THE MAN AND EARTH

Course Code: SGES 1301

Semester 2 2013/2014
Week 1
Dr. Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf

THE MAN AND EARTH

Credit: 2
2 hours/week
Medium of Instruction English
Learning Strategy: Lecture plus continuous assessment

THE MAN AND EARTH

Recommended Books
1.

2.

3.

Skinner, B.J. and Porter, S.C. (2000): The Dynamic Earth (4th Ed). John Wiley & Sons
Inc. 575p.
Hamblin, W.K. and Christiansen, E.H. (1998):
Prentice-Hall Inc. 740p.

Earths Dynamic Systems (8th Ed) .

White, I.D., Mottershead, D.N. and Harrison, S.J. (1994):

Environmental Systems (2nd Ed ) 616p.

THE MAN AND EARTH

Teaching Schedule
14 Weeks
Week 1
Introduction to course
Week 2
Man and Environment
Week 3
The Earths Hydrosphere and Man
Week 4
Sources of Water
Week 5
The Earths Atmosphere and Man
Week 6
Contamination of the Atmosphere
Week 7
Contamination of the Atmosphere Contd Continuous Assessment Test 1

THE MAN AND EARTH

Teaching Schedule
Week 8
The Earths Internal Lithosphere and Man
Week 9

Mineral and Metallic Resources

Week 10
The Earths External Lithosphere and Man
Week 11
Weathering, Soils and Contamination Disasters
Week 12
The Earths Biosphere and Man
Week 13
Plant/Forest Management, Wildlife Resources, Biodiversity
Week 14
Natural Disasters and Man
Continuous Assessment Test 2

OUR EARTH... OUR...

History of Earth

Earth and the other planets in the Solar System formed 4.54 billion years
ago.
About 535 million years ago there have been five mass extinctions.
The last extinction event occurred 65 million years ago, when a meteorite
collision probably triggered the extinction of the (non-avian) dinosaurs and
other large reptiles years ago.

The development of photosynthesis allowed the Sun's energy to be harvested

directly by life forms; the resultant oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere
and resulted in a layer of ozone (a form of molecular oxygen [O3]) in the
upper atmosphere

Billions of years ago dust whirling around the

newborn Sun started to pull together forming
lumps of rocks .

These rocks by their mutual gravity

clumped together to form planets .

The atmosphere
containing
poisonous gases
wrapped around
the planet .

It took over a
billion years for
the air to clear .

Today, this is what our solar system looks like..

Graphics in Solar System

Earth:
the third planet.
the fifth largest planet.
the densest planet.
has only one satellite, the Moon.
has distance 149600000 km from the Sun.

Atmosphere of Earth

The atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Earth averages 101.325

kPa, with a scale height of about 8.5 km.
The Earth's atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (77%), oxygen
(21%), argon (.93%), and carbon dioxide (0.03%).
Layers:
hydrosphere

stratosphere
troposphere
biosphere
lithosphere
ionosphere

Composition

Chemical:
34.6% Iron
29.5% Oxygen
15.2% Silicon
12.7% Magnesium
2.4%
Nickel
1.9%
Sulphur
0.05% Titanium

Mass
atmosphere = 0.0000051
oceans = 0.0014
crust = 0.026

mantle = 4.043
outer core = 1.835
inner core = 0.09675

x10^24 kilograms

FACTS ABOUT EARTH

Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from
Greek/Roman mythology.
The Earth is 4.5 to 4.6 billion years old, but the oldest known rocks are
about 4 billion years old.
There is no record of the critical period when life was first getting started.
The oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is produced and maintained by biological
processes.
Earth has a modest magnetic field produced by electric currents in the outer
core

Moon

It is called Luna by the Romans, Selene and Artemis by the Greeks, and
many other names in other mythologies.
It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun
As the Moon orbits around the Earth once per month, the angle between
the Earth, the Moon and the Sun changes
Moon was first visited by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 in 1959
The first landing was on July 20, 1969 and the last was in December
1972
The gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon cause tides.
The Moon's gravitational attraction is stronger on the side of the Earth
nearest to the Moon and weaker on the opposite side
The Moon has no atmosphere
The Moon's crust averages 68 km thick
Most rocks on the surface of the Moon seem to be between 4.6 and 3
billion years old.

