tectonics
• Plate Tectonics
A. Theory of Plate Tectonics is the idea that the
Earth’s crust and upper mantle are broken into
sections called plates that move around on the
mantle.
B. Composition of the Earth’s plates:
1. Lithosphere – the crust and part of the
upper mantle
2. Asthenosphere – the plastic-like layer
below the lithosphere
Plate tectonics: The new paradigm
• More encompassing theory than
Wegener’s continental drift
• Explains motion of Earth’s lithosphere
by seafloor spreading (creation of new
ocean floor) and subduction (destruction
of old ocean floor)
• All major earth features are explained
Plate Tectonics Explains It All
• The Plate Tectonic concept caused the realization that
Earth’s many geologic features were all caused by the
same process.
• We now understand mountains, volcanoes, and big

earthquakes associated with, for example, the San
Andreas fault.
• We understand rift valleys and how oceans form,

deep ocean trenches, mid-ocean ridges, and why
fossils and mountain ranges look alike across vast
oceans.
Plate Boundaries
• There are three different plate boundaries:
Divergent Boundaries
Convergent Boundaries
Transform Boundaries
Components of Plate Tectonics: there are three main types of plate margins
Divergent, Convergent and Transform
Each plate bounded by combination of all

three boundary types
Divergent Boundaries
• Divergent Boundaries are the boundaries between
two plates that are diverging, or moving away from
each other.
The Asthenosphere boils, like soup. This moves the cold Lithosphere PLATES above
Lithosphere is "the scum floating on
top of the boiling soup"
Here we see Divergent Margins (the Atlantic Mid-Ocean Ridge – Harry’s Sea-Floor Spreading)
and Convergent Margins (the dense Pacific Ocean Plate is being dragged under South
America – called subduction zones )
Continental Lithosphere
Oceanic Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Subduction Zone
Divergent Boundaries (Rising Convection Currents) Mid-Ocean Ridge
Convergent Boundaries (Descending
Convection Currents)
Subduction Zone
Mantle material rises, ponds under the lithosphere,

spreads, pulls the lithosphere apart. Mantle minerals
exposed to low pressures. Some mantle minerals are unstable at low pressures.
They melt, forming lavas, which get into the cracks, and cool into basalt,
the main rock of ocean lithosphere.
180º 90º 0º 90º 180º
Mid-Atlantic
Ridge
45º 45º
NORTH EURASIAN
AMERICAN PLATE
JUAN DE PLATE
FUCA PACIFIC
PLATE ARABIAN PLATE
PLATE
PHILIPPINE
CARIBBEAN
PLATE
PLATE
AFRICAN
0º COCOS PLATE 0º
PLATE
FIJI
SOUTH
PLATE
AMERICAN
PLATE INDIAN-
PACIFIC NAZCA
PLATE AUSTRALIAN
PLATE
PLATE
Mid-Atlantic
SCOTIA
PLATE
Ridge
45º 45º
ANTARCTIC PLATE
ANTARCTIC PLATE
180º 90º 0º 90º 180º
Convergent plate
boundary Seven or so major plates, about an equal number of small plates
Divergent plate
boundary
Transform plate
boundary
Divergent boundaries are located
mainly along Mid-Ocean Ridges
(MORs)
The East African Rift
MORs can start as

rift valleys, the dry
land precursor of
mid-ocean ridges.
Soon enough they

connect to the sea,
and flood, forming
a new ocean
• Convergent Boundaries are the boundaries
between two plates that are converging, or
moving towards each other.
• There are three types of convergent boundaries:
1. An ocean floor plate collides with a less dense
continental plate.
2. An ocean floor plate collides with another ocean
floor plate.
3. A continental plate collides with another continental
plate.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
If Seafloor Spreading (Divergence) is occurring somewhere,
plates must push against one another in other areas
Oceanic lithosphere
being subducted
(a)
Subducted Ocean Plate loses water and adjacent Mantle partially melts,
new buoyant magma rises to the surface, forming a
Volcanic Arc such as the Andes Mountains of South America
Once the ocean crust between them is subducted, the continents collide. Both
are thick and made of buoyant (low density) minerals, so neither continent can
be subducted under the other
Collisional
mountains
Rocks deformed in collision Suture
(b)
Collisions formed the Appalachians, and, more recently, the
Himalayas and the Alps.
The collision of India and Asia
produced the Himalayas
1. Subduction Zone Phase 2. Collision Phase

 Oceanic-Continental
Oceanic-Oceanic 
 Continental-Continental
Types
Products
Ocean-Continent
Andes, Cascades
Ocean-Ocean
Japan, Aleutians
Asia
India Continent-Continent
Himalayas, Alps,
Appalachians
Transform Fault Boundaries
• Transform Boundaries are the boundaries between
two plates that are sliding horizontally past one
another.
Transform Plate
Boundaries
Transform Margins accommodate movement

as plates slide past one another, for example
the San Andreas Fault and between Mid-
Ocean Ridge segments
Effects of Plate Tectonics
• Landforms caused by plate tectonics:
a. rift valleys (divergent boundaries)
b. mountain ranges (continental-continental
convergent boundaries)
c. volcanoes (oceanic-continental convergent
boundaries)
d. faults (transform boundaries)
Causes of Plate Tectonics
• Convection Current is the driving force of plate
tectonics in which hot, plastic-like material from
the mantle rises to the lithosphere, moves
horizontally, cools, and sinks back to the mantle.
• The convection currents provide enough energy to

move the plates in the lithosphere.
Quick Review of Plate Boundaries
Deformation of the Crust
How Rocks Deform
• Deformation
= bending, tilting, or breaking Earth’s crust.
Isostasy
Deformation can be due to two opposing forces:
• gravity, or weight, of the lithosphere pressing down on the
asthenosphere.
• And the buoyant force of the asthenosphere pressing up on the
lithosphere.
• When these two forces are in balance = isostasy

