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Geology Reviewer
Geology Reviewer
Geology Reviewer
Atmosphere: the swirling clouds of the atmosphere • The mantle is heated closer to the core
represent the very thin blanket of air that covers our • Heated mantle material rises upward very slowly
planet. It is not only the air we breathe, but protects us millions of years to move upward
from harmful radiation from the sun. • As it near the earth’s surface, the mantle
material liquefies (due to pressure and
Biosphere: includes all life on Earth - concentrated at the temperature relationships)
surface. Plants and animals don't only respond to their • It also begins to cool, and slowly starts to sink
environment but also exercise a very strong control over back into the core
the other parts of the planet. • This creates a Convection current
Solid Earth: represents the majority of the Earth system.
Most of the Earth lies at inaccessible depths. However, TRANSFER OF HEAT
the solid Earth exerts a strong influence on all other parts • Radiation – The transfer of energy through
(ex. magnetic field). space, such as the transfer of heat from the Sun.
• Conduction – The transfer of heat within a
CRUST (5 – 25 miles thick) material or between two materials that are
touching.
• The surface of Earth.
• Convection – The transfer of heat by the
• The thinnest layer.
movement of currents within a fluid.
• Made of solid rock.
CONVECTION CURRENTS
• Contains all the mountains, rocks, water, soil and
• Density = Mass
land features.
Volume
• Contains the lithosphere, oceanic crust and
• What are Convection Currents???
continental crust.
The process of liquid heating and cooling in
LITHOSPHERE
between the mantle and outer core of the Earth.
• Made from the Crust and Upper Mantle. • When a liquid is heated, the particles spread
• “Litho” means “stone” in Greek. apart. This is due to the fact that their energy is
• This is the layer in which we live because it being converted into kinetic energy (the energy
contains the oceanic and continental crust. of movement). Once these molecules spread
• Oceanic Crust: out, their volume increases causing their density
o Below the ocean to decrease. Therefore, the hot liquid floats to
o Consists of basalt the top and the cooler water, which has
o Very dense decreased in volume and increased in density,
• Continental Crust: sinks to the bottom.
• Forms and contains the large • This process occurs, repeatedly, in the mantle
landmasses due to the heat from the core and mantle.
• Consists of granite • Takes place between the Mantle and the Outer
• Less dense Core.
• The boundary zone between the crust and the • Since the density of the liquid decreased, it
mantle is called the Mohorovicic Discontinuity or floated up, towards the surface.
the “Moho”
• a zone of low velocity transmission of seismic OUTER CORE VS. INNER CORE
waves • Outer Core – only liquid layer!
• It is defined by the distinct change in velocity of o Made up of liquid iron and nickel.
seismological waves as they pass through o This layer creates the Earth’s magnetic
changing densities of rock field.
o Temperatures can reach up to 2,200° C.
• Inner Core
• The center of Earth.
• Made up of scorching-hot iron and
nickel.
• This layer stays solid though due to
intense pressure.
• This layer may also contain oxygen,
sulfur and silicon.
• Temperatures range between 9,000° C
and 13,000° C.
Evidence
What makes the plates move? o Rock goes crunches up to make folded
mountains.
Convection Currents in the mantle move the plates as the
core heats the slowly-flowing asthenosphere (the o Rock goes down “under” at subduction
elastic/plastic-like part of the mantle). zone.
Fault – Breaks in Earth’s crust where rocks have slipped How is the rock broken at Transform Boundaries?
past each other. • Rock is pushed in two opposite directions (or
THREE TYPES OF BOUNDARIES sideways, but no rock is lost)
• A plate boundary where two plates move away What happens next at Transform Boundaries?
from each other. • May cause Earthquakes when the rock snaps
• RIFTING causes SEAFLOOR SPREADING from the pressure.