Satellites

First artificial satellite launched by Soviet Union is Sputnik-1 in 1957.

Types

Communicational
Observational
Navigational

Weather
Research

Satellites orbits vary depending on purpose of satellite and classified as:-

Low earth orbit

Polar orbit
Geostationary orbit

Mountains

highest mountain in world is Mount Everest(8848m) in Asia.

Tallest mountain in world is Mouna Kea in Hawaii.

Types
Volcanic
Domed

Folded
Plateau
Fault-block

Minerals

Minerals can be classified acc. to chemical composition.

Types of minerals
1. Silicates
2. Carbonate
3. Sulphate
4. Halide
5. Oxide
6. Sulphide
7. Phosphate
8. Element
9. Organic

Rocks

The Earth's lithosphere is made of rock.

Types
Igneous
Metamorphic
Sedimentary

Rocks are classified by mineral and chemical composition

Rocks are used to construct buildings and infrastructure.

The Earth
The Earth is a
truly beautiful
and
fascinating
place.

The Earth is unique because of water and a

variety of living things that can survive here

VEGETATION

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

BIRDS

LIFE UNDER WATER

INSECTS

THE AMAZING SAND DUNES

THE VAST OCEANS

THE MAJESTIC MOUNTAINS

THIS BEAUTIFUL CREATION CALLED

EARTH IS A GIFT TO US..

Sign of life
1. Highly complex organization = all
other characteristics of life emerge
from an organisms complex
organization

2. Self-homeostasis =
Self-maintenance of a steady-state
internal

environment

in

the

variations of external environment.

3. Self-perpetuation
= Life comes only from life.

4. Growth and development = the increment

of volume and changes in structure and
functions to suit with new form of life

5. Interactions = Life needs energy and

matter utilization for maintenance of
life

6. Adaptation = Life evolve as a result

of the interaction between organisms
and their environments

7. Response = Life adjusts itself to the

environment.

The First Humans

Hominids are the family of mankind

and his or her relatives.

65 Million Years Ago

No matter what you may have seen in the
movies, early man did not live during the
same period in history as dinosaurs!

Dinosaurs died out about 65 million years

ago. The first human like hominids did not
appear until around 3 million years ago.

Not that early man had it easy, but he did not have to fight dinosaurs!

3 Million Years Ago

3 million years ago, our planet was teeming
with life!

There were deer, giraffes, hyenas, sheep,

goats, horses, elephants, camels, beavers,
cave lions, ants, termites, woolly mammoths,
saber-toothed tigers, giant sharks, dogs with
huge teeth, and all kinds of birds and plants
and fish.

Very Early Humans

It was during this time that the higher primates, including
apes and early man, first appeared.

There was a difference between apes and man.

Early human-like hominids could stand upright.
Apes could not.
Their hands were different, too. Ape hands
were made for climbing and clinging. Mans
hands were jointed differently, which allowed
them to make and use tools.

Very Early Humans

How do scientists know about an early man
who lived 3 million years ago?

Lucy told them!

Lucy
In 1974, a skeleton was found in Africa. The bones were those of a female,
about 20 years old or so when she died. Scientists named her Lucy. About
3 million years
ago, when Lucy was alive, she was about 4 feet tall and
weighed about 50 pounds. Scientists suspect that she
fell into a lake or river and drowned.

Scientists are like detectives. They can tell a

great deal from a skeleton, whether it's one
year old or 3 million years old!

Handy Man
The Stone Age refers to the materials used to make
man-made tools. In the Stone Age, man made tools
out of stone. Handy Man was one of the first
hominids to use stone tools.

Hunters & Gatherers: The Old Stone Age people were

hunters/gatherers. We know this because scientists have
found fossils and artifacts, which reveal traces of their
life. These people did not plant crops. They gathered wild
fruits, nuts, berries, and vegetables.

