Introduction To Geology

Catastrophism

Baron Georges Cuvier worldwide catastrophes are the agents of change that alter the physical features of the Earth over time and that the latter remains unchanged

Types of Seismic Waves

Body Waves- can travel through the earth's inner layers Surface Waves- can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples of water

Geohazards

Earth processes that cause life and property loss Flooding Earthquake Volcanic Activity Landslide

The relevance of time

Eon- a unit of time equal to a billion years Era- divides an eon into smaller units of time Periods Epoch Age

Major Plates of the Earth

Eurasian, African, Australian, Antartica, North American, South American, Pacific Plate

Criteria for a celestial body to qualify as a planet

It must be in orbit around a sun It must be large enough that it takes on a nearly round shape It has cleared its orbit of other objects

Uniformitarianism

James Hutton continuously modified by geological processes that have always operated throughout time

Shape of the Earth

Oblate Spheroid

Heating

Primordial Heat is the internal heat energy accumulated by dissipation in a planet during its first few million years of evolution. The main contributions to the primordial heat are accretion energy

S-waves

Second eave felt in an earthquake. Only moves through solid rock. This waves moves rock up and down, or side to side.

Nebular Hypothesis

The Big Bang produces enormous amount of matter: rotating cloud go gas and dust Most of the mass became concentrated at the center, forming the SUN The remains matter condensed to form the planets: terrestrial and jovian

Cooling

The denser elements sank while the lighter ones floated out into the surface, creating a differentiated Earth

The expanding universe

The galaxies outside of our own are moving away from us

Mining Geology

combines principles of economic geology and mining engineering to the development of a defined mineral source

Physical Geology

composition, structure, physical properties Deal with the materials that comprise the Earth and the processes that affect it

Geochronology

determine the age of rocks , fossils, and sediments using signatures, inherent in rocks themselves

Paleontology

fossil animals and plants

Cryosphere

frozen water part of the Earth system. Include frozen parts of the ovens such as the waters surrounding Antartica, Arctic

Biosphere

global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere

crust

hard outer layer... made up of different rocks igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks

Environmental Geology

managing geological and hydrogeological resources such as fossil fuels, minerals, water and land use

Historical Geology

origin, history The study of the origin and evolution of the Earth through time

Petrology

origin, small-scale structure and composition of rocks

biota

other forms of life

flora

plant life

The issue of scale

reference for scale Texture: grain sizes of rock

Retrograde rotation

rotate in a westward direction VENUS, Uranus, Neptune

Mineralogy

study of chemistry, crystal structure and physical properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts

Petroleum Geology

study of origin, occurrence, movement, accumulation and exploration of hydrocarbon fuels.

Geochemistry

study of the chemical composition of the Earth and its rocks and minerals

Geomorphology

study of the physical features of the surface of the earth and their relation to its geological structures

Big Bang Theory

the Universe originated from a cosmic explosion that hurled matter in all directions

Atmosphere

the envelope of gases surrounding the earth

Stratigraphy

the order and relative position of strokes and their relationship to the geological time scale- rock layers

Geophysics

the physics of the Earth

lithosphere

the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust , upper mantle

Volcanology

the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena

Rayleigh Waves

travel along the surface of the Earth. The motion is a combination of the longitudinal compression and dilation that results in an elliptical motion of points on the surface. Produces a long wave duration on seismographs

P-waves

travel through a continuum (gases, liquids or solids). The name P-wave can stand for either pressure wave as it is formed from alternating compression and rarefaction. Fastest.

Engineering Geology

application of the geology to engineering study

Accretion

The solar system was a cloud of dust and gas known as a solar nebula... Earth's rocky core formed first, with heavy elements colliding and binding together

Seismology

The study of earthquakes and seismic waves that move through and around the earth

Continental Crust

Thick and old. Sialic Crust ( Silica Aluminum) Orogen: Monuntain Belts Craton: Basement complex or shield Stable Platform

Ocean Basin

Thin and young. Simatic Crust ( Silica Magnesium) Deep Ocean basin: Trenches, Seamounts( mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface), Abyssal Floor Oceanic Ridge System

fauna

animal life

Jovian planets

a large planet composed mostly of gasses such as hydrogen and helium with relatively small rocky core Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Terrestrial planet

a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Love Waves

a result of the interference of many shear waves (S-waves) Surface seismic waves that cause horizontal shifting of the Earth Travel at a lower velocity than P or S waves but is faster than Rayleigh waves

upper mantle

a.k.a. asthenosphere, made up of rock that is fluid and can move. It is this fluid and can move. It is this fluidity that powers the movement of the tectonic plates of the Earth's crust

Anthroposphere

a.k.a. technosphere. part of the environment that is modified by humans for use in human activities and human habits

Planetary Geology

aka astrogeology/exogeology, planetary science concerned with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets and their moons asteroids comets and meteorites

Hydrosphere

all the waters on the earth's surface