• As the earth changes, isostatic adjustments occur until isostasy
(balance) is reached again.
• Isostatic adjustments cause rock to deform.
Isostastic Adjustments
• As the Lithosphere • As the Lithosphere
thickens. becomes thinner.
• Becomes heavier • Becomes lighter
• Sinks deeper into • Rises higher in the
asthenosphere asthenosphere
• Mountain building, • Erosion off mountains and
glaciation, and glacial retreat can cause
deposition of sediments the crust to become
by rivers adds weight = lighter = Uplift
Subsidence
(sinking).
Sinking, uplift, sinking, uplift, etc.
Stress
• The amount of force that is exerted on rock.
• Occurs when crust is squeezed, stretched, and twisted when
the lithosphere moves.
• Compression
• Squeezes and shortens
• Reduces the amount of space a rock occupies
• Reduces the volume of rock
• Pushes rock higher up, uplift
• Near convergent boundaries
• Tension
• Stretches and pulls rock
• Rock becomes thinner
• Occurs near divergent boundaries
• Shear
• Distorts rock by pushing parts of the rock in opposite directions.
• Rocks bend, twist, or break as they slide past each other.
• Common at transform boundaries
Strain
• Any change in the shape or volume of rock that
results from stress.
• If stress is applied slowly, the deformed rock may
regain its original shape when the stress is removed.
• Some stress leads to permanent deformation of the rock.
• Type of strain depends on composition of rock, temperature,
and pressure.
• Brittle strain appears as cracks or fractures.
• Occurs mostly at the surface, lower temperature/pressure
• Also occurs when stress is applied more quickly.
• Ductile materials bend or deform without breaking.
• Occur at higher temperature/pressure
Ductile: bend without breaking
Folding
• A form of ductile strain
• A fold is a bend in a rock layer.
• Occurs when rock is compressed
and squeezed.
• Can also occur from shear stress.
• MONOCLINE fold
• Both limbs are horizontal
• Form when one side moves up or
down
• ANTICLINE fold
• Oldest layers are in the center,
turns downwards
• SYNCLINE fold
• Youngest layers are in the center,
turns upwards
Faults
• Stress (brittle strain) may cause rocks to break.
• If no movement occurs along the break = fracture.
• If movement occurs along the break = fault
• Normal fault
• Hanging wall (which is above fault) moves down compared to footwall (below
fault).
• Occur at divergent boundaries
• Great Rift Valley, Africa
• Reverse fault
• Hanging wall moves up compared to footwall
• Occur at convergent boundaries (compression)
• Thrust fault (type of reverse fault) – hanging wall pushed up over the footwall
• Rockies and Alps
• Strike-slip fault
• Rocks slide horizontally to each other
• Due to shear stress at transform boundaries
• San Andreas fault
Normal Fault (tensional stress)
Reverse Fault or Thrust Fault (compressional
stress)
Strike-Slip Fault (shear stress)
How Mountains form (orogeny)
• A mountain is the most extreme type of deformation.
• Mt. Everest… 8 km and still rising
• Part of the Great Himalaya range
• Mountain ranges: Great Smokey, Blue Ridge, Cumberland,
Green, Appalachian.
• Mountain belts: Circum-Pacific, Eurasian-Melanesian.
Plate Tectonics and Mountains
• Collisions: continental and oceanic crust
• Melting may also form volcanic mountains
• Cascade range, N. America
• Andes, S. America
Cascade Mountains
Mt. Hood
Mt. Jefferson
Three Sisters
• Collisions: oceanic and oceanic crust
• Melting may form an arc of volcanic mountains.
• Mariana islands
Aleutian Islands
• Collisions: continental and continental crust
• Forms uplift mountains
• Himalayas
Himalayas
Folded Mountains
• Occur when two continents
collide
• Form high mountains
• Alps, Himalayas, Appalachians,
Urals.
Plateau
• Occur when large, flat,
areas of rock are slowly
uplifted and remain flat.
• Located near mountain
ranges.
• Tibetan plateau (Himalaya)
• Colorado plateau (Rockies)
• Can also form when layers
of molten rock
accumulate.
• Or when large areas of
rock are eroded.
Fault-Block
Mountains Grabens
• Occur where parts of • Also forms long narrow valleys
Earth’s crust have been • Form when steep faults break the
stretched and broken crust into blocks and one block
into large blocks. slips downward relative to the
• Some blocks tilt or drop surrounding blocks.
relative to other blocks. • Occur with Fault-Block Mountains.
• Sierra Nevada Range, CA – Basin and Range Province,
Western U.S.
The Grand Tetons
(Fault-Block Mountains)
Dome Mountains Volcanic Mountains
• Occur when magma rises • Occur when magma erupts onto
through the crust and pushes Earth’s surface.
up the rock layers above the • Common along convergent boundaries
magma. • Cascades (Washington, Oregon, N. CA)
• Mid-Ocean Ridges form volcanic
• Black Hills, S. Dakota islands
• Adirondack, NY • Azores, N. Atlantic Ocean
• Some also form at hot spots
(volcanically active areas that do not
lie near tectonic plate boundaries).
• Hawaiian Islands
Geologic Time Scale
Hadean Eon: About 4.55 billion to 3.85 billion
About 4.5 billion years ago

The formation of the moon and cooling of the Earth (45 steps – see companion
activity in the Connecticut Geology curriculum guide, Yale Peabody Museum)
Artist’s conception of a smaller planetary body colliding with Earth, leading to the formation of the moon (the Giant
Impactor Theory, widely accepted since the mid-1980s)
Credit: Joe Tucciarone. Image used by permission from nasa.gov; rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect19/Sect19_2a.html
Archean Eon: 3.85 billion to 2.5 billion
Precambrian

Oldest rocks
The air is rich in nitrogen (N) and carbon dioxide (CO2) with
methane (CH4), water vapor (H2O) and other gases, but very
little oxygen (O2) is present. (38 steps)
Used by permission from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration; Image source: Earth Science
World Image Bank http://www.earthscienceworld.org/images
Precambrian