Handy Man
These early human-like hominids were taller
and smarter than Lucys people, but they did
not know how to make fire.

When they broke camp, they probably

tried to bring fire with them by carrying lit
branches to use to start a new campfire.

If their branches went out, they did without

fire until they found something burning.

Upright Man
Many years passed. Another group of man was born. Scientists nicknamed
this group Upright Man. Upright Man did know how to make fire.

That changed everything!

People began to cook their food, which helped
to reduce disease. People collected around
the fire each night, to share stories of the
day's hunt and activities, which helped to
develop a spirit of community.

Upright Man
These Stone Age people were about the same size as
modern humans. Their tool-making skills were
considerably improved. Their weapons included stone
axes and knives.

Because Upright Man could make fire, he was free

to move about in search of food. He did not have to
worry about freezing. He made warm clothes from
animal skins. At night, he built a campfire to cook
his food and to stay warm.

Man Leaves Home

About one million years ago, Upright Man began to
slowly leave Africa. These early people began to
populate the world.
They did not need a boat. The Ice Age was here! They
traveled across giant walkways of frozen ice, over
what later would become vast rivers and seas.

Scientists have found artifacts of their tools and

weapons, which help us to understand how they lived,
where they went, and how they got there.

Neanderthals
But scientists had made a mistake!
The bones were bent because
they were part of the skeleton of
an old man suffering from
arthritis! Arthritis is a disease
that bends and cripples bones.

Neanderthals
Still, Neanderthals were different from other species
of early humans. They were tall and smart, and used
caves as their homes. They were great hunters.

Considering how smart they were, and how advanced

for their time, scientists are puzzled that the
Neanderthals were one of the early species of man to
die out. Many species of man died out in these early
days. But why the Neanderthals? It is a history
mystery.

Cro-Magnon Man
Another group of early men stood out during this period.
Scientists nicknamed this group Cro-Magnon man.

Cro-Magnon man lived in Europe.

This group did not live a life of constant struggle for
survival because they worked together to provide
food for their tribe.

Cro-Magnon Man
These Stone Age people learned to cure and store food for the long winter.
They used traps, which allowed them to catch food while they were busy
doing something else. Fisherman used nets woven from vines and
fishhooks.
Some groups built rafts and canoes to catch
bigger fish in deeper waters.
They made clothing and jewelry. They
invented the bow and arrow.

Cave Paintings
Cro-Magnon man did something rather unusual. For some reason, he drew
paintings deep inside dark caves, on cave walls.

His paintings were added to the paintings already

on the cave walls, left by other Cro-Magnon men.

Over time, a cave

might accumulate hundreds of
paintings. Colors used most often
were brown, yellow/tan, dark red,
and coal black.

Cave Paintings
Animals were well drawn and filled in with natural colors to give them even
more shape and substance. They drew stick figures for hunters. They drew
stencils of hands.

Cave Paintings
To reach the deepest part of the cave, where other paintings could be found,
Cro-Magnon man had to crawl through the maze like tunnels of the cave,
holding a spoon-like oil lamp to light his way, while carrying his carefully
prepared paints.

A Mystery
It was quite dangerous. Cro-Magnon man had no idea if he might run into a
cave lion. He might fall into a hole and die.
Why did he do it? Perhaps it was a coming of age ceremony, or perhaps it
served a religious purpose. Maybe it was a sort of, I was here.

There are many

history mysteries.
This is one of them.

The human animal

Leaving a Mark on the World

Have you ever seen very old photographs of the

town or city in which you now live? Has your area
changed? Perhaps there are more buildings or
roads than there were many years ago. Maybe
your town or city has more trees and flowers now
than it had years ago. Humans, like all organisms,
have an effect on their environment.

