1. Geology of Hawaiian Islands
GG 103
Geology of Hawaiian Islands
GG 103 Aloha and Welcome to
Geology of the Hawaiian Islands
Nasir Gazdar, PhD, MPH
1. Course Website:
//www2.hawaii.edu/~nasir
2. Announcements, Lecture notes and Study Guide Files, Extra credit, Geology Events at
//myuhportal.hawaii.edu at GG 103 Course Site
3. Hawaii Atlas, Plate Tectonics,
Geology Text, CDs, DVDs at
The Library Reserve GG 103
4. for any help. Mahalo for excellence.
//www2.hawaii.edu/~nasir

2. Extra credit – to be announced in the class - may be emailed
GG 103 Exams and Grading
Grade A B C D
1st term exam 150 points
Midterm points
3rd term points
Final exam 400 points
Presentation 150 points
Total points
Extra credit – to be announced in the class - may be ed

3. Geology in Today’s World
Geology is vital in human civilization
Geology in Today’s World
Geology - The scientific study of the Earth
Physical Geology is the study of Earth’s materials, changes of the surface and interior of the Earth, and the forces that cause those changes
Practical Aspects of Geology
Natural resources
Geological hazards
Environmental protection
Sea level Rise, Climate Change, Global Warming

4. Geology and Other Sciences
Chemistry
Mineralogy
Petrology
Geochemistry
Physics
Geophysics
Seismology
Biology
Paleontology
Paleoecology
Geology
Historical Geology
Geomorphology
Oceanography
Structural Geology
Volcanology
Economic Geology
Hydrology
Engineering Geology
Petroleum Geology
Astronomy
Planetary Geology
Helioseismology

5. Natural Resources
All manufactured objects depend on Earth’s resources
Localized concentrations of useful geological resources are mined or extracted
If it can’t be grown, it must be mined
Most resources are limited in quantity and non-renewable

6. Earth Science: The science of Geology Earth System Science
Geology is the science that pursues an understanding of planet Earth
Physical Geology - examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the Internal Processes that operate beneath, and External Processes upon its surface.
Historical Geology - seeks an understanding of the origin of Earth and its development through time

7. What Do Geologists Do?
Seek to understand all processes that operate on and inside the Earth and on the Hawaiian Islands
Study:
Our planet’s long history and origin of Hawaiian islands and their place on the earth in the ocean
Landforms: volcanoes, reefs, water bodies (ocean, rivers and groundwater), mountains, valleys, glaciers, dunes
Hazardous processes such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floods, and landslides
Rocks, minerals, water, geothermal resources of the Hawaiian Islands

8. Geology Involves Study of:
Earth Materials (rocks, minerals, soils)
formation, effects on health, as resource or waste
Natural Hazards
Volcanoes and volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, rockfalls
minimize loss of life
Natural Resources – Volcanoes, Reefs, Beaches, Geothermal energy
Hydrologic Processes of surface/ground water
Water resources, pollution
Geologic Process
Atmospheric, hydrologic, and lithospheric

9. Where in the World is Hawaii!
North America
Asia
Europe
South
America
Australia
Africa
Antarctica

10. Where in the World is Hawaii!
Volcanic Islands in
the
Sea
Hawaii
Pacific Ocean

11. Pacific Ocean
Mahukona

12. North America Asia Hawaii Pacific Ocean Indian Australia Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean
Hawaii
Pacific Ocean
South
America
Indian
Ocean
Australia

14. Tsunami

15. Volcano Magma Chamber Hotspot
Subduction crack on the Pacific Oceanic crust
Earthquakes
Oceanic crust is forced below the fracture because oceanic crust is denser than the one composing the fracture. Friction between the moving plates causes earthquakes. The heat increase due to friction and being pushed into the asthenosphere causes the oceanic crust to melt, and reduced density forces the newly formed magma to rise. The magma rises up through weak areas in the continental crust, eventually erupting as one or more volcanoes
Oceanic crust is forced below the fracture because oceanic crust is denser than the one composing the fracture. Magma is created at the subduction wedge
Magma Chamber
Hotspot

