Geology 1301 (Section 801): EARTH SYSTEMS Rita Economos
Hypothesis
Once data have been gathered and principles have been formulated to describe a natural phenomenom, investigators try to explain how or why things happen in the manner observed. A tentative or untested explanation. If it cannot be tested it is not useful.
Earth System Science
aims to study the earth as a system composed of numerous interacting parts or subsystems.
Historical Geology
earth's origins and its development through time. strives to establish an orderly chronological arrangement of the multitude of phisical and biological changes that have occured in the geological past.
Physical Geology
examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the many processes that operate beneath and upon its surface
James Hutton
published the theory of the earth in 1795. He was an important eighteenth-century English geologist and proponent of uniformiarianism.
Geological Hazards
-part of living on earth -staggering damages -volcanoes, floods, tsumanis, earthquakes, and landslides -only hazards when people live where these processes occur
The Universe begins
Began 13.7 billion years ago with the Big Bang an incomprehensibly large explosion that sent all matter of the universe flying outward at incredible speeds. In time debris from this expolsion which was entirely hydrogen and helium, began to cool and condense into the first stars and galaxies.
catastrophism
Earths landscapes were shaped primarily by great catastrophes. A Popular natural philosphy of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Was based on a firm belief in a very short geologic history of Earth.
Human impacts on Geological processes
Human activities such as clearing forstests, building cities, and constructing roads and dams. Natural systems do not always adjust to artificial changes in ways that we can anticipate having a negative effect on the enviroment.
Geosphere
Largest of Earths four spheres. Extends from the surface to the center of the planet. Solid Earth
Uniformitarianism
Pillar of Geology today. States that the physical, chemical and biological processes that operate today have also operated in the geologic past. This means that the forces that we observe presently shaping our planet have been at work for a very long time. Thus to understand ancient rocks, we must first understand present-day processes and their results. PRESENT IS THE KEY TO THE PAST.
Scientific Method
Researchers gather data through observations and formulate scientific hypotheses and theories.
The Solar System forms
The nebular theory proposes that the bodies of our solar system evolved from an enormous rotating cloud called the solar nebula. The solar nebula consists of microscopic dust grains and ejected matter from long dead stars.
Biosphere
This includes all life on earth. refers to the sum total of all life on earth. is not part of the earth's physical environment.
Hydrosphere
is a dynamic mass of water that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again.
System
is a group of interacting or independent parts that form a complex whole.
Atmosphere
life-giving gaseous envelope. This very shallow layer provides air we breathe and protects us from the suns intense heat and radiation. The energy exchanges that occur between the atmosphere and Earths surface and between atmosphere and space produce the effects of weather and climate. Our planet would be life-less without the atmosphere.
Geology
the study of planet earth, the materials of which it is made, the processes that act on those materials, the products formed, and the history of the planet and its life forms since its origin.
Aristotle
was the highly influential, ancient Greek philosopher noted for his writings and teachings on natural philosophy and on the workings of the earth.
Theory
well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains observable facts. Plate tectonics.