The Earth

Earth is a kind of island

Limited resources
Nature must sustain the resources
Human populations is growing
The planet is not

The Earth

Demands on
Air
Water
Land
Living things
We must protect these resources
What human activities do you think have an impact on the earths
natural resources?
Hunting and gathering
Agriculture
Industry
Urban development

The Earth

Recent study concluded that human activity uses as

much energy as all of earths other multicellular
species combined
Humans are the most influential in changing the
environments of the planet

The Earth

HUNTING AND GATHERING

Hunting and gathering has been the primary means
of human survival for most of human history
Fished, gathered seeds, fruits, and nuts
Lived in small groups

The Earth

Early man
Built dams
burned grasslands to encourage growth of certain plants
Some scientists hypothesize that humans are responsible for the mass
extinction of
woolly mammoths
giant ground sloths
sabertooth cats
cheetahs
zebras
yaks

Agriculture

Early humans learned how plants grew, which were

edible, and which were good medicines
They began to plant those that were important near
their settlements
11,000 years ago, humans started farming
(Agriculture)

Agriculture

Agriculture spread
With dependable food supply, people started
living in larger settlements towns and cities
Domestication of Animals
Over time, people started keeping herds of
domesticated animals

Agriculture
List 3 reasons people keep animals

Milk, meat, hides, wool, companionship, perform work

Overgrazing changed grasslands ecosystems
eroded soils, large demand on water
Human population grew at an increasing rate.

Green Revolution

Monoculture large fields plowed, and planted

with a single crop year after year
Irrigation, fertilization, and pesticides were relied
on to sustain the crops
Animal and human power was replaced with
machine power
Within 20 years, Mexican farmers increased
production of wheat 10 times

Green Revolution

By 1950s food supply was straining

Green Revolution to increase food supply,
governments and scientists introduced new farming
techniques to increase yields of crops (rice, wheat,
corn)
Relied on new, highly productive strains of crops

Green Revolution

Problems have been introduced by the green

revolution. Can you name a few?
Depletion of water supplies
Pollution of water by pesticides and fertilizers

Industrial growth and Urban

Development

Wastes from manufacturing and energy production

have been poured into the air, water, and soil
Tied to high standard of living that we all enjoy

The question is: How do we control the harmful effects of human activity on the

environment?

Tragedy of the Commons

Resource is something that can be used to take

care of a need
When an environmental resource is owned by
many people, or no one, but no one is responsible
for it, it is called a common resource.

Tragedy of the Commons

The Tragedy of the Commons any resource open

to everyone will eventually be destroyed because
although everyone owns the resource, no one is
responsible for it.
Air, Water shared by many countries, but no one
is responsible.

Tragedy of the Commons

Whaling if some countries attempt to protect

whales, but others continue to hunt whales to
extinction, what will eventually happen?

Concept Map

Human
Activities
that have changed the biosphere include

Hunting and
gathering
may have once caused

Industrial
growth

Agriculture
often relies on the methods of the

Extinctions of
large animals

Green
revolution

Food supply

Pesticide use

have resulted in

High standard
of living

which increased

Monoculture
use

Urban
development

Increased
pollution

Atmospheric CO2 concentration

Etheridge et al. Geophys Res 101: 4115-4128

Northern hemisphere average surface temperature

Mann et al Geophys Res Lett 26(6): 759-762

Atmospheric N2O concentration

Machida et al Geophys Res Lett 22:2921-2925

Atmospheric CH4 concentration

Blunier et al J Geophy Res 20: 2219-2222

Ozone depletion

JD Shanklin British Antarctic Survey

Natural climactic disasters

Tropical rainforest and woodland loss

Richards, the Earth as transformed by human action, Cambridge University Press

Domesticated land

Klein Goldewijk and Batties

Species extinctions

Wilson, the Diversity of Life.

Valuable Ecosystem Services

(Desirable)

Loss of ecosystem services

(Undesirable)

coral dominance

state shift
2

overfishing, coastal
eutrophication

algal dominance

disease,
hurricane

clear water

turbid water

phosphorous accumulation in soil and mud

grassland
fire prevention

flooding, warming,
overexploitation
of predators
good rains, continuous heavy grazing

shrub-bushland

Earths Natural Resources

Exemplify Earth materials that are used as fuel, as a resource for building materials, and as a medium for growing plants

The Earth is rich in natural resources that we use everyday.

