EARTH SCIENCE

Clouds
-Water droplet or ice crystals suspended in atmosphere condensation->gas->liquid.

Classification System
1. Cirro - curl of hair
2. Cumulo - heap of hair
3. Strato - layers of clouds
4. Atto - middle part oF clouds
5. Nimbo - producer of rain, with precipitation
process.

Types of Clouds
High clouds
 Height: 55 - 13 km high or 16,000 - 43,000 ft
Cirrus clouds
 Thin and light, color white
Cirro cumulus
 Small rounded puffs, usually appears in long rows-
Cirro stratus
 Thin sheet like cloud
Altro Cumulus
 clouds that forms in group and are about kilometer thiok. (Greyish color, warm humid)
Low Clouds
 hanging from the surface to 2km and surface to
1000 Feet.
Stratus clouds
 Uniform and Flat clouds, produce rain.

Rocks
-A rock is a naturally-occurring, coherent aggregate of minerals or solid materials such as
natural glass or organic matter.
- Greek word lithos meaning
"stone."

Formation of Igneous Rocks

formed from the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The word
"igneous" is derived from the Latin igneus, which means "fiery" or "on fire." Igneous rocks form
at higher temperatures than other types of rocks.

Formation of Sedimentary Rocks

-products of the lithification of particles produced by the weathering of other preexisting rocks.
-derived from the Latin sedentarius, which means "sitting,"

Formation of Metamorphic Rocks

when preexisting or parent rocks (whether igneous, sedimentary, oF even metamorphic are
altered by heat, pressure, and the chemical activity of fluids. These processes are collectively
called metamorphism, meaning "change in form."

Igneous Rocks
Igneous rocks are either crystalline, when they form from cooled magma or lava, or pyroclastic,

Sedimentary Rocks
-Are clastic when they form from the lithification of rock and mineral fragments
-Sedimentary rocks are crystalline when they precipitate out of solution, such as dolomite,
calcite, halite, or gypsum.
-Can also be bioclastic when they are formed from the accumulation of organic material

Metamorphic Rocks
may be foliated when the dominant agent of metamorphism is pressure, or crystalline when the
dominant agent is heat

Minerals
Naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and an ordered internal
structure.

1. Naturally occurring- Minerals Exist naturally

2. Inorganic- minerals are limited to substances
3. Solid- all liquid and gases
4. Definite chemical composition- minerals should express the exact chemical formula with
the elements and compounds in specific ratios.
5. Ordered Internal structure- atoms in minerals are organized in a regular, repetitive
geometric pattern or crystal structure.

Composition of Minerals
1. Silicates- composed primarily of silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons
2. Oxides – metal cations bonded to oxygen anions.
3. Sulfides – metal cation bonded to sulfide
4. Sulfates – metal cation bonded to the anionic group.
5. Halides – composed of halogen ion, such as chlorine or fluorine
6. Carbonates – characterized by the presence of carbonic ion.
7. Native metals – single metal such as copper and gold.

Physical Properties of Minerals

 Crystal Form and Habit
 Cleavage and fracture
 Luster
 Color and Streak
 Hardness
 Density
Ores
-Are naturally occurring materials that can be profitably mined.
-Mineral or rock or metallic or non metallic

Locating Ores
-Unevenly distributed throughout the Earth’s crust.

Mining Ores
-Refers to a set of processes in which useful resources are withdrawn from a stock of any
nonrenewable resource.

Natural Resources
-Ways of which we can prevent or lessen the environmental impact that results from the use,
extraction, and exploitation of mineral resources.

Continental Drift Theory

Continental Drift Theory = Alfred Wegener

Seafloor Spreading = Harry Hammond Hess

PRIMARY PLATES

• Eurasian Plate

• African Plate

• Antarctic Plate

• North American Plate

• Indo-Australian Plate

• South American Plate

• Pacific Plate

SECONDARY PLATES

• Arabian Plate

• Caribbean Plate

• Cocos Plate

• Juan de Fuca Plate

• Indian Plate

• Nazca Plate

• Philippine Sea Plate

• Scotia Plate

7 MAJOR CONTINENTS (From Biggest to Smallest Continent)

1) Asia 44.58 Million km²

2) Africa 30.37 Million km²

3) North America 24.71 Million km²

4) South America 17.84 Million km²

5) Antarctica 13.66 Million km²

6) Europe 10.53 Million km²

7) Australia 8.4 Million km²

Plate Tectonic
Greek term "Tekton" meaning "Carpenters or To Build"

Plate Boundaries

• Convergent Boundary

Also known as the Destructive Boundary.

Plates moving towards each other.

Creating "Trench" when the oceanic crust move towards the continental crust.

Creating "Mountain Belt" when two continental crust moves towards each other.

Subduction is the process when the sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate of
the earth's crust into the mantle beneath another plate creating "Subduction Zone."

• Divergent Boundary

Also known as the Constructive Boundary.

Plates moving away from each other.

Creating "Rift Valleys" once the two plates separates from each other.

• Transform Boundary

Also known as the Conservative Boundary.

Plates sliding past one another.

Creating "Faults" when two plates slide past one another.

Internal Structure of Earth

Oceanic Crust

-Generally younger, thinner, and denser than continental crust. (It is denser)

Continental Crust

-Forms the continents is older, thicker, and less dense than oceanic crust.

Sea floor Spreading

-Magma oozed up from earths interior along mid oceanic ridges and this eventually solidified and
formed a new seafloor.