EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE 1ST QUARTER

THE EARTH’S CRUST IS MADE UP OF TWO THINGS:

ROCKS AND MINERALS
Rock - is an aggregate of one or more minerals.
Minerals - are the building blocks of rocks.
- naturally occurring, inorganic solid with definite chemical composition and orderly crystalline structure.
- Naturally occurring (Not man-made / machine generated)
- Inorganic (not a by product of living things)
- Solid
- With definite chemical composition (NaCl – salt)
- Orderly crystalline structure
- Substances that fulfil all the requirements but do not have a crystalline structure are called MINERALOIDS.
EXAMPLES:
Amethyst, Calcite, Garnet, Galena, Gold, Pyrite, Halite (salt) for food, Graphite (pencil) for writing, Diamond for jewelry
QUESTIONS:
Do you consider water a mineral? No. It is not solid and crystalline.
How about snowflakes? Yes. It possesses all the properties under the definition of a mineral.

PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
1. LUSTER - Describes how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface.
- Metallic (shiny) (Adamantine, Vitreous, Pearly)
- Nonmetallic (glassy, pearly, greasy, dull)
2. COLOR AND STREAK
Color – is the natural, external color of the mineral. EX: Quartz (purple, pink, orange , white)
Streak – color of the mineral in powered form. EX: Pyrite (FeS2) exhibits golden color (fool’s gold) Black or dark gray
streak, STREAK CAN HELP IDENTIFY QUARTZ
3. HARDNESS - Resistance of mineral to abrasion or scratches.
- Mohs Scale of Hardness
4. CLEAVAGE AND FRACTURE - The way the mineral breaks
Cleavage - minerals break along smooth, flat surfaces and every fragment has the same general shape, the way a
mineral break
Fracture - minerals that break at random with rough or jagged edges, not flat
5. CRYSTAL FORM AND CRYSTAL HABIT
Crystal form - is the orderly geometric arrangement or pattern of atoms in the internal structure of a mineral
Crystal habit - is the outward appearance of the mineral’s crystal form
6. SPECIFIC GRAVITY - Describes the mineral’s density in comparison to the density of a standard like water.
Specific gravity= mass of mineral / mass of equal volume of water
Some minerals display strange properties. These can include: Magnetism, fluorescence, reactivity, taste, and odor. The
particles of minerals of this rock act like magnets
SPECIAL PROPERTIES
naturally occurring aggregate of minerals, and certain non-mineral materials such as fossils and glass.

THREE TYPES OF ROCKS

Igneous rocks, Sedimentary rocks, Metamorphic rocks Magma – molten rock beneath the surface of the earth
IGNEOUS ROCKS - Cooling and solidification of magma and lava, Crystallization Lava -surface of the earth
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS - Weathering and erosion (sedimentation), Transportation and deposition, Compaction and
cementation (lithification), play an important
METAMORPHIC ROCKS – Metamorphism alter by heat, pressure, and chemical activity of fluid

THE CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS IS BASED ON TWO CRITERIA:

TEXTURE AND COMPOSITION
TEXTURE - refers to the size, shape, and arrangement of mineral grains and other constituents in a rock.
Two grain sizes in rocks: APHANITIC AND PHANERITIC.
Aphanitic means that the grains are too small to see or identify
Phaneritic means that the grains are big enough to see and identify
COMPOSITION
The mineral composition in rocks is taken as the natural expression of composition. Since the three classes of rocks each
have distinct textures, they also have distinct mineral composition.

EARTH’S SUBSYSTEMS
Planet Earth is divided into different spheres that interact with each other to achieve a common goal, to support life on
the planet.
Earth system - relationship that connects the whole of Earth
FOUR MAJOR SPHERES: Hydrosphere, Atmosphere, Geosphere, Biosphere
These different spheres got their names from Greek words that symbolize what they are made of:
hydro for water, atmos for air, geo for ground, bio for life
Each sphere accounts for a different division of Earth yet all of the spheres are connected, supporting life on earth.

HYDROSPHERE
- Made up of all the water found on Earth --- on its surface, underground, and in air.
- Includes all the rivers, lakes, streams, oceans, groundwater, polar ice caps, glaciers, water vapour, clouds, and
any form of precipitation like rain and snow.
- majority of Earth’s water is found in the oceans, accounting for more than 96% of the total hydrosphere. The
remaining 4% is shared by glaciers, ice caps, and liquid freshwater.
- Water plays a very important role as the main body of all living things.
ATMOSPHERE
- Mixture of gases that surrounds the planet. Thin layer but important part
According to NASA, the gases in Earth’s atmosphere include:
Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), Argon (0.93%), Carbon dioxide (0.04%), Trace amounts of neon, helium, methane,
krypton and hydrogen, as well as water vapor

LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Troposphere
The troposphere starts at the Earth's surface and extends 8 to 14.5 kilometers high (5 to 9 miles). This part of the
atmosphere is the most dense. Almost all weather is in this region.
Stratosphere
The stratosphere starts just above the troposphere and extends to 50 kilometers (31 miles) high. The ozone layer, which
absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation, is in this layer.
Mesosphere
The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53 miles) high. Meteors burn up in this
layer. coldest
Thermosphere
The thermosphere starts just above the mesosphere and extends to 600 kilometers (372 miles) high. Aurora and
satellites occur in this layer.
Ionosphere
The ionosphere is an abundant layer of electrons and ionized atoms and molecules that stretches from about 48
kilometers (30 miles) above the surface to the edge of space at about 965 km (600 mi), overlapping into the mesosphere
and thermosphere. This dynamic region grows and shrinks based on solar conditions and divides further into the sub-
regions: D, E and F; based on what wavelength of solar radiation is absorbed. The ionosphere is a critical link in the chain
of Sun-Earth interactions. This region is what makes radio communications possible.
Exosphere
This is the upper limit of our atmosphere. It extends from the top of the thermosphere up to 10,000 km (6,200 mi).