These resources are any valuable material of geologic origin
that can be extracted from the earth.
Energy resources:
A major natural resource that all
Americans rely on is petroleum fuel (oil or natural gas).
Petroleum is an earth material that forms within the Earth and
can be burned to produce heat and electricity or made into
gasoline. Other fuels are coal, uranium, and alternative energy
(wind, tidal, solar).
Nonmetallic resources: Another natural resource that is very
important to us is rock. We depend on sandstone, granite and
other types of bedrock formed within and on the Earth to build
our schools, homes, and skyscrapers. We use the mineral
calcite as a main ingredient in cement and red clay to make
bricks. We use sand, gravel gypsum and sulfur in everyday
items. Soil is yet another natural resource that is necessary to
support all plant life on Earth.
Metallic resources: Iron, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc,
gold, silver and many more are considered valuable
resources that are vital for our modern society.

Aluminum

Copper

Common uses of Earths Resources

Common uses of natural resources are everywhere. It is nearly impossible to cease
87
consuming
natural or geologic resources altogether. Here are just a few examples of
things you commonly use, but probably dont think about:
A pencil uses zinc and copper (to make the brass), petroleum
for the eraser, iron (in the machinery to make the pencil),
pigments, clay and graphite. The only renewable resource in
your pencil is the wood!
Your jeans, although they may be almost all cotton, are usually
blended with petroleum-based synthetic fibers to cut down on
shrinking
The zipper on those same jeans is made out of copper and
zinc.

The dye in all your fabrics come from petroleum

Eyeglasses and windows are made of quartz sand and
petroleum
Dental fillings are made of mercury and silver
Videotapes are made of vinyl and iron and chromium

Nonrenewable vs. Renewable Resources

Classify resources as renewable or nonrenewable and explain the implications of their depletion and the importance of
conservation.

Natural resources that can be replaced and reused by nature are termed renewable. Natural
resources that cannot be replaced are termed nonrenewable.

Renewable resources are replaced through natural

processes at a rate that is equal to or greater than the rate
at which they are used, and depletion is usually not a worry.
Some common examples include:
Air (wind)
Fresh water
Soil
Living organisms (trees)
Sunlight

Trees: A renewable resource

Nonrenewable resources are exhaustible and are extracted

faster than the rate at which they formed. Some common
examples are:
Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
Diamonds and other precious gems and minerals
Types of metals and ores
Important: Nonrenewable resources such as these exist
in a fixed amount and can only be replaced by processes
that take millions of years. If they are depleted, they are
depleted for good.

Oil: A nonrenewable resource

Nonrenewable vs. Renewable Resources

Sometimes, however, renewable resources can be depleted if they are used too fast!
Here are a few examples of how this can happen:
If an area undergoes severe deforestation and the
soil erodes quickly, this will deplete the land of fertile
topsoil needed to support plant growth, so trees and
shrubs cannot grow back.
If trees and vegetation are removed without being
replanted, this can have effects on the land, air, and
water. Common effects include runoff and water
quality.
While fresh water is a renewable resource,
in some areas, overpopulation and increased
demand on the water supply, lack of water
conservation practices, and pollution of the
water source can cause water to become
scarce. This is especially a big problem in
cities situated in dry areas. A decrease in water
availability can affect agriculture, farmland,
livestock, and other living organisms (including
humans) in the area.

Ores, Minerals and Fossil Fuels

Summarize the importance of minerals, ores, and fossil fuels as Earth resources on the basis of their physical and chemical
properties

Earths resources have properties that make them important and useful. The two properties are:
1. Physical property: Hardness, luster, color, texture, cleavage, and density (see section on
Minerals)
2. Chemical property: Ability to burn or reactivity to acid.

Three of the most common earth resources that have importance on the basis of these properties
are:

1. Minerals: Natural, solid materials found on Earth that are the building blocks of rocks. Each
has a chemical makeup and set of properties that determine value and use (quartz, sapphires,
talc, gypsum).
2. Ores: Minerals that are mined because they contain useful metals or nonmetals (iron, copper).
3. Fossil Fuels: Natural fuels that come from the remains of living things. Fuel gives off energy
when burned (coal, peat, petroleum).
Introduction:
Problems with our energy sources and supply (i.e. pollution, foreign oil) have become an important
conservational and political topics over the past 25 years. Alternate energy sources such as wind,
water, and solar have been investigated, but only a fraction of the U.S.s energy comes from these
alternate sources.