First cyanobacteria (34 steps)
Stromatolite fossil specimen from the Yale Peabody Museum Paleobotany Division. Stromatolites
are natural formations that occur in shallow water and are the result of layers of sediment being
cemented together by biofilms of cyanobacteria and other microorganisms.
© YPM 51959
Proterozoic Eon: 2.5 billion to 542 million
Precambrian
2.0 billion years ago

Increased concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere from
cyanobacteria metabolism (20 steps)
Used by permission from KidsGeo www.kidsgeo.com

Precambrian

Photsynthesizing organisms (cyanobacteria and plankton) thrive in
shallow seas. These organisms continue to metabolize CO 2 and release O2
into the air as a by-product. (16 steps)
Stromatolite fossil specimen from the Yale Peabody Museum. This specimen has been sliced in half and polished to reveal the
interior. Cyanobacteria are the most likely microorganisms involved in the formation of stromatolites like this one.
© YPM 53535A
Geologic Time Scale of CT

1.1 billion years ago: Proto North America (approx. age of the oldest rocks in CT); the land mass that
would eventually form the westernmost part of CT was in the middle of the supercontinent Rodinia
600 – 550 million years ago: Rodinia rifts apart, leaving western CT at the edge of the Iapetos Ocean
Phanerozoic Eon 542 million to
present
Paleozoic Era 542 million to 251
million
Cambrian Period 542 million to 488

million years ago
The “Cambrian Explosion” of marine

animals – many animals inhabit the
shallow, calcareous-mud bottom of warm
shallow oceans along the edges of the
continent, including westernmost
Connecticut.
Abundant hard-shelled trilobites

appear in the sea
(6 steps)
A trilobite fossil (Cambropallas telesto) from the
early Cambrian Period. © YPM IP 37621
Phanerozoic Eon 542 million to present
Paleozoic Era 542 million to 251 million
Ordovician Period 488 million to 444 million years ago

Bryozoans, first vertebrates appear
(5 steps)
Artist’s conception of an astraspid (Astraspis desiderata). Astraspids were a small group of armored, jawless vertebrates from the middle
Ordovician Period. Used by permission; drawing by Phillipe Janvier, http://tolweb.org/Astraspida/16906

520 – 470 million years ago: Iapetos Ocean grows in size, and then towards the end of this
time period begins to close; Taconic Island Arc forms in the middle of the Iapetos Ocean and
begins moving towards Proto North America; on the far side of the Iapetos Ocean, Avalonia rifts
away from the rest of Gondwana and begins moving towards Proto North America.
Silurian Period 444 million to 416 million years ago
Nautiloids common. Oxygen levels in the air are at about 10 percent.

(4.5 steps)
A nautiloid fossil (Bickmorites bickmoreanum) from the middle Silurian Period. ©YPM IP 19158

470 – 440 million years ago: Taconic Island Arc collides with Proto North America and creates mountains
(Taconic Orogeny); Avalonia continues to move towards Proto North America; Rheic Ocean between
Avalonia and Gondwana expands.
Devonian Period 416 million to 359 million years ago
First sharks; earliest terrestrial animals, amphibians and wingless

insects appear (4 steps)
Used by permission from Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2009

440 – 400 million years ago: Taconic Mountains erode and Avalonia continues to move
towards Proto North America.
400 – 350 million years ago: The Iapetos Ocean disappears as Avalonia collides with Proto
North America; oceanic crust is pushed into the continent, causing the seafloor muds to
metamorphose into gneiss and schist. Volcanic island arcs and distinct regions of the Iapetos
Ocean form geologic terranes in New England. The Rheic Ocean starts to close, and
Gondwana begins to move towards Proto North America.
Phanerozic Eon 542 million to present
Carboniferous Period 359 million to 299 million
Mississippian Epoch 359 million to 318 million years ago
High oxygen levels (25-30% compared to 21% today) allow insects like
dragonflies to grow large (50 cm wingspan!) despite primitive respiratory
systems; ferns common; frogs develop. Great swamps form coal deposits
around the world. (3.5 steps)
Dragonfly (Meganeuropsis) from The Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.

© 2010 Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University

350 – 310 million years ago: The Rheic Ocean disappears as Gondwana collides
with Proto North America; massive mountain-building (Alleghenian Orogeny).
Pennsylvanian Epoch 318 million to 299 million years ago
Appalachian Mountains formed; first conifers appear; coal deposited

in eastern Ohio; first sauropsids (the group of organisms that gave
rise to reptiles) (3 steps)
Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Photo Greg Watkins-Colwell © YPM R24134

310 – 290 million years ago: Gondwana continues to push into Proto North America;
continued mountain-building (Alleghenian Orogeny).
Permian Period 299 million to 251 million years ago
Synapsids, a group of animals that included the ancestors of

mammals, flourished in the Permian Period. Pangaea forms. Mass
extinction, especially of marine life, at end of Permian. (2.5 steps)
Dimetrodon, a synapsid, fromThe Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.


290 – 270 million years ago: Gondwana stops advancing on Proto North America;
Pangaea forms. Eastern pegmatites form.
Mesozoic Era 251 million to 65.5 million
Triassic Period 251 million to 201.6 million years ago
Life takes tens of millions of years to recover from the Permian-Triassic

extinction. More extinction marks the end of the Triassic, possibly due to a
meteorite impact or huge volcanic eruption, eliminating the large land reptiles
and allowing dinosaurs to expand. Dinosaurs appear; first mammals (small,
rodent-like creatures). Pangaea begins to rift apart. (2 steps)
Drawn by Margaret M. Colbert. Used by permission from American Museum of Natural History

225 – 200 million years ago: Pangaea begins to rift apart. Atlantic Ocean begins to grow as Africa moves
East; Hartford Basin forms in an adjacent rift valley.
Jurassic Period 201.6 million to 145.5 million years ago
Dinosaurs dominate; flying reptiles appear; first known bird

(1.5 steps)
Left: Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus, two of the most iconic dinosaurs of the Jurassic Period. Right: Close-up of a flying reptile (Rhamphorhynchus).
Both images from The Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger; images reflect 1940’s conceptions of dinosaur morphology and habits.

