Origin of the Solar System

-big bang
-universe started in hot tiny space, expanded as result of BB
-continuing to expand from big bang
-came up with theory by studying properties of light
-red shift
-cosmic microwave background
-red shift
-hubble created hubble law
-by looking at light from starts, was able to correlate distance of
star from earth and what stars were made of
-able to create spectrum of light from stars
-light of stars like Doppler effect
-farther away caused light to turn red red shift
-moving towards blue shift, light turned blue
-fratehr away the star, faster away star is moving implies
universe expanding
-hubble law recession speed = Ho x distance
-could find age of universe by finding distance of stars
-since universe was originally in tiny space
-supports age of 13.5 Ga for universe, expanding for 13.5 Ga
-light shifted red from further galaxies
-cosmic microwave background (CMB)
-recombination, 380,000 years after BB
-universe cooled enough to allow protons and electrons to form
atoms
-evidence CMB
-scientists discovered ambient radiation in universe
-radiation was everywhere
-photons leftover from 380k ABB still bouncing around
everywhere-CMB
-Penzias and Wilson built horn antenna discovered CMB
-afterglow of big bang
-released a glow of photons
-supports an age of 13.7 Ga for universe and supports red shift
calculations
-temp differs in photon field by only about .0002 kelvin
-photons still bouncing around universe did not come from
specific source like stars
-cosmic dark ages 380k and 200 mil years ABB
-no new light in universe
-time of reionization
-200mm yrs ABB
-mass locally condense to form stars
-known as time of reionization relighting
-first galaxies 1 Ga ABB

-our solar system forms 8.4 Ga ABB

-origin of our solar system
-star formed earlier explodes
-creates big ball of matter
-forms nebula
-solar nebula condenses from past star
-rotates in disc shape to create solar system
-evidence excess of heavy elements elements wit higher
atomic weight
-heavier elements only forms when supernova occur
-most abundant elements = lighter elements formed
during BB
-many stars made of lighter elements
-presence of heavy elements in solar system = formed from
supernova
-inner planets mercury, venus, earth, mars
-outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, pluto
-age of our solar system
-meteorites date to 4.53 to 4.58 Ga
-leftover bits from time of solar system formation
-formation of planets
-gas and dust spinning around, smacking into each other and
growing
-turns into solar system of sun and planets
-asteroid belt = leftovers from collisions
-formation of the earth
-condense out of solar nebula
-material left over after the formation of the sun
-grew via accretion/condensation
-age of earth
-earth dated indirectly: 4.5 Ga
-from meteorites
-moon
-variety of ages, oldest are between 4.4 and 4.5 Ga
-no rocks from original earth, so used asteroids/moon
-differentiation of earths core
-at first homogenous, no layers/core
-however, a lot of iron on Earth
-heavier and denser sank to bottom
-less dense material rose and formed mantle and crust
-asteroids hit earth as well and could have heated up and
melted earths surface
-led to layered earth today
-differentiation of Earths core
-crust, mantle, liquid outer core, solid iron inner core
-at first elements scattered randomly

-rotation caused elements to sort themselves

-heavy elements at core, next heaviest at mid, lightest at
surface
-formation of moon
-glancing blow by a mars size object (theia) hits earth
-collision melts surface/mantles of both bodies
-hit earth at angle and put earth on tilt and caused earth to
spin more
-collision did not melt cores
-debirs from collision eventually forms moon
-rotation of earth captures debris
-great bombardment early earth/moon affected by constant rain of
impactors
-surface of moon filled with craters
-continued until earth cleaned up neighborhood by
gravitational rotation
-Hadean Eon
-from origin of earth to the oldest rocks
-term coined by preston cloud
-no rocks remain from this eon
-magma ocean, very volcanic
-eventually magma ocean cooled to form a layer of basaltic crust
-earths initial crust was likely re-melted several ties due to
impacts with large asteroids
-stable liquid water
-eventually earth cooled enough to support liquid water
-mineral evidence suggests ~4.4 Ga
-tentative
-oldest sediments 3.8 Ga
-for sure
-consequences need H2O for life
-End of Hadeon Oldest Rocks ~4 Ga
- Acasta Gneiss, Isua, Greenstone belt
History of Continents
Archean Eon
-Starts with oldest rocks on earth and ends with emergence of
continents
Oldest Rocks
Acasta Gneiss (currently) 4.03 Ga
Near Great Slave Lake, Canada
-pillow basalts
-significance presence of water 3.8 Ga

