Chap 1- Lithosphere Parts:

Lithosphere ➢ Crust- outermost chemical layer, and the layer

humans currently reside on
- solid, outer part of the Earth
- includes the brittle upper portion of the 2 types:
mantle and the crust
o Continental crust- relatively low density
- bounded by the atmosphere above and the
and has a composition similar to granite
asthenosphere (another part of the upper
o Oceanic crust- relatively high density
mantle) below
(especially when it is cold and old) and has
Types of Lithosphere a composition similar to basalt

• Oceanic Lithosphere- land under the water Earthquakes- occur in the upper crust
• Continental Litosphere- land surface
Mohorovičić Discontinuity, or Moho
Tectonic activity- describes the interaction of the
- base of the crust is a substantial change in
huge slabs of lithosphere called tectonic plates
seismic velocity
Lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates including - discovered by Andrija Mohorovičić
the: (pronounced mo-ho-ro-vee-cheech) in 1909
by studying earthquake wave paths in his
➢ North American native Croatia
➢ Caribbean - caused by the dramatic change in
➢ South American composition between the mantle and the
➢ Scotia crust
➢ Antarctic
➢ Eurasian Orogeny- sizeable mountain-building event
➢ Arabian
➢ Mantle
➢ African
- the layer below the crust and above the
➢ Indian
core
➢ Philippine
- most substantial layer by volume, extending
➢ Australian
from the base of the crust to a depth of
➢ Pacific
about 2900 km
➢ Juan de Fuca
➢ Cocos Ophiolites- some direct information can be
➢ Nazca gathered from parts of the ocean floor brought to
the surface
Tectonic Plate Movements:
Xenoliths
• Divergent- moving away from each other;
rip apart - carried within magma; small chunks of lower
• Convergent- one plate dives (subducts) rock carried to the surface by eruptions
beneath the other - made of the rock peridotite
• Transform- horizontal displacement or they
Peridotite- majority of the mantle is made
slide laterally past one another
➢ Core
- which has both liquid and solid components,
is made mainly of iron, nickel, and oxygen
- first discovered in 1906 by looking into
seismic data
- primarily consists of metallic iron
Meteorites- contain much more iron than typical
surface rocks
Pangaea- super continent
Continental Drift- large-scale horizontal
movements of continents
7 Major Plates:

• Pacific Plate
• North American Plate
• Eurasian Plate Sedimentary Rock
• African Plate
- formed when sediments are transformed
• Antarctic Plate
into a solid rock
• Indo-Australian Plate
- 73% of Earth's surface
• South American Plate - may be formed by compaction and
Rocks- relatively hard, naturally occurring mineral cementation
material
Types of Rocks:
Igneous
- latin “ignis” means fire
- formed when hot molten rocks cools and
solidifies

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Minerals
- have also played a significant role in
colonization of foreign lands and trade or
commerce
- can be characterized by color, streak,
hardness, luster, cleavage, and fracture

Metamorphic Rocks
- formed by metamorphism of protolith
through the changes in pressure or
temperature.
- may be formed beneath the Earth surface or
tectonic plates collision
- can be classified as foliated or non-foliated
Diamond- hardest mineral Carbon Cycle:
Talc- least hard • Photosynthesis
• Bioaccumulated into their bodies
Cleavage- and fracture characteristic determines
• Carbon is released back
the way how a mineral brake
• Fossil fuels
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Soil Nitrogen Cycle:
- complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, • Nitrogen Fixation
organic matter, and countless organisms • Nitrification
- forms at the surface of land – it is the “skin • Assimilation
of the earth” • Ammonification
- capable of supporting plant life and is vital • Denitrification
to life on Earth
Phosphorus Cycle:
Five Major Factors Interact to Create Different
Types of Soils: • Erosion of rocks
• Phosphate with their roots
1. Climate
• Food chain
2. Organisms
• Forming into rock
3. Relief (Landscape)
4. Parent Material • Cycle begins
5. Time Weathering- breaking down or dissolving of rocks
Soil Characteristics: and minerals

• Soil Texture
• Soil Structure
• Soil Color
• Soil Profile
Soil Profile:

• O (humus or organic)- organic and thick

• A (topsoil)- minerals; for plants
• E (eluviated)- leached of clay
• B (subsoil)- leached from the A to E
horizons
• C (parent material)- deposit at Earth’s
surface
• R (bedrock)- mass of rock such as granite,
basalt, quartzite, limestone or sandstone
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Biogeochemical Cycle
Water Cycle:

• Evaporation
• Condensation
• Precipitation
• Collection