1. Earth Systems & Resources
Earth Science Concepts

2. Earth’s Formation & Structure
Earth formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago
Early in its formation, the earth was completely molten
As earth cooled density differences between the forming minerals caused interior of earth to become differentiated.

3. GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
The earth is made up of a core, mantle, and crust and is constantly changing as a result of processes taking place on and below its surface.
The earth’s interior consists of:
Core: innermost zone with solid inner core and molten outer core that is extremely hot.
Mantle: solid rock with a rigid outer part (asthenosphere) that is melted pliable rock.
Crust: Outermost zone which underlies the continents.

4. Core makes up 16 % of volume and 31 % mass
Mantle is the largest layer in the earth making up 82 % of volume and 68 % mass
Mantle is magnesium and iron rich
Crust is the thinnest layer in the earth 2 % of volume and 1 % mass
Crust is rich in elements like silicon, aluminum, calcium, sodium, and potassium
Crust is either continental crust & oceanic crust
Continental Crust contains minerals resources & fossil fuels

5. GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
Major features of the earth’s crust and upper mantle.
Figure 15-2

6. Oceanic crust (lithosphere) Abyssal plain Continental slope
Folded mountain belt
Volcanoes
Abyssal plain
Abyssal floor
Oceanic ridge
Abyssal floor
Abyssal hills
Trench
Craton
Oceanic crust (lithosphere)
Abyssal plain
Continental slope
Continental shelf
Continental rise
Mantle (lithosphere)
Continental crust (lithosphere)
Mantle (lithosphere)
Figure 15.2
Natural capital: major features of the earth’s crust and upper mantle. The lithosphere, composed of the crust and outermost mantle, is rigid and brittle. The asthenosphere, a zone in the mantle, can be deformed by heat and pressure.
Mantle (asthenosphere)
Fig. 15-2, p. 336

7. Tectonic plate Inner core
Spreading center
Collision between two continents
Oceanic tectonic plate
Ocean trench
Oceanic tectonic plate
Plate movement
Plate movement
Tectonic plate
Oceanic crust
Oceanic crust
Subduction zone
Continental crust
Continental crust
Material cools as it reaches the outer mantle
Cold dense material falls back through mantle
Hot material rising through the mantle
Mantle convection cell
Figure 15.3
Natural capital: the earth’s crust is made up of a mosaic of huge rigid plates, called tectonic plates, which move around in response to forces in the mantle.
Mantle
Two plates move towards each other. One is subducted back into the mantle on a falling convection current.
Hot outer core
Inner core
Fig. 15-3, p. 337

8. The Lithosphere & Plate Tectonics
The layer of the mantle above the asthenosphere and the crust make up the lithosphere
Lithosphere is broken into a series of plates that independently float (like a raft on an ocean)

9. Tectonic Plates
Tectonic plates: huge rigid plates that are moved with convection cells or currents by floating on magma or molten rock.
There are 7 major plates and because they are in constant motion interactions occur where plates meet

10. The Earth’s Major Tectonic Plates
Figure 15-4

11. The Earth’s Major Tectonic Plates
The extremely slow movements of these plates cause them to grind into one another at convergent plate boundaries, move apart at divergent plate boundaries and slide past at transform plate boundaries.
Figure 15-4

12. Figure 15.4
Natural capital: the earth’s major tectonic plates. The extremely slow movements of these plates cause them to grind into one another at convergent plate boundaries, move apart from one another at divergent plate boundaries, and slide past one another at transform plate boundaries. QUESTION: What plate are you floating on?
Fig. 15-4, p. 338

13. Transform fault Rising magma
Trench
Volcanic island arc
Craton
Transform fault
Lithosphere
Rising magma
Subduction zone
Lithosphere
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Asthenosphere
Asthenosphere
Figure 15.4
Natural capital: the earth’s major tectonic plates. The extremely slow movements of these plates cause them to grind into one another at convergent plate boundaries, move apart from one another at divergent plate boundaries, and slide past one another at transform plate boundaries. QUESTION: What plate are you floating on?
Divergent plate boundaries
Convergent plate boundaries
Transform faults
Fig. 15-4b, p. 338