-Archean rocks different from modern rocks

-ultramafic lava komatiites
-1600 degrees C to erupt
-proto continents
-granite/gneiss terranes and greenstone belts
-granite formed from differentiation of mafic/ultramafic
minerals
-gneiss after formation, many granites went through
metamorphism
-high heat flow
-Greenstone belt sequence
-ultramafic lavas and mafic lavas on bottom w/ some pillow
basalts
-felsic lavas + sedimentary rocks on top
-Archean Observations
-greenstone belts sandwiched between granite/gneiss terranes
-no large continents
-weird rock types ultramafic lava
-Archean tectonics
-proto continents bumping into each other combining/rifting
-greenstone belts likely former rift zones-metamorphosed
volcanic rocks
-high heat flow vs today too hot for regular plate tectonics
ultramafic lavas
-cratons very ancient, now stable part of continental crust
-archean granite/greenstone coalesced to form stable core of
todays
continents
-Archean Proterozoic boundary
-theoretical global emergence of continents large scale
creation of continental crust
-cratonization not synchronous around the world 2.5 Ga
-i.e. South Africa (older craton) vs North America (newer
craton)
-south Africa oldest craton kaapvaal craton (size of Madagascar)
-marine Pongola supergroup
-North America one of the younger cratons
-Witwatersrand Basin first land
-McLennan and Taylor most accepted continental growth summary
-Tectonics in the Proterozoic
-Wopmay Canada (~2.0 Ga) rifted continent
-Jormua Complex, Finland (1.96 Ga)
-normal plate tectonics operating by 2.0 Ga
-Wopmay significance
-rifting of a continent
-opening of ocean basin

-forming a passive margin

-Jormua Significance
-oldest complete ophiolite (ocean crust cross section)
-proterozoic crust similar to todays
Post Archean Growth of N. America
-series of larger continental masses sutured to original Archean
N. America
Grenville Orogenic Belt
-can be traced all over world
-implications assembly of a super continent Rodinia
-orogeny mountain building event
History of the Atmosphere
-Atmosphere slowly developed
-two major hypothesis:
1) comet impacts during great bombardment comets
very gassy
2) degassing from volcanic eruption most widely
accepted theory
-gas from volcanos found in atmosphere
-largely water, CO2, SO2
-no water in modern atmosphere
-Where did water go?
-most water condensed on surface of earth ocean/lakes
-evaporation from ocean clouds, rain, snow, etc
-Earth Goldilocks zone
-far enough from sun for H2O to condense into water
-close enough to sun for H2O not to freeze
-most of time ice ages
-Venus
-closer to sun water vapor does not condense, no
oceans/rainfall
-CO2 does not dissolve, a lot of CO2 in atmosphere
-runaway greenhouse effect 900 degrees F, 484 degrees C
-volcanoes continually adding gas to venus
-Mars
-further from the sun colder, possibly had water on surface
-ice forms on planet once a year
-smaller than earth
-most of atmosphere escaped into space less gravity
-Where does CO2 go?
-most dissolves into ocean
-most CO2 in deep oceans
-fossil fuels and vegetables store a lot of CO2
-only small amount of CO2 goes into atmosphere
-Where did N2 come from?

-volcanic outgassing
-N2 does not react, therefore builds up overtime like a steady
drip
-Where did O2 come from?
-photosynthesis waste product of photosynthesis
-Studying Ancient Atmosphere
-cannot sample past air directly need proxies to study past air
-proxy a measurable quantity that substitutes for
something no longer measurable
-constraints on atm O2 over time
-no O2 in atmosphere until photosynthesis
-3 main proxies
-Red beds, UO2 uranium dioxide, BIFs Banded Iron
Formations
-Iron good proxy for oxygen
-dissolves in water in absence of oxygen Fe2+
-forms a solid when oxidized rust, Fe3+
-Red Beds red due to presence of iron oxide oxygen when
sediments deposited
-No red beds before 2.2 Ga, no O2 in atm before this
-Fe-rich minerals in Paleosols (ancient soil horizons)
not oxidized
-formed on land, need air in soil doesn't occur
underwater
-Uranite (UO2)
-very sensitive to oxidation, disappears when exposed to
O2
-doesn't exist in normal environments today
-forms clasts in sandstones before, but not after 2.45 Ga
-if found in stream no oxygen when deposited
-Banded Iron Formations
-Laminated (layered)
-Alternating Fe rich (red) and Fe poor (white) formations
-found in ocean basins
-chemical sed rock
-Fe in water cobines with O2 in water to form rust,
then deposited
-oldest BIF 3.2 Ga but after certain point, stopped
forming
-O2 combines with Fe in ocean and oxidized all
Fe in ocean no more BIFs
-Evidence for oxygen post-1.9 Ga
-redbeds
-Paleosols (ancient soil) heavily oxidized like today
-iron weathered from Fe rich minerals turned to rust
right away