GEOSPHERE
- Refers to solid Earth.
- Composed of all the rocks, minerals, and soil on Earth.
- Includes not only the mountains, continents, ocean floor, sand in the deserts, and bedrocks but it also includes
Earth’s interior layers.
Earths interior layers: crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
Earth is further subdivided based on how the materials found on its geosphere react with and behave to different
factors and forces in the environment.
LITHOSPHERE
- refers to the solid and rigid outer layer that includes the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.
ASTHENOSPHERE
- below lithosphere which consists of the solid but mobile part of the mantle that can flow depending on the
heat deep within Earth.
BIOSPHERE
- Made up of all the living organisms on the planet.
- These living things are found on the surface, underground, and even those reaching a kilometre above the
surface of the Earth.
- It includes the plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi that thrive on the planet even in the most extreme
environments in the depths and corners of Earth.
INTERNAL GEOLOGIC (ENDOGENIC) PROCESSES
Earth’s processes that occur within or beneath the Earth’s surface that result in reshaping the Earth’s landforms.
HEAT FROM THE EARTH'S INTERIOR
The trapped remnant heat from the formation of the Earth has continuously kept different endogenic processes in
operation.
CONVECTION CURRENTS
- METAMORPHISM
Process when a rock changes its form into a new one without undergoing melting or disintegration. Change in mineral
composition and texture of a rock that is subjected to high temperature and pressure within the Earth.
Metamorphic rocks are produced from pre-existing igneous, sedimentary, or from other metamorphic rocks. Through
metamorphism, the texture and mineral components of rocks change.
THERE ARE TWO MAIN WAYS THAT ROCK CAN GO THROUGH METAMORPHISM
CONTACT METAMORPHISM, REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
CONTACT METAMORPHISM
This happens when rock is heated by nearby magma. As the magma moves through the crust, the rocks in the crust
heat up. The minerals in those rocks can react to produce new minerals.
REGIONAL METAMORPHISM
During regional metamorphism, high pressures and temperatures cause the rock in a large area to change. This
happens where rock is buried deep below the surface or where pieces of the Earth’s crust collide.
STRESS IN THE CRUST
STRESS is a force that causes rocks to change shape or volume by pushing or pulling.
Three types of stress in rocks that happens in a plate boundary: COMPRESSION, TENSION, AND SHEAR
FAULT - is a break or crack in rock that causes it to move
A FAULT HAS TWO PARTS: HANGING WALL, FOOTWALL
HANGING WALL - which is a block of rock above the fault line or above the crack in the rock
FOOTWALL - which is the block of rock below the fault line
COMPRESSION - The type of fault in a compressional stress is a reverse fault.
- In a reverse fault, the hanging wall moves up the footwall.
- This happens when rock is squeezed until it folds or breaks in convergent boundary
TENSION - The type of fault in a tension stress is a normal fault
- In a normal fault, the hanging wall moves down along the fault line
- This happens when the rock is pulled causing it to be stretched in a divergent boundary
SHEAR - It occurs when the forces that push rocks and faults in opposite directions
- Strike slip results when the adjacent blocks of rocks move sideways and not up and down
- This happens when rocks moves sideways until they bends or breaks in a transform boundary
DEFORMATION OF THE CRUST
Deformation is the process by which the crust is deformed along tectonic plate margins
- The process produces a variety of geologic structures such as folds, faults, joints, and foliation
FOLDING
A fold can be defined as bend in rock that is response to compressional force
This occur when rocks are pushed towards each other from opposite sides. Some rocks do not break when under stress.
Instead, the rocks bend or crumple
THE TWO COMMON TYPES OF FOLDS
An ANTICLINE is a convex up fold in rock that resembles an arch like structure with the rock beds (or limbs) dipping away
from the center of the structure
A SYNCLINE is a type of fold where the rock layers are warped downward
FAULTING
Faults form in rocks when the stresses overcome the internal strength of the rock resulting in a fracture
A fault is a break in the rocks that make up the Earth’s crust, along which on either side rocks move pass each other
Faults vary according to types of stress exerted on the rock layers (NORMAL, REVERSE, STRIKE SLIP FAULT)

DIP-SLIP FAULT
The movement of the two blocks is vertical. Examples of dip-slip fault are the normal and reverse faults.
The vertical displacement along this fault may produce long, low cliffs called fault scarps.
NORMAL FAULT - the hanging wall block moves down relative to the foot wall block. FW-up HW-dwn
REVERSE FAULT - the hanging wall moves up relative to the foot wall block. FW-dwn HW-up
GRABEN FAULT - is produced when tensional stresses result in the subsidence of a block of rock.
HORST FAULT - is the development of two reverse faults causing a block of rock to be pushed up.
STRIKE-SLIP FAULT - Strike-slip (Lateral) fault are vertical in nature and are produced where the stresses are exerted
parallel to each other.
TRANSFORM FAULT - is a special kind of strike-slip fault that cuts through the lithosphere and accommodates motion
between two large crustal plates.