200 – 145 million years ago: Atlantic Ocean continues to widen; Hartford Basin stops rifting;
Newark Terrane forms (brownstone, sandstone, traprock)
Cretaceous Period 145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago
First snakes; first grasses and flowering plants appear; mass extinction of
dinosaurs about 65 million years ago
(.6 steps)
Tyrranosaurus rex with other Cretaceous dinosaurs, the flying

Pacific boa (Candoia carinata). © YPM VZ 024043
reptile Pteranodon, and flowering plants, fromThe Age of Reptiles
Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger. Image reflects 1940’s conceptions
of dinosaur morphology and habits.
Cenozoic Era 65.5 million to present
Tertiary Period 65.5 million to 2.6 million
Paleocene Epoch 65.5 million to 55.8 million years ago
Himalayas began to form; many new mammal species; earliest whales and
dolphins; first bats; first large land mammals (.5 steps)
A pair of early horse-like mammals (Merychippus) from The Age of Mammals, a mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.
Copyright © 1966, 1975, 1989, 1991, 2000 Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
All rights reserved.
Eocene Epoch 55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago
At the beginning of the Eocene, Earth much warmer than today; climate at
north and south poles similar to modern-day Pacific Northwest (like Seattle,
Washington); rainy, tropical climate and semi-tropical plants in Wyoming.
(.4 steps)
A leaf fossil from an extinct fan palm (Sabalites sp.) collected in

Lincoln County, Wyoming, USA. © YPM 35228 A
Oligocene Epoch 33.9 million to 23 million years ago
First ape-like primates (.3 steps)
Aegyptopithecus zeuxis skull cast from the Yale Peabody Museum Vertebrate Paleontology collection. Aegyptopithecus is
an early member of the group that led to apes. The original specimen was collected in Egypt. © YPMVP 23975
Miocene Epoch 23 million to 5.3 million years ago
First grassland ecosystems during the middle Cenozoic Era

(.25 steps)
By Brian Kell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pliocene Epoch 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago
Panama land bridge forms (.05 steps)
Used by permission from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute www.whoi.org

Quaternary Period 2.6 million to present
Pleistocene Epoch 2.6 million to 10 thousand years ago
Dramatic changes in climate; ice sheets cover and uncover Connecticut.

Ice ages, mammoths, and mastodons (.01 steps)
Mammoth (Mammuthus sp.) from The Age of Mammals, a mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) existed at least 300,000 years ago

and went extinct about 30,000 years ago. Anatomically recognizable modern
humans (Homo sapiens) appeared about 200,000 years ago. (.001 steps)
© YPM; Neanderthal sculpture by Michael Anderson

Holocene Epoch 10 thousand years ago to present
Most recent ice age ends about 10,000 years ago. The climate rapidly
warms up to its present state, and plants and animals familiar to us
today inhabit our landscape. “Neolithic” period of human history
(.0001 steps)
Glacier flowing into Prince William Sound, Alaska. Used by permission: Department of the Interior/USGS
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Week 7: The History of the Earth
Presented by:
Ian Angelo P. Dela Cruz
Special Science Teacher 1
San Francisco High School
objectives
• The learners needs to demonstrate an understanding of:
• How the Planet Earth evolved in the last 4.6 billion years (including the age of
the Earth, Major, Geologic Time subdivisions, and marker fossils).
• Describe how layers of rocks (stratified rocks) form. (S11/12ES-Ie-25)

• Describe the different methods (relative and absolute dating) to determine
the age of stratified rocks. (S11/12ES-Ie-26)
• Explain how relative and absolute dating were used to determine the
subdivisions of geologic time. (S11/12ES-Ie-27)
• Describe how marker fossils (also known as guide fossils) are used to define
and identify subdivisions of the geologic time scale. (S11/12ES-Ie-28)
• Describe how the Earth’s history can be interpreted from the geologic time
scale. (S11/12ES-Ie-29)
Let us
Stratified Rocks
• The process in which sedimentary rocks are arranged in layers
• Differs from one another depending on the kind, size, color of their
sediment.
Stratified Rocks
• The process in which sedimentary rocks are arrange din layers
• Differs from one another depending on the kind, size, color of their
sediment.
CHAPTER 1:
THE SCULPTING OF THE EARTH
The Sculpting of Earth
• 4.6 – 4.0 billion years ago
• Bombardment of Earth
• Hadean Eon
• Chemical Building Blocks for Life
• Bombardment of Earth
• Hadean Eon
• Chemical Building Blocks for Life
Late Hadean
Eon:
Heavy
Bombardment
Phase
FORMATION OF
MOON
Giant Impact
Hypothesis
“Theia”
Geologic Time Scale
Hadean Eon: About 4.55 billion to 3.85 billion

The formation of the moon and cooling of the Earth
Artist’s conception of a smaller planetary body colliding with Earth, leading to the formation of the moon (the Giant
Impactor Theory, widely accepted since the mid-1980s)
Credit: Joe Tucciarone. Image used by permission from nasa.gov; rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect19/Sect19_2a.html
CHAPTER 2:
Earth Cooling and Primitive Life
Earth cooling and Primitive Life
• Cooling of Earth
• Archean Eon
• Prokaryotic Bacteria
• Archean Eon
• Cooling of Earth Vaalbara: Earth’s First
Supercontinent
• Archean Eon
• Cooling of Earth Vaalbara: Earth’s First
Supercontinent
• Archean Eon
• Archean Eon
Precambrian

Oldest rocks
The air is rich in nitrogen (N) and carbon dioxide (CO2) with
methane (CH4), water vapor (H2O) and other gases, but very little
oxygen (O2) is present.
Used by permission from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration; Image source: Earth Science World Image
Bank http://www.earthscienceworld.org/images
Precambrian

First cyanobacteria.
Stromatolite fossil specimen from the Yale Peabody Museum Paleobotany Division. Stromatolites are
natural formations that occur in shallow water and are the result of layers of sediment being cemented
together by biofilms of cyanobacteria and other microorganisms.
© YPM 51959
CHAPTER 3:
An Oxygenated Atmosphere
• 2500 – 541 million years ago
• Oxygenation of Earth
• Proterozoic Eon
• Eukaryotic Cells
• Proterozoic Eon
• Proterozoic Eon
• 2500 – 541 million years ago Snowball Earth
• Proterozoic Eon < 300,000,000 years
• 2500 – 541 million years ago Endosymbiotic Theory
• Proterozoic Eon “emergence of the
• Eukaryotic Cells aerobic eukaryotes”
• Proterozoic Eon Proterozoic Eon
Precambrian

Increased concentration of oxygen in the
atmosphere from cyanobacteria metabolism.
Used by permission from KidsGeo www.kidsgeo.com

Precambrian

Photosynthesizing organisms (cyanobacteria and plankton) thrive in
shallow seas. These organisms continue to metabolize CO 2 and release O2
into the air as a by-product.
Stromatolite fossil specimen from the Yale Peabody Museum. This specimen has been sliced in half and polished to reveal the
interior. Cyanobacteria are the most likely microorganisms involved in the formation of stromatolites like this one.
© YPM 53535A

1.1 billion years ago: Proto North America (approx. age of the oldest rocks in CT); the land mass that
would eventually form the westernmost part of CT was in the middle of the supercontinent Rodinia
600 – 550 million years ago: Rodinia rifts apart, leaving western CT at the edge of the Iapetos Ocean
CHAPTER 4:
Cambrian Explosion and Fossil Records
• Diversification of Life
• Paleozoic Era
• Invertebrates and Vertebrates
• Paleozoic Era
Cambrian Explosion
• Paleozoic Era
Modocia typicalis
• Paleozoic Era
Phanerozoic Eon 542 million to
present
Paleozoic Era 542 million to 251
million
Cambrian Period 542 million to 488

million years ago
The “Cambrian Explosion” of marine

animals – many animals inhabit the
shallow, calcareous-mud bottom of warm
shallow oceans along the edges of the
continent, including westernmost
Connecticut.
Abundant hard-shelled trilobites

appear in the sea
A trilobite fossil (Cambropallas telesto) from the

early Cambrian Period. © YPM IP 37621
• Paleozoic Era
Ordovician Period 488 million to 444 million years ago

Bryozoans, first vertebrates appear
Artist’s conception of an astraspid (Astraspis desiderata). Astraspids were a small group of armored, jawless vertebrates from the middle
Ordovician Period. Used by permission; drawing by Phillipe Janvier, http://tolweb.org/Astraspida/16906

520 – 470 million years ago: Iapetos Ocean grows in size, and then towards the end of this
time period begins to close; Taconic Island Arc forms in the middle of the Iapetos Ocean and
begins moving towards Proto North America; on the far side of the Iapetos Ocean, Avalonia rifts
away from the rest of Gondwana and begins moving towards Proto North America.
Silurian Period 444 million to 416 million years ago
Nautiloids common. Oxygen levels in the air are at about 10 percent.
A nautiloid fossil (Bickmorites bickmoreanum) from the middle Silurian Period. ©YPM IP 19158

470 – 440 million years ago: Taconic Island Arc collides with Proto North America and creates mountains
(Taconic Orogeny); Avalonia continues to move towards Proto North America; Rheic Ocean between
Avalonia and Gondwana expands.
• Paleozoic Era
• Paleozoic Era
Pennsylvanian Epoch 318 million to 299 million years ago
Appalachian Mountains formed; first conifers appear; coal deposited

in eastern Ohio; first sauropsids (the group of organisms that gave
rise to reptiles)
Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Photo Greg Watkins-Colwell © YPM R24134

310 – 290 million years ago: Gondwana continues to push into Proto North America;
continued mountain-building (Alleghenian Orogeny).
• Paleozoic Era
Devonian Period 416 million to 359 million years ago
First sharks; earliest terrestrial animals, amphibians and wingless

insects appear
Used by permission from Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2009

440 – 400 million years ago: Taconic Mountains erode and Avalonia continues to move
towards Proto North America.
400 – 350 million years ago: The Iapetos Ocean disappears as Avalonia collides with Proto
North America; oceanic crust is pushed into the continent, causing the seafloor muds to
metamorphose into gneiss and schist. Volcanic island arcs and distinct regions of the Iapetos
Ocean form geologic terranes in New England. The Rheic Ocean starts to close, and
Gondwana begins to move towards Proto North America.
Phanerozic Eon 542 million to present
Mississippian Epoch 359 million to 318 million years ago
High oxygen levels (25-30% compared to 21% today) allow insects like
dragonflies to grow large (50 cm wingspan!) despite primitive respiratory
systems; ferns common; frogs develop. Great swamps form coal deposits
around the world.
Dragonfly (Meganeuropsis) from The Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.


350 – 310 million years ago: The Rheic Ocean disappears as Gondwana collides
with Proto North America; massive mountain-building (Alleghenian Orogeny).
• Paleozoic Era
Permian Period 299 million to 251 million years ago
Synapsids, a group of animals that included the ancestors of

mammals, flourished in the Permian Period. Pangaea forms. Mass
extinction, especially of marine life, at end of Permian.
Dimetrodon, a synapsid, fromThe Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.