16. Origin of Planet Earth, Sun and Solar System
The Nebular Hypothesis claims that 5 billion years ago, for reasons unknown, a huge nebular cloud began to contract under its own gravitational influence. As it contracted it also had some rotational motion. The more it contracted the faster the cloud rotated, causing the nebular cloud to take on a disk shape. As the cloud collapsed, the temperature of the central mass continued to increase and most of the material was gravitationally pulled toward the center, producing the Sun. However, because of the rotational motion, some dust and gases remained orbiting the Sun, forming planets.

17. Nebular Hypothesis Sun’s Solar System Rocky Planets Mercury Venus
Explains Origin of
Sun’s Solar System
8 Planets, Moons, Comets, Asteroids
Rocky Planets
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Gaseous Planets
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Dwarf Planet Pluto
As these fragments began to condense and collide, they joined together into larger objects which eventually became the planets which continued to orbit the Sun

18. Life on Earth began: 3,800,000,000 years
Earth formed as a planet in the Sun’s Solar system from a nebula: 4,600,000,000 years ago, 4.6 billion years, 4,600 million years
Life on Earth began: 3,800,000,000 years
Geology: Science of processes related to:
Composition, structure, history and life of Earth
Processes on the earth, landforms and islands
Geology of Hawaiian Islands:
Studies entire spectrum of Hawaiian Islands physical environment, Birth and Life of the Isles
It is geology applied to:
Islands origin, volcanic formation and life stages
Awareness of unique geologic environment
Understand the geologic processes on the islands

19. Origin and evolution of Earth
Origin of planet Earth 4,600,000,000 years before present
Nebular hypothesis – Sun and Solar System
While this theory incorporates more basic physics, there are several unsolved problems. For example, a majority of the angular momentum in the Solar System is held by the outer planets. For comparison, 99% of the Solar System's mass is in the Sun, but 99% of its angular momentum is in the planets. Another flaw is the mechanism from which the disk turns into individual planets
Layered structure developed by chemical segregation early in the formation of Earth

20. Earth is Unique
No other planet in the solar system currently has the right chemical and physical mix needed to support life
No conclusive evidence of life existing elsewhere in the universe has yet been discovered as far as we know
LIFE

21. A view of Earth Planetary System
Earth is a planet that is rocky and self-contained – Earth System and Spheres
Earth’s spheres
Hydrosphere – water, oceans, lakes, rivers
Atmosphere - air
Biosphere – life and environment, ecosystem
Lithosphere - Solid Earth
Pedosphere – soil
Cryosphere – ice sheets, Antarctica, Greenland
Anthrosphere – Human built environment

23. Our Planet’s “Five Spheres” or Subsystems
The Atmosphere:
Nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor
The Hydrosphere:
Oceans, lakes, streams, underground water, snow, and ice
The Biosphere: Ecosphere, Sphere of Life
All of Earth’s organisms, as well as any organic matter not yet decomposed, Anthrosphere is Human Living Environment
The Geosphere – Crust, Lithosphere, Mantle and Core
The solid Earth from core to surface crust-
Crust composed principally of rock, minerals, sediments, ores and soils
Soils are in Pedosphere

25. The science of Geology Some historical notes about geology
The nature of Earth has been a focus of study for centuries
Catastrophism
Uniformitarianism and the birth of modern geology

26. Uniformitarianism
The Rock Cycle

27. Uniformitarianism Continuity of Cause and Effect
Apply Cause and Effect to Future - Prediction
Apply Cause and Effect to Present - Technology
Apply Cause and Effect to Past - Uniformitarianism

28. Uniformitarianism does not mean:
Catastrophes never occur
Physical Conditions on Earth never Change
Earth has always been the same
Physical processes always occur at the same rate or intensity
Laws of Physics have always been the same

29. Uniformitarianism does mean:
Using our knowledge of physical laws, we can test:
Whether catastrophes have occurred
Whether physical conditions on earth have changed, and if so, how (climate change, ice ages, warm periods, high or low sea level, etc.)
Whether physical laws themselves have changed in time, or elsewhere in the universe.