• TENSION - Rock gets THIN in the middle as it is
pulled apart. This stress is called tension • A famous fault at a Transform Boundary is the
• NORMAL FAULT - happens when the rock SNAPS San Andreas Fault in California.
from the Stress of Tension. Fault is a break in
• STRIKE-SLIP FAULT - happens when the rock is
Earth’s crust Rock drops down as it breaks.
sheared (or “cut”) from the Stress of Shearing
• What happens next at Divergent Boundaries?
• A geologic feature or event may form rift Helpful Hints…
valleys on continents
• Shearing means cutting (“Shears” are like
• Sea-floor spreading in the ocean
scissors)
• Features of Divergent Boundaries
• Mid-ocean ridges • Transform boundaries run like trains going past
• rift valleys each other in different directions & they shake
• fissure volcanoes the ground!
CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES (COMPRESSION)
The Earth is in constant change because of the processes The type of movement or the transportation of the
that takes place on it. These processes include the eroded materials is dependent on the size of it.
movement of water, wind, tectonic plates, and erosion, • TRACTION - The geologic process whereby a
transportation and deposition. current transports larger, heavier rocks by rolling
Among the Earth processes, the erosion, transportation, or sliding them along the bottom.
and deposition are responsible for the movement of • SALTATION - The bouncing of medium sized
weathered rocks material along the river bed
• SUSPENSION - The current carries the small
WEATHERING - The breakdown of rocks at the Earth's materials along with it
surface, by the action of rainwater, extremes of • SOLUTION - Minerals, such as limestone and
temperature, and biological activity. chalk, are dissolved in the water and carried
EROSION - A geological process in which earthen along in the flow, it often cannot be seen.
materials are worn away and transported by natural DEPOSITION
forces such as wind or water.
The setting down of the eroded material. Deposition
Water, air, and even ice are fluids because they tend to begins when erosion stops; deposition is when the
flow from one place to another due to the force of moving particles fall out of the water or wind and
gravity. Of the three, liquid water is the most common settle on a new surface.
agent of erosion because there's so much of it on the
surface of the Earth. CAUSE OF DEPOSITION
PHYSICAL EROSION - The physical properties of rocks are Erosion is the major cause of deposition because
considered such as the smoothness and the size of rock. erosion causes the movement of materials and
deposition is defined as the stopping of materials.
CHEMICAL EROSION - The chemical properties of rocks The cause of transport is the agent of transport such
are changing as they erode. Carbonation is an example of as water, wind, and ice.
chemical erosion because it changes the chemical
composition of limestone. EFFECTS OF DEPOSITION
WIND EROSION - Wind erosion is a natural process that It is responsible for the creation of new landscapes
moves soil from one location to another by wind power. including hills, valleys and coastlines.
WATER EROSION - Water erosion is the removal of soil Though deposition means the end of erosion, it does
by water and transportation of the eroded materials not necessarily mean that the newly settled particles
away from the point of removal. are now safe. Erosion and deposition are continuous
processes. Though the particles have resettled, they
GLACIAL EROSION - Glacial erosion includes the are likely to be picked up another day and moved
loosening of rock, sediment, or soil by glacial processes, somewhere else. This give-and-take process helps
and the entrainment and subsequent transportation of the environment maintain equilibrium.
this material by ice or meltwater.
PROCESSES OF EROSION
TRANSPORTATION
ARTESIAN SYSTEM
• Active Volcanoes - Are ones that have erupted in Hawaiian eruptions are the calmest of the
the past 10,000 years, and that are likely to erupt eruption types. The relative volume of ejected
again. pyroclastic material is less than that of all other eruption
• Dormant Volcanoes - Are ones that have not types. The hallmark of Hawaiian eruptions is steady lava
erupted in the past 10,000 years, but still have fountaining and the production of thin lava flows that
the possibility, though likely. eventually build up into large, broad shield volcanoes.
• Extinct Volcanoes - Are ones which no eruption
Example: Eruption of Kiluea Iki (1959)
has occurred within historic times and future
occurrences are highly improbable.