14. Convergent plates cause land mountains to form and oceanic volcanoes to form
Examples include: Himalayas, Mariana trench in the western pacific ocean
Divergent plates form new crust and land volcanoes
Transform plates cause earthquakes to occur

15. GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
The San Andreas Fault is an example of a transform fault.
Figure 15-5

16. Volcanoes
Occurs when magma (Molten rock) reaches earth surface through a crack or vent in the crust
Extrusion of lava, ejection of solid rock and ash, release of water vapor and gases
Occurs 85 % of time at convergent plate boundaries
Volcanoes can result in loss of life, habitat, and alteration & reduction in air quality

17. Earthquakes
Occurs when build up strain in a rock mass causes it to rupture suddenly.
Destructive waves travel from below the surface (focus) to above the surface (Epicenter)
Magnitude of an earthquake is a measure of the total amount of energy released
Earthquakes generally occur along breaks in the rock mass known as faults

18. Earthquakes are also often associated with volcanic activity in ocean and on land
Oceanic earthquakes can trigger a tidal wave known as a tsunami

19. Soil & Soil Dynamics

20. MINERALS, ROCKS, AND THE ROCK CYCLE
The earth’s crust consists of solid inorganic elements and compounds called minerals that can sometimes be used as resources.
Minerals make up rocks
Mineral resource: is a concentration of naturally occurring material in or on the earth’s crust that can be extracted and processed into useful materials at an affordable cost.

21. Rocks are classified into 3 groups: Igneous, Sedimentary, and metamorphic
Igneous Rocks= Most common type of rock. Form when magma cools and crystallizes on the surface
Sedimentary Rocks= Made from a combination of weathered fragments of pre-existing rocks, precipitation of minerals, compaction of remains of living organisms (Fossil Fuels like coal & shale)

22. Metamorphic rock: Formed when solid igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic rocks change in response to elevated temperature, pressure,

24. GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
Deposits of nonrenewable mineral resources in the earth’s crust vary in their abundance and distribution.
A very slow chemical cycle recycles three types of rock found in the earth’s crust:
Sedimentary rock (sandstone, limestone).
Metamorphic rock (slate, marble, quartzite).
Igneous rock (granite, pumice, basalt).

25. Erosion Transportation Heat, pressure, stress Magma (molten rock)
Weathering
Deposition
Igneous rock Granite, pumice, basalt
Sedimentary rock Sandstone, limestone
Heat, pressure
Cooling
Heat, pressure, stress
Magma (molten rock)
Figure 15.8
Natural capital: the rock cycle is the slowest of the earth’s cyclic processes. The earth’s materials are recycled over millions of years by three processes: melting, erosion, and metamorphism, which produce igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Rock from any of these classes can be converted to rock of either of the other two classes, or can be recycled within its own class. QUESTION: List three ways that the rock cycle benefits your lifestyle.
Melting
Metamorphic rock Slate, marble, gneiss, quartzite
Fig. 15-8, p. 343

26. Weathering= rock materials are broken down into smaller pieces and/or chemically changed

27. SOIL: A RENEWABLE RESOURCE
Soil is a slowly renewed resource that provides most of the nutrients needed for plant growth and also helps purify water.
Soil formation begins when bedrock is broken down by physical, chemical and biological processes called weathering.
Mature soils, or soils that have developed over a long time are arranged in a series of horizontal layers called soil horizons.

28. Soil
4 principal components: water, eroded inorganic parent material, air, and organic matter (living and decaying organisms)
Soils change with time (input of organic matter and mineral content change)
The process of making a soil suitable for use by humans can take thousands of years
Unfortunately the destruction of that soil can occur in a few short generations.

30. Some Soil Properties
Soils vary in the size of the particles they contain, the amount of space between these particles, and how rapidly water flows through them.
Figure 3-25

31. Services Provided by Soil
Medium for plant growth
Primary filter of water as water moves from atmosphere into rivers, streams, and groