Earth ’ s Lithosphere “ In the developed world.. We no longer honor our relationship to the soil... Soil has simply become one more resource - a substance necessary for crop production and for holding up buildings... “ (Elena Wilken... World Watch article, 1995)

Let ’ s start with the Lithosphere  3 major zones of Earth:  Core - very hot, solid & liquid  Mantle - solid zone, largest (68% of its mass, rich in iron, silicon, oxygen & Magnesium  Crust - outermost & thinnest portion, consists of continental crust (29%) & oceanic crust (covers 71% of Earth ’ s surface)

Plate Tectonics and Macroevolution –The continents are not locked in place. They drift about Earth ’ s surface on plates of crust floating on a flexible layer called the mantle. –California ’ s infamous San Andreas fault Is at a border where two plates slide past each other.

KQED Quest: Hayward Fault  fault-predictable-peril fault-predictable-peril

 About 250 million years ago Plate movements formed the supercontinent Pangaea. Many extinctions occurred, allowing survivors to diversify.

 About 180 million years ago Pangaea began to break up, causing geographic isolation & new species

Tectonic Movement is A Natural Part of Planet, but Can we predict earthquakes?  breaking-new-ground breaking-new-ground

Earth ’ s Lithosphere  Crust contains  8 elements make up 98.5% of weight of Earth ’ s crust (O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Na, K, Mg) –Minerals (any naturally occurring inorganic substance found in Earth ’ s crust as a crystalline solid) –Nonrenewable fossil fuels –Potentially renewable soil nutrients (eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air & living organisms)

Earth ’ s “ continental crust ”  Earth ’ s land surface: –Only 11% arable (useable for agriculture) Rest too nutrient poor, cold, wet, dry, etc. –Possible to add 24% more to arable land category if we irrigate & use fertilizers –Total to possibly 35% of land surface potentially arable

Element = Carbon essential  Carbon is essential to life as we know it basic building block  Carbon is the basic building block for all organic compounds necessary for life (carbohydrates, proteins, fats, DNA)  To study life is to study Carbon Chemistry!

Organic Compounds  Compounds which contain : –C (Carbon) combined with : –H (Hydrogen – O (Oxygen) –N (Nitrogen) –S (Sulfur) –P (Phosphorus) –Cl (Chlorine) –F (Fluorine)  All other compounds are called inorganic compounds

Carbon Cycle natural  It involves natural processes  A global gaseous cycle (atmospheric cycle in which a large portion of a given element (C) exists in gaseous form (C0 2 ) in atmosphere recycled  Nutrients (like Carbon) are recycled in various chemical forms (cyclic movement of carbon in different chemical forms) cycles abioticliving abiotic  C cycles from the abiotic environment to the living organisms and back to the abiotic environment

Re-Draw the Carbon Cycle Into Your Notes Now

CARBON DIOXIDE  C0 2 Cycles fairly rapidly from the atmosphere, through soil and organisms, and back to atmosphere  Key component of nature ’ s thermostat  If too much C0 2 removed from atmosphere, the atmosphere will cool  If cycle generates too much C0 2, the atmosphere will get warmer BIOSPHERE temperature & possibly change climate  So C0 2 does affect the BIOSPHERE ( and can determine temperature & possibly change climate)

biomass  Some CO2 is utilized to produce biomass in trees and plants fossil fuels  Which can form fossil fuels after millions of years of decomposition and compaction (as buried organic material) combustion  When fossil fuels (coal, oil,gas) go through combustion (burning process), CO2 is released back into the atmosphere

producers  Terrestrial producers (green plants and trees) remove CO2 from the air  PHOTOSYNTHESI  PHOTOSYNTHESIS takes place 6CO2 + 6H2O + solar energy is converted into C6H12O6 (glucose)+ 6O2 (oxygen)  Consumersdecomposers  Consumers and decomposers breakdown glucose (consumption) and utilize oxygen for respiration back to CO2  The Hydrocarbons get converted back to CO2 in the atmosphere

Humans and causes of increases in CO 2 (all unsustainable practices): trees  Cut down trees (producers of oxygen and users of CO2)  Industries  Transportation (i.e.,cars)  Buildings

Increased amounts of carbon:  Global warming (rising sea/water level)  May lead to extinction of certain plants, insect and animals, which could cause an imbalance in the food chain.  Acidification on oceans

There are three types of C Cycles  Atmospheric  Atmospheric cycle  Hydrological  Hydrological cycle  Sedimentary  Sedimentary cycle  carbon dioxide  dissolved carbonate  and bicarbonate  carbon containing  minerals in rocks

Discuss as a team:  Should we, as individuals & as a country, go on a carbon diet? What does this mean?  A huge amount of carbon is sequestered in tropical forests. What does this mean and why should we care about this information?  Should we pay a carbon tax to save tropical forests? Why or why not? Write responses in Your journals!

Science News Reading Activity  Read the article “Soils Hidden Secrets” (Charles Pet tit)  We will have a QUIZ on Wednesday –You may use HANDWRITTEN notes, but you may not use the printed article or typed notes.