RUNNING WATER - Running water is the most important Stream erosion occurs with continued water flow along
geologic agent modifying Earth’s land surface. a linear feature. Flowing streams pick up and transport
weathered materials by eroding sediments from their
Waterways erode, transport, and deposit rock and bank.
sediment to produce landforms such as canyons, valleys,
deltas, alluvial fans, and floodplains. 3 MAIN WAYS OF STREAM EROSION
FLOODPLAIN - flat valley floor composed of sediments Rocks susceptible to the chemical weathering process of
deposited by streams solution can be dissolved by acidic water of a stream.
DRAINAGE PATTERN
Suspended The fine-grained sediment that
• A pattern created by stream erosion over time
remains in water during
that reveals characteristic of the kind of rocks Load transportation.
and geologic structures in a landscape’s region
drained by streams
ADVANTAGE
• Groundwater recharge
• Biological productivity
• Recreational opportunities
DISADVANTAGES
INFORMATION TO KNOW IN A :
LAKE
SEACOAST
➔ landslide potential
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ICE Glacial budget - describes how ice accumulates and
While most substances decrease in volume when melts on a glacier which ultimately determines whether
changing from the liquid state to the solid state, the a glacier advances or retreats.
property of water is that it is less dense in the solid state The balance of accumulating ice (zone of accumulation)
than in the liquid state. This implies that ice is lighter than is weighed against melting ice (zone of melting or zone of
an equivalent quantity of liquid water, therefore ice ablation), and whichever is greater determines whether
floats on water. the glacier will advance or retreat.
When water freezes its volume increases, in nature, this Zone of accumulation – The region near the head of the
process is very important : the pressure of water freezing glacier where snow is converted to firn and then ice. Here
inside small cracks in a rock can be so great that the rock the rate of annual snowfall is greater than the rate of
breaks into small fragments. This process, called melting.
cryoclastic weathering (from Greek cryo, kryos : cold and In other words, not all of the snow that falls each winter
clast, klastos : broken). It is responsible for mechanical melts during the following summer, and the ice surface
weathering of rocks in the high mountains, and produces is always covered with snow.
large stretches of sharp debris, which are a characteristic Zone of ablation – this is where ice is lost by melting,
feature in mountain landscapes. evaporation or calving. More ice melts than accumulates
as snow during the year
ICE, MINERAL OR NOT Equilibrium line
(A mineral is defined as a naturally occurring, The equilibrium line (or snowline, also called the firnline)
homogeneous solid, inorganically formed, with a definite marks the boundary between the zones of accumulation
chemical composition (or range of compositions), and an and ablation.
ordered atomic arrangement)
Ice is a naturally occurring compound with a defined TYPES OF GLACIERS
chemical formula and crystal structure, thus making it a There are two general types of glaciers – alpine glaciers
legitimate mineral. Its only limitation, in comparison to and ice sheets.
all other minerals, is that it is not stable at room Alpine glaciers form in mountainous areas either at high
temperature. elevations or near cool and wet coastal areas
(but not all ice is mineral, for example, the ice that you 1. Cirque - Cirque glaciers are named for the
find in ice cubes in your drink is technically not a mineral bowl-like hollows they occupy, which are called
since minerals must be naturally occurring.) cirques. Typically, they are found high on
mountainsides and tend to be wide rather than
GLACIERS long.
2. Valley - Commonly originating from mountain
Glaciers are made up of fallen snow that, over many glaciers or icefields, these glaciers spill down
years, compresses into large, thickened ice masses. valleys, looking much like giant tongues. Valley
Glaciers form when snow remains in one location long glaciers may be very long, often flowing down
enough to transform into ice. beyond the snow line, sometimes reaching sea
(Snow and glacial ice have a fair amount of void space level.
(porosity) that traps air. As the snow settles, compacts, 3. Ice Caps – an ice mass that covers less than
and bonds with underlying snow, the amount of void 50,000 km2 of land. They are domes that spread
space diminishes. When the snow gets buried by more in all directions. Ice caps form primarily in polar
snow, it compacts into granular firn (or névé) with less and sub-polar regions that are relatively flat and
air and it begins to resemble ice more than snow. high in elevation.
Continual burial, compression, and recrystallization 4. Piedmont - occur when steep valley glaciers
make the firn more dense and ice like. Eventually, the spill into relatively flat plains and merge at the
accumulated snow turns fully to ice.) base of mountains, where they spread out into
What makes glaciers unique is their ability to move. As bulb-like lobes.
the ice accumulates, it begins to flow downward under 5. Tidewater - Tidewater glaciers are valley
its own weight. Since ice melts under pressure, the ice at glaciers that flow all the way down to the ocean.
the base of typical glacier is actually melting causing it to
slide down. This whole process is taking place at what we
Continental glaciers are thick accumulations of ice that End moraine- A type of recessional moraine that
occupy a large geographical area. The main ice sheets on forms at the terminus of a glacier during glacial
the earth today are located on Greenland and Antarctica. recession as debris piles up long the front of the
Antartica holds the largest chunk of ice on Earth, its ice. They tend to be crescent shaped.
western portion alone contains enough ice to raise the Terminal moraine- Special type of end moraine
sea level by more than 3 meters that marks the farthest extent of the glacier.
Recessional moraine- Deposits produced as
glaciers recede during melting
GLACIAL LANDFORMS Outwash plain – region in front of a melting
Glaciers are moving bodies of ice that can change glacier; typically, has braided streams
entire landscapes. They sculpt mountains, carve valleys, ICE AGE GLACIATION
and move vast quantities of rock and sediment. A glaciation (or ice age) occurs when the Earth’s climate
Landforms created by the action of glaciers are called is cold enough that large ice sheets grow on continents.
Glacial Landforms There have been four major, well documented
Aretes glaciations in Earth’s history: one during the Archean-
a thin, crest of rock left after two adjacent early Proterozoic (~2.5 billion years ago), another in late
glaciers have worn a steep ridge into the rock Proterozoic (~700 million years ago), another in the
Horn Pennsylvanian (323 to 300 million years ago), and the
results when glaciers erode three or more most recent Pliocene-Quaternary glaciation
arêtes, usually forming a sharp-edged peak
Cirques CAUSES OF GLACIATIONS
concave, circular basins carved by the base of a Cycles in the rotational axis of the Earth and in
glacier as it erodes the landscape. Earth-Sun relations due to variations in the
Glacial Erratic earth’s orbit called Milankovitch Cycles.
Glaciers can pick up chunks of rocks and Milankovitch Cycles are three orbital changes
transport them over long distances. that affects the angle at which sun’s energy
strikes the surface of the earth
GLACIAL EROSION Precession - Wobbling of Earth’s axis (with a
Plucking - Glacial Erosion Meltwater at the base span of 21,000 years)
of a glacier may work its way into cracks and Obliquity – angle of Earth’s axis (with a span of
freeze. Pieces of bedrock may be worked loose 41,000 years)
and picked up by the moving glacier in a process Eccentricity – variations of the distance from the
is called plucking. sun in Earth’s orbit around the sun
Abrasion - Rocks carried along at the base of the
glacier may grind and polish the bedrock
Glacial Flour – Silty powder that develops as
glaciers ground down rocks and pebbles under
them
Glacial Striation – grooves and striations caused
by rock fragments along with the moving glacier.
GLACIAL DEPOSITS
Glaciers pick up rock fragments from the underlying
bedrock and from the valley walls. Glaciers carry the
debris without tumbling or sorting. The deposited debris
is called glacial till (angular, poorly sorted, and
unlayered). When till becomes lithified, it is called tillite.
Moraine
-An elongate deposit of glacial hill. material left behind
by a moving glacier. This material is usually soil and rock.
Just as rivers carry along all sorts of debris and silt that
eventually builds up to form deltas, glaciers transport all
sorts of dirt and boulders that build up to form moraines.