290 – 270 million years ago: Gondwana stops advancing on Proto North America;
Pangaea forms. Eastern pegmatites form.
• Paleozoic Era
• Paleozoic Era
The synapsid Lystrosaurus survived the
extinction and dominated the landscape
• 541 – 245 million years ago afterwards
• Paleozoic Era
CHAPTER 5:
The Age of Reptiles and Dinosaurs
• Pangea Supercontinent
• Mesozoic Era
• Reptiles and Dinosaurs
• Mesozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
Triassic Period 251 million to 201.6 million years ago
Life takes tens of millions of years to recover from the Permian-Triassic

extinction. More extinction marks the end of the Triassic, possibly due to a
meteorite impact or huge volcanic eruption, eliminating the large land reptiles
and allowing dinosaurs to expand. Dinosaurs appear; first mammals (small,
rodent-like creatures). Pangaea begins to rift apart.
Drawn by Margaret M. Colbert. Used by permission from American Museum of Natural History

225 – 200 million years ago: Pangaea begins to rift apart. Atlantic Ocean begins to grow as Africa moves
East; Hartford Basin forms in an adjacent rift valley.
Jurassic Period 201.6 million to 145.5 million years ago
Dinosaurs dominate; flying reptiles appear; first known bird
Left: Apatosaurus and Stegosaurus, two of the most iconic dinosaurs of the Jurassic Period. Right: Close-up of a flying reptile (Rhamphorhynchus).
Both images from The Age of Reptiles Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger; images reflect 1940’s conceptions of dinosaur morphology and habits.

200 – 145 million years ago: Atlantic Ocean continues to widen; Hartford Basin stops rifting;
Newark Terrane forms (brownstone, sandstone, traprock)
• Mesozoic Era
Cambrian Explosion and Foss
• Mesozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
Cretaceous Period 145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago
First snakes; first grasses and flowering plants appear; mass extinction of
dinosaurs about 65 million years ago
Tyrranosaurus rex with other Cretaceous dinosaurs, the flying

Pacific boa (Candoia carinata). © YPM VZ 024043
reptile Pteranodon, and flowering plants, fromThe Age of Reptiles
Mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger. Image reflects 1940’s conceptions
of dinosaur morphology and habits.
CHAPTER 6:
The Age of Mammals and Homo sapiens
• 66 million years ago – now
• Dinosaur Extinction
• Cenozoic Era
• Mammals and Homo sapiens
• Cenozoic Era
Paleocene Epoch 65.5 million to 55.8 million years ago
Himalayas began to form; many new mammal species; earliest whales and
dolphins; first bats; first large land mammals
A pair of early horse-like mammals (Merychippus) from The Age of Mammals, a mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.
Eocene Epoch 55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago
At the beginning of the Eocene, Earth much warmer than today; climate at
north and south poles similar to modern-day Pacific Northwest (like Seattle,
Washington); rainy, tropical climate and semi-tropical plants in Wyoming.
(.4 steps)
A leaf fossil from an extinct fan palm (Sabalites sp.) collected in

Lincoln County, Wyoming, USA. © YPM 35228 A
• Cenozoic Era
Oligocene Epoch 33.9 million to 23 million years ago
First ape-like primates
Aegyptopithecus zeuxis skull cast from the Yale Peabody Museum Vertebrate Paleontology collection. Aegyptopithecus is
an early member of the group that led to apes. The original specimen was collected in Egypt. © YPMVP 23975
Miocene Epoch 23 million to 5.3 million years ago
First grassland ecosystems during the middle Cenozoic Era
By Brian Kell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pliocene Epoch 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago
Panama land bridge forms.
Used by permission from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute www.whoi.org

Dramatic changes in climate; ice sheets cover and uncover Connecticut.

Ice ages, mammoths, and mastodons.
Mammoth (Mammuthus sp.) from The Age of Mammals, a mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger.
• Cenozoic Era
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) existed at least 300,000 years ago

and went extinct about 30,000 years ago. Anatomically recognizable modern
humans (Homo sapiens) appeared about 200,000 years ago.
© YPM; Neanderthal sculpture by Michael Anderson

Holocene Epoch 10 thousand years ago to present
Most recent ice age ends about 10,000 years ago. The climate rapidly
warms up to its present state, and plants and animals familiar to us
today inhabit our landscape. “Neolithic” period of human history
Glacier flowing into Prince William Sound, Alaska. Used by permission: Department of the Interior/USGS
GCC AND NATURAL HAZARDS
ATMOSPHERIC GEOLOGIC HYDROLOGIC
HURRICANES/
EARTHQUAKES FLOODS
TYPHOONS
GLOBAL
CLIMATE VOLCANIC LANDSLIDES
CHANGE ERUPTIONS
DROUGHT \LANDSLIDES
WILDFIRES TSUNAMIS
THE DILEMNA OF DISASTER
SCENARIOS FOR GLOBAL
CLIMATE CHANGE OCCURS
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
WHERE, BROAD BRUSH STROKES ARE TOO
UNCERTAIN
THE ISSUE:
WERE RECENT UNUSUALLY SEVERE PHYSICAL EFFECTS
EXACERBATED BY SOME OF MAN’S PAST ACTIONS, OR
WERE THEY INDEPENDENT OF MAN AND EVIDENCE OF
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE?
Winter of 2008
VERY COLD IN CHINA
VERY COLD IN NEW YORK
SNOW IN AMMAN, JORDAN
VERY WARM IN SWEDEN
VERY WARM IN NORWAY
VERY WARM IN ENGLAND
SNOW IN AMMAN, JORDAN:
JANUARY; 2008
WARM IN TYNEMOUTH, UK:
FEBRUARY 2008
NO ICE IN NORWAY: JANUARY
2008
VERY COLD IN GUANGZHOU, CHINA:
JANUARY 2008
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN:
WARMEST SINCE 1755
VERY COLD IN NEW YORK: FEBRUARY
2008
PART 1:
WHAT IS THE CURRENT
THINKING ON GLOBAL
CLIMATE CHANGE?
RISK ASSESSMENT
•MONITORING ACCEPTABLE RISK
•HAZARD MAPS RISK
•INVENTORY
UNACCEPTABLE RISK
•VULNERABILITY
•LOCATION
NDRRMC
DATA BASES YOUR
AND INFORMATION COMMUNITY
POLICY TOOLS FOR