-no more BIFs/detrital UO2

-Faint young sun paradox Carl Sagan
-stars increase in brightness over time
-sun 30% less bright in archean
-thus earth should have been frozen
-geologic evidence contradicts this paradox
-greenhouse gasses more abundant in archean vs today
-esp methane and CO2
-why? O2 lower allows stronger methane GH effect
History of North America
-Rodinia starts to split ~750 Ma
-East Coast Perspective
-Precambrian
-rifting
-Ediacaran Ordovician
-passive margin
-ordovician-permian
-slam, quit, slam, quiet, SLAM!
-coal
-Triassic-Jurassic
-rifting
-Jurassic-Present (passive margin)
-cambrian (~500 Ma)
-continent flooded by a lot of water
-passive margin still present
-tectonic quiet time
-epicontinental sea forms on east coast
-ordivician (~450 Ma)
-America submerged under epicontinental sea
-taconic arc (chain of volcanoes) collides with passive margin
-forms Taconic orogeny (mountains)
-global perspective gondwana assembled
-Australia, Antarctica, Africa, India, S. America
-near south pole Glaciation
-Silurian(~420 Ma)
-tectonic quiet time
-not as much flooding
-reefs form a lot of limestone from reef organisms
-Devonian (~360 Ma)
-Baltica hits from north, Avalonia hits from south, hits Lorentia
(NA)
-Acadian-Caledonian orogeny
-Great Britain clastic wedge from caledonian orogeny
-New york Clastic wedge from Acadian Orogeny
-Caledonian = Acadian
-more flooding towards late Devonian

-Carboniferous (290 Ma)

-tectonic quiet time
-coal swamps carbon rich sed rock, coal = carbon =
carboniferous
-during late carboniferous africa smashes into NA forming
appalacian mountains
-Permian (251 Ma)
-Africa swings around and forms Ouachita Mountains to south of
Appalacian
-no more sea between NA and Africa
-africa sutured to NA
-Allegheny orogeny (appalacians) formed, pangea
assembled
-once as high as Himalayas, roots of mountains all that's
left
-Pangea formed
-Triassic (206 Ma)
-Pangea split apart
-rifting of pangea at NA
-convection cell forming below
-water begins to creep in dries and forms evaporate (dried
salt)
-evaporate = proof of rifting
-Jurassic (142 Ma)
-splitting of Pangea continues
-NA and EU pulled apart, forms passive margin and Atlantic
Ocean
-Cretacious (65 Ma)
-More splitting
-NA and EU split further apart and form atlantic towards the
north
-north America flooded with water
-Paleogene
-north America and Europe rifting farther apart
-Neogene
-continental ice sheets
-today continental ice sheet mostly melted only left in
Greenland
West Coast Perspective
-passive margin until devonian
-nearly continuous collision from Devonian-Miocene
-strike slip tectonics (San Andreas) until present day
-Cambrian
-passive margin

-spring mountains formed

-Ordovician
-flooded limestone
-Slurian
-flooding drains off
-klamath island arc forms
-Devonian
-island arc moves into and smashes into NA, forms thrust fault
-forms antler orogeny, late Devonian carboniferous
-cordilleran orogeny continuum of subduction, rather than distinct
mountain building events
-key times given names: sonoman, Nevadan, sevier, laramide
-carboniferous
-a lot of flooding
-Permian
-sonomia docks into NA forms sonoma orogeny (L.
Permian/Early Triassic)
-microplate composes much of present day northern
Nevada, northern California and southeast Oregon
-Triassic
-sonomia orogeny
-Jurassic
-ocean crust subducts, creating volcanoes and forming Nevadan
orogeny
-late Jurassic early crustaceous
-ocean crust melts creating volcanoes around Oregon/WA
-steep angle
Crestacious
-sea forms through NA to Colorado sundance sea
-forms crestaceous interior seaway gone by end of crestaceous
-Sevier orogeny (early to late crestaceous)
-eastward migration of igneous activity, metamorphic
belts, and fold and thrust belts
-formed volcanoes in Idaho
-paleogene
-laramide orogeny
-late crestaceous to Eocene continued compressional
tectonics
-thick skinned thrusting
-farallon plate subducting under NA
-Neogene
-farallon ridge system reaches subduction zone ~20 Ma or so
-compressional tectonics replaced by strike slip/oblique
tectonics
-San Andreas fault system begins
-San Andreas Fault