Fossil Fuels
1. What is a Fossil Fuel?
Because coal, oil, and natural gas form from ancient organic matter, they are called
fossil fuels.
Coal is actually a sedimentary rock that was originally formed from ancient plant matter
through decomposition and millions of years of compaction. Coal, made of carbon, is by
far the most abundant fossil fuel in the world. The eastern and midwestern U.S. have
abundant coal seams that formed during the Pennsylvanian Period (300 ma), when the
region was located close to the equator.
Petroleum: A broad term that includes both crude oil and natural gas. Crude oil is a
thick, black liquid mixture of naturally occurring hydrocarbons (compounds containing
hydrogen and carbon) that forms from the buried remains of marine organisms. Natural
gas forms under similar conditions but is in a gaseous state. These two products form
the bulk of the U.S.s energy consumptions:
Oil

Natural Gas

Coal

Nuclear

Hydroelectric

Biomass

Geothermal, wind,
solar and other

39.4%

23.6%

22.7%

8.3%

2.7%

2.8%

0.5%

The United States energy consumption resources as of 2007

2. How do fossil fuels form?

Although we know that fossil fuels form from the decomposed remains of past life over millions of
years, large amounts of pressure and high temperatures are also necessary. As marine organisms,
called plankton, die and fall to the seafloor, they are covered by sediment. After they are buried
deeply enough, pressure and heat cause the dead plankton to change to oil and gas.
3. How can we find fossil fuel?

There are specific but known conditions that must be met in order to find the oil and gas. Oil and
gas are usually found within a permeable rock such as sandstone. Permeable simply means that
the rock is porous, and liquids or gases can easily flow through it.
A finer grained sedimentary rock, like shale, is relatively impermeable. Fluids cannot easily flow,
but they form good boundaries for trapping gas or oil. These rock boundaries are sometimes called
a roof or trap rock. If a layer of sedimentary rocks is tilted upwards with a shale on top of a
sandstone, the natural gas will rise upward since it is less dense than water, the gas is trapped by
the layer of shale.

Well
Gas

Shale boundary
(roof rock)

Oil
Reservoir
Rock

Extracting Earths Resources: Oil

Once oil or gas is found beneath earths surface by geologists, it
must be extracted. Usually this is done by drilling through the rock to
where the resource is trapped. When the well is completed, oil or gas
can flow into the well and the resources are pumped up to the
surface.
Oil companies drill for oil, and they employ geologists who usually
identify the favorable areas that may have oil or gas. These geologists
include stratigraphers, sedimentologists, and geophysicists. Many
times, however, dry holes are drilled and geologists must move on to
other locations.

Solitary oil rig pumping

beneath the ground
(source: Wikipedia commons)

In 2005, the United States produced an estimated 9 million barrels of crude oil per day and
imported 13.21 million barrels per day from other countries. This oil gets refined into gasoline,
kerosene, heating oil and other products. To keep up with our consumption, oil companies must
constantly look for new sources of petroleum, as well as improve the production of existing wells.

Current Event
The U.S.s dependence on foreign oil, primarily from the Middle East, has
been a major concern for over 3 decades. Politicians have presented the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, home to thousands of migratory
animals and precious woodlands, as a potential source for American oil. If
Congress approves development, it would take 10 years for oil production to
commence. If production were to commence, oil production would peak at
780,000 barrels per day in 19 years and decline to 710,000 barrels per day in
22 years. Currently, the United States consumes about 20 million barrels of oil
per day! Drilling for oil beneath the pristine tundra of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge would do little to ease world oil prices and destroy thousands of
acres of wilderness.

The Arctic national Wildlife

Refuge (source: U.S. fish and
wildlife service)

MESSAGE

SAVE NATURE
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