DISASTER RESILIENCE
•EDUCATION
HAZARDS: •PREPAREDNESS
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE •PROTECTION
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
•EARLY WARNING
TSUNAMI RUN UP •EM RESPONSE
AFTERSHOCKS
•RECOVERY
BUILDING A CULTURE OF
DISASTER RESILIENCE
RISK ASSESSMENT
• VULNERABILITY
GLOBAL • COST
CLIMATE • EXPOSURE
CHANGE
EXPECTED POLICY
NATURAL
HAZARDS • EVENT LOSS • BENEFIT
ADOPTION
•CONSEQUENCES
POLICY ASSESSMENT
MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES
FOR COPING WITH THE POTENTIAL ADVERSE
EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
IF THE PREDICTIONS ARE RIGHT, WE WILL BE LIVING WITH

THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THE REST
OF OUR LIVES
ANTICIPATE YOUR RISK
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
• GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE WAS • GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IS
ONLY DISCUSSED IN A HYPO- INCREASINGLY BEING
THETICAL WAY FOR MANY REGARDED AS A FACT, …
YEARS. • WHICH IMPLIES SERIOUS RISKS
• If CONSIDERED AS A THREAT, IT THAT PRESENT AND FUTURE
WAS A THREAT FOR THE GEN-ERATIONS ALIKE WILL
DISTANT FUTURE. HAVE TO FACE.
MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
• MITIGATION ADDRESSES THE “FRONT • ADAPTATION ADDRESSES THE “BACK
END” OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE END” OF THE PROBLEM.
CHANGE PROBLEM. • IT INCLUDES ACTIONS THAT WILL
• IT INCLUDES ACTIONS THAT WILL SAFE-GUARD A PERSON, A
PREVENT (OR REDUCE) THE RELEASE COMMUNITY, A BUSINESS, OR A
OF EXCESS CO2 EMMISIONS. NATION AS THEY LIVE WITH THE
LIKELY IMPACTS.
MITIGATION & ADAPTATION
• ADAPTATION IS REQUIRED BECAUSE WE CAN NOT TURN OFF THE
MOMENTUM OF ADVERSE IMPACTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
IN A SHORT TIME.
• CARBON DIOXIDE REMAINS IN THE ATMOSPHERE FOR DECADES,
AND
• OCEANS STORE HEAT FOR CENTURIES.
• MANY COUNTRIES ARE NOW MAKING LARGE INVESTMENTS IN
MITIGATION AND ANTICIPATORY ADAPTATION ACTIONS.
• LEADERS RECOGNIIZE THAT THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE
CHANGE WILL LIKELY INCREASE THE RISKS FOR PEOPLE, BUSINESSES,
AND COMMUNITIES LIVING IN OR LOCATED IN COASTAL AREAS OR
IN RIVER FLOODPLAINS.
THE NETHERLANDS: MITIGATION & ADAPTATION
• AFTER 800 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE BATTLING THE NORTH SEA, THE
NETHERLANDS HAS NOW CREATED SOME OF THE STRONGEST
FLOOD DEFENSES IN THE WORLD.
• PRESENT RIVER DEFENSES PROVIDE 1-IN -250 YEARS
PROTECTION LEVELS.
• THE OOESTERSCHELDEKERING, A PART OF THE DELTA WORKS DAMS,
DEFENDS AGAINST THE NORTH SEA.
• THEY ARE NOW BEING MADE STRONGER TO PROVIDE 1-IN-100,000
YEARS PROTECTION INSTEAD OF 1-IN-10,000 YEARS
PROTECTION.
• THE DUTCH ARE ALSO REVISING TRADITIONAL FLOOD
MANAGEMENT THINKING.
• IN ADDITION TO CONTAINING THE FLOOD WATERS, THEY WILL
ALLOW CERTAIN DESIGNAGTED LOCATIONS TO BE FLOODED.
• THIS STRATEGY IS CALLED, “LIVING WITH WATER.”
THE OOESTERSCHELDEKERING: THE
NETHERLANDS
• THE NETHERLANDS WILL COMMIT ABOUT $1.3

BILLION ANNUALLY TO INCREASE FLOOD
PROTECTION LEVELS.
• THIS INVESTMENT IS EQUAL TO ABOUT 0.2 PERCENT
OF THE NETHERLAND’S GDP.
BRITAIN:
• THE BRITISH ARE IMPROVING AND EXTENDING THE “THAMES
BARRIER,” A SET OF FLOODGATES ACROSS THE THAMES RIVER.
• WHEN THE BARRIER IS CLOSED (ABOUT 10 TIMES A YEAR) IT
PROVIDES 1-IN-2,000 YEARS PROTECTION OF LONDON FROM
FLOODING CAUSED BY OCEAN SURGES DURING STORMS.
LONDON, ENGLAND
THAMES RIVER BARRIER DURING STORM
BRITAIN:
• THE PREDICTED RISE IN SEA LEVEL BY 2030 IS

EXPECTED TO REQUIRE AN INCREASE IN PROTECTION
ALONG THE THAMES TO 1-IN-1,000 YEARS.
• THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WILL LIKELY BE REPLACED AND
UPGRADED BY 2100.
TOKYO: ANTICIPATES MORE WATER THAN USUAL IN
THE FUTURE
JAPAN:
• JAPAN IS ANTICIPATING MUCH MORE WATER FROM
RISING SEA LEVEL, OCEAN STORM SURGES,
TSUNAMI WAVE RUN UP, AND EXCESSIVE
PRECIPITATION FROM TYPHOONS.
• ITS 12-YEAR-OLD “G-CANS PROJECT” HAS CREATED
A MASSIVE UNDERGROUND CONCRETE “RIVER
SYSTEM” IN NORTHWEST TOKYO TO FACILITATE
REMOVAL OF EXCESS WATER FROM TOKYO’S
STREETS.
G-CANS: THE WORLD’S LARGEST UNDERGROUND
“RIVER” SYSTEM
JAPAN:
• JAPAN HAS INSTALLED UNDERGROUND PUMPS THAT CAN PUMP
100 TONS OF WATER PER SECOND OUT OF RIVERS AND INTO THE
HARBOR TO PREVENT FLOODING OF CTY STREETS.
• THIS SYSTEM IS ALREADY CONSIDERED TO BE OPERATING AT FULL
CAPACITY NOW.
BANGLADESH:
• BANGLADESH, ONE OF THE MOST VULNERABLE