-right lateral strike slip faul

-subduction of farallon plate caused transform boundary between
pacific plate and north American plate
History of Climate
-weather state of the atmosphere at given time
-highly variable due to chaotic nature of atmosphere over short
timescales
-chaotic nature makes weather hard to predict more than a few
days
-climate average weather
-temperature, precipitation, and wind averaged over time period
-typically 30 years
-different climates tropical, dry, moderate, continental, polar
-What keeps the earth warm?
-energy in solar evolution
-very long term
-green house the atmosphere
-insolation the energy that reaches the earth
-energy out lost to space
-Greenhouse effect
-methane, CO2, water vapor
-traps heat (infra red) in atmosphere
-analogy based on how heat is trapped, not on actual
process
-insolation energy that reaches the earth
-depends on earths orbit
-eccentricity, obliquity (tilt), precession
-eccentricity orbit
-alternates between circular/elliptical orbit about every 100,000
years
-olbiquity (tilt)
-cycle every 41k years
-minimum tilt 22.5 degrees, today 23.5, max 24.5 degrees
-precession (wobbles)
-points to north star (now) and vega
-cycle every 20,000 years
History of Climate when it got cold
-ice expanding and contracting
-usually earth does not have a lot of ice on surface
-before today, last time with ice 240 Ma
-currently going down into cold phase
-use proxy to determine earths temperature in the past
-oxygen isotopes use to determine past temperatures
-isotopes elements with same # of protons, but different # of
neutrons

-16O vs 18O
-isotop fractionation
-more neutrons=heavier
-chemical reactions discriminate between heavier/lighter isotops
because of their mass fractionation
-oxygen isotopes two important isotopes
-16O and 18O
-99.8% 16O and .2% 18O
-oxygen isotopes fractionated by evaporation
-16O evaporated preferentially said to be lighter
-18O is left behind in seawater said to get heavier
-oxygen isotopes and ice ages
-when climate is cold, more water is tied up in glaciers
-glaciers store 16O on land lighter so evaporates and
comes back as snow
-18O/16O ratio in ocean goes up
-sea level falls
-when climate is warm, more water is in ocean
-glaciers melt/release stored 16O
-18O/16O ratio goes down
-sea level rises
-glaciers like a bank for 16O
-stored during ice ages (18O/16O) goes up
-released during warm times (ocean returns to normal,
18O/16O goes down)
-eocene optimum ice free earth
-shells as proxies, from ocean cores
-shells are CaCO3
-CaCO3 contains oxygen that came from the water
-measure shells to get 18O/16O ratio from past oceans
-can also look at ice cores in glaciers
-ice preserves bubbles of prehistoric air from when snow
was deposited
-can figure out composition of earths atm at that
time
-glaciers like sed rock, except with ice and snow has
layers
-Plio-Pleistocene Ice Age Land vs Sea record
-evidence on land 3 glacial stages Wisconsin stage, illinoian
stage, pre-illinoian stage
-not whole story
-land record is self destructive glaciers pushses
rocks destroying previous evidence
-could be something from previous ice sheet and new
one comes and destroys it
-evidence in the ocean: many more, more trustworthy one

-sediments accumulate on bottom floor, nothing to self

destruct it
-glaciers create moraines rocks carried by glaciers
-however, subsequent glaciers create more moraines,
destroying previous evidence
-what caused the ice age?
-changes in ocean circulation
-changes in atmospheric composition methane, CO2
-plate tectonics
-position of continents can affect ocean currents creating
insolation that keeps ice
-circumpolar current keeps warm currents out of
Antarctica causing ice to stay (middle Eocene early
Oligocene)
-ice ages relatively rare, warm/hot times much more common
-is climate change real?
-proxy leaf stomata where CO2 enters and O2 exits
-high atmospheric CO2 fewer stomata leaf doesn't want as
much high global temp
-low atm CO2 more stomata needs more stomata for CO2
lower temp
-stomata preserved in plant leaf fossils
-can know atm CO2 by counting amount of stomata
-when was the last time CO2 levels were near 500ppm (ice free
point)?
-last time = Oligocene (25 Ma)
-oligocene 2-4 C warmer
-sea level 20m higher
-when was the last time CO2 levels were near 1000ppm?
-eocene
-ice free even in Antarctic
-6-8 C warmer, sea level 60+ meters
-source vs sink
-photosynthesis co2 + water sugar + O2