30. Geologic time
Geologists are now able to assign fairly accurate dates to events in Earth history
Relative dating and the geologic time scale
Relative dating means that dates are placed in their proper sequence or order without knowing their age in years

31. Geologic time The magnitude of geologic time
Involves vast times – millions or billions of years
An appreciation for the magnitude of geologic time is important because many processes are very gradual

32. The nature of scientific inquiry
Science assumes the natural world is consistent and predictable
Goal of science is to discover patterns in nature and use the knowledge to make predictions
Scientists collect “facts” through observation and measurements

33. The nature of scientific inquiry
How or why things happen are explained using a
Hypothesis – a tentative (or untested) explanation
Theory – a well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts

35. The nature of scientific inquiry
Scientific methods
Scientific method involves gathering facts through observations and formulation of hypotheses and theories
There is no fixed path that scientists follow that leads to scientific knowledge

36. Earth as a system
Earth is a dynamic planet with many interacting parts or spheres
Parts of the Earth system are linked
Characterized by processes that
Vary on spatial scales from fractions of millimeter to thousands of kilometers
Have time scales that range from milliseconds to billions of years

37. Earth as a system
The Earth system is powered by the Sun that drives external processes in the
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
At Earth’s surface

38. Earth as a system
The Earth system is also powered by the Earth’s interior, Internal Processes.
Heat remaining from the formation and heat that is continuously generated by radioactive decay powers the internal processes that produce volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountains

39. The rock cycle: part of the Earth system
The loop that involves the processes by which one rock changes to another
Illustrates the various processes and paths as earth materials change both on the surface and inside the Earth

40. The face of Earth Earth’s surface has two principal divisions
Continents
Ocean basins
Significant difference between the continents and ocean basins is their relative levels

41. The face of Earth Continents Ocean basins
Most prominent features are linear mountain belts
Shields
Ocean basins
Ocean ridge system – the most prominent topographic feature on Earth
Deep-ocean trenches

42. Early evolution of Earth
Origin of planet Earth
Most researchers believe that Earth and the other planets formed at essentially the same time from the same primordial material as the Sun
Nebular hypothesis
Layered structure developed by chemical segregation early in the formation of Earth

43. Earth’s internal structure
Earth’s internal layers can be defined by
Chemical composition
Physical properties
Layers defined by composition
Lithosphere, Crust
Mantle
Core

45. Structure of the Earth The Earth is made up of three main layers:
The core is at the center of the Earth
The outer core is a mobile semi-molten layer around the inner core
The mantle is a solid, rigid layer around the outer core; the top of mantle gets internal heat.
The outer-shell of the Earth is called the LITHOSPHERE - crust. it's the part we're on now

46. Dynamic Earth – Plate Tectonics
Theory of Plate Tectonics
Involves understanding the workings of our dynamic planet
Began in the early part of the twentieth century with a proposal called continental drift – the idea that continents moved about the face of the planet
Seafloor Spreading

47. Dynamic Earth The theory of plate tectonics Plate boundaries
Theory, called plate tectonics, has now emerged that provides geologists with the first comprehensive model of Earth’s internal workings
Plate boundaries
All major interactions among individual plates occurs along their boundaries

48. 8 Major Tectonic Plates of the Lithosphere
Ring of Fire
Ring of Fire

51. Dynamic Earth Plate boundaries
Divergent boundary – two plates move apart, resulting in upwelling of material from the mantle to create new seafloor
Convergent boundary – two plates move together with subduction of oceanic plates or collision of two continental plates

52. Dynamic Earth Plate boundaries
Transform boundaries - located where plates grind past each other without either generating new lithosphere or consuming old lithosphere
Changing boundaries - new plate boundaries are created in response to changes in the forces acting on the lithosphere