PLACES ON EARTH TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE,
NOW REQUIRES USE OF CLIMATE CHANGE MODELS
IN ALL FUTURE PLANNING AND DECISIONS.
• IT HAS BEGUN SWITCHING LAND USE FROM RICE
FARMING TO PRAWN FARMING IN LOCATIONS
WHRE SALT WATER IN THE BAY OF BENGAL IS NOW
MOVING INLAND.
BANGLADESH:
• BUT, BEING ONE OF THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD,
BANGLADESH CAN NOT AFFORD THE INVESTMENTS REQUIRED FOR
ADAPTATION MEASURES NOW UNDERWAY IN MANY
INDUSTRALIZED COUNTRIES.
• IT NEEDS INTERNATIONAL AID, WHICH IS NOT NOW AS AVAILABLE
AS IN THE PAST.
GREATER NEW ORLEANS, LA: ONLY 300,000 AFTER
KATRINA
NEW ORLEANS: ANTICIPATES HURRICANES EVEN WORSE
THAN KATRINA
UNITED STATES:
• ADAPTATION IS NOW ON THE AMERICAN AGENDA BECAUSE OF
HURRICANE KATRINA AND ITS IMPACT ON NEW ORLEANS AND THE
GULF COAST.
• NEW ORLEANS HAS BECOME A LABORATORY FOR SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, HAZARD INSURANCE, AND PUBLIC POLICY.
NEW ORLEANS:
NEW ORLEANS’ LEVEE SYSTEM
UNITED STATES:
• NEW ORLEANS’ LEVEE SYSTEM ONLY PROVIDES 1-IN-100 YEARS
PROTECTION NOW.
• 122 LEVEES IN THE SYSTEM ARE NOW CONSIDERED TO BE
INADEQUATE FOR THE INCREASED SEVERITY OF WIND FIELDS AND
STORM SURGES EXPECTED IN FUTURE HURRICANES.
UNITED STATES:
• “DEFENSE IN DEPTH,” A THREE-LAYERED SYSTEM,
HAS BEEN DEVISED TO PROTECT NEW ORLEANS.
• EACH LAYER ACTS LIKE A SPEED BUMP TO ABSORB
AND REDUCE THE ENERGY AND DESTRUCTIVE
EFFECTS OF THE SEVERE WINDSTORM.
UNITED STATES:
• “DEFENSE IN DEPTH:
• THE INNER LAYER CONSISTS OF HARDENED LEVEES
AND FLOOD WALLS.
• THE MIDDLE LAYER IS A LARGE EXPANSE OF
WETLANDS.
• THE THIRD LAYER IS THE BARRIER ISLANDS THAT
MUST BE TRAVERSED BEFORE LANDFALL.
HARDENED LEVEE SYSTEM:

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EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

THE COMPLETE FIRST

THE EARTH BEGAN TO COOL. THE

• Sun 99.85% by mass

• Nearly circular orbits (Mercury and Mars most eccentric)

• Nearly circular orbits (Mercury and Mars most eccentric)

• Nearly circular orbits (Mercury and Mars most eccentric)

• General Characteristics of Major Planets - Age

• Earth - Oldest rocks 3.9 billion yr (4.5 billion yr inferred)

Location Inner Outer Outer

1) Densities: Rock = 3 gm cm-3, Water = 1 gm cm-3

2) Composition of Sun and Universe by numbers of atoms:

Mercury Io Venus Europa Earth

• 73% Molecular Hydrogen

• Sun, a star, at the center…

Why are they

They are all…

orbiting (the short period

• Objects that do not orbit the Earth.

• Sun is much more massive, appears to hold

• Nearby Cepheids (variable stars) maximum brightness varies

• Measure apparent brightness and get distance

• Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 100,000 light years across

Hot, dense materials emit discrete "emission" spectra Hydrogen

When light with a continuous spectrum passes through a

The spectrum of the light from our Sun is an Absorption spectrum.

Very distant objects aren’t just single

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Redshift

• Estimates vary according to method

• The universe expanded from a state of pure energy,

Protosun Protoplanetary Disk

Heating  Fusion Condensation (gas to solid)

Sun Metal, Rocks Gases, Ice

Leftover Materials Terrestrial Jovian Leftover Materials

Asteroids Planets Planets Comets

Accretion Nabular Capture

• The primordial gas after the Big

Denser region in a interstellar cloud, maybe compressed

Water = 2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen

• Our solar system with its abundant collection of

Local concentrations of dust

Balance between gravity

Iron melts and

• Layers defined by composition

• Outer layers mostly Silicate Minerals: Crust and Mantle

Inner Layers Core: Iron and Nickel,

6370 km x 5 miles/8 km = 3981.25 miles

Earth has a radius of about 4000 miles

The crust of the Earth is broken into many pieces called

The asthenosphere is the

The crust is composed of two rocks. The continental

Safety Caution: Don’t get your face

Closed system: exchange of energy but negligible

• Earth is a dynamic body

The Earth is a system consisting of four major

Geosphere: comprises the solid Earth and includes

Hydrosphere: The gases of the atmosphere readily exchange

Biosphere: The atmosphere supplies oxygen and carbon

Geosphere: Gases in the atmosphere react with water to

Atmosphere: Life processes involve a many chemical

Hydrosphere: Evaporation of water from leaf surfaces

Geosphere: The biosphere is connected to the geosphere