Earth Science, 13e

1
Earth Science, 13e

• Tarbuck Lutgens

2
Introduction to Earth ScienceEarth Science,
13eChapter 1

• Stanley C. Hatfield
• Southwestern Illinois College

3
Warm up

• List your 4 vocabulary words with definitions.

4
Earth Science

• Encompasses all sciences that seek to understand
• Earth
• Earths neighbors in space
• Earth Science includes
• Geology literally the study of Earth
• Oceanography a study of the ocean

5
Earth Science

• Earth Science includes
• Meteorology the study of the atmosphere and the
  processes that produce weather
• Astronomy the study of the universe

6
People and the environment

• Environment
• Surrounds and influences organisms
• Physical environment encompasses water, air,
  soil, and rock
• Term environmental is usually reserved for
  those aspects that focus on the relationships
  between people and the natural environment

7
People and the environment

• Resources
• An important focus of the Earth sciences
• Includes water, soil, minerals, and energy
• Two broad categories
• Renewable can be replenished (examples include
  plants and energy from water and wind)
• Nonrenewable metals (examples include metals
  and fuels)

8
People and the environment

• Population
• Population of the planet is growing rapidly
• Rate of mineral and energy usage has climbed more
  rapidly than the overall growth of population
• Environmental problems
• Local, regional, and global

9
People and the environment

• Environmental problems
• Human-induced and accentuated
• Urban air pollution
• Acid rain
• Ozone depletion
• Global warming
• Natural hazards
• Earthquakes
• Landslides

10
People and the environment

• Environmental problems
• Natural hazards continued
• Floods
• Hurricanes
• World population pressures

11
Scientific inquiry

• Science assumes the natural world is
• Consistent
• Predictable
• Goal of science
• To discover patterns in nature
• To use the knowledge to predict

12
Scientific inquiry

• An idea can become a
• Hypothesis (tentative or untested explanation)
• Theory (tested and confirmed hypothesis)
• Paradigm (a theory that explains a large number
  of interrelated aspects of the natural world)
• Scientific method
• Gather facts through observation
• Formulate hypotheses and theories

13
Scientific inquiry

• Scientific knowledge is gained through
• Following systematic steps
• Collecting facts
• Developing a hypothesis
• Conduct experiments
• Re-examine the hypothesis and accept, modify, or
  reject
• Theories that withstand examination
• Totally unexpected occurrences

14
Early evolution of Earth

• Origin of Earth
• Most researchers believe that Earth and the other
  planets formed at essentially the same time
• Nebular hypothesis
• Solar system evolved from an enormous rotating
  cloud called the solar nebula
• Nebula was composed mostly of hydrogen and helium

15
Early evolution of Earth

• Origin of Earth
• Nebular hypothesis continued
• About 5 billion years ago the nebula began to
  contract
• Assumes a flat, disk shape with the protosun
  (pre-Sun) at the center
• Inner planets begin to form from metallic and
  rocky clumps
• Larger outer planets began forming from fragments
  with a high percentage of ices

16
The Nebular hypothesis
17
Early evolution of Earth

• Formation of Earths layered structure
• As Earth formed, the decay of radioactive
  elements and heat from high-velocity impacts
  caused the temperature to increase
• Iron and nickel began to melt and sink toward the
  center
• Lighter rocky components floated outward, toward
  the surface
• Gaseous material escaped from Earths interior to
  produce the primitive atmosphere

18
Earths Spheres

• Hydrosphere
• Ocean the most prominent feature of the
  hydrosphere
• Nearly 71 percent of Earths surface
• About 97 percent of Earths water
• Also includes fresh water found in streams,
  lakes, and glaciers, as well as that found
  underground

19
Earths Spheres

• Atmosphere
• Thin, tenuous blanket of air
• One half lies below 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles)
• Biosphere
• Includes all life
• Concentrated near the surface in a zone that
  extends from the ocean floor upward for several
  kilometers into the atmosphere

20
Earths Spheres

• Solid Earth
• Based on compositional differences, it consists
  of the crust, mantle, and core
• Divisions of the outer portion are based on how
  materials behave
• Lithosphere rigid outer layer
• Divisions of Earths surface continents and
  ocean basins

21
Earths layered structure
22
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
• System any size group of interacting parts that
  form a complex whole

23
Earth system science

• System
• Closed systems are self-contained (e.g., an
  automobile cooling system)
• Open systems both energy and matter flow into
  and out of the system (e.g., a river system)

24
Earth system science

• Feedback mechanisms
• Negative-feedback mechanisms resist change and
  stabilize the system
• Positive-feedback mechanisms enhance the system
• Earth as a system
• Consists of a nearly endless array of subsystems
  (e.g., hydrologic cycle, rock cycle)

25
Earth system science

• Earth as a system
• Sources of energy
• Sun drives external processes such as weather,
  ocean circulation and erosional processes
• Earths interior drives internal processes
  including volcanoes, earthquakes and mountain
  building
• Humans are part of the Earth system

26
Create a visual that includes and
incorporatesthe nebular hypothesis and the
Earths SpheresDescribe the steps of the
Nebular HypothesisDescribe each sphere
27
Warm up 8/28/13

• Finish your poster!
• Name the four spheres
• Explain each sphere

28
Warm up

• Name the four spheres
• Explain each sphere
• Get out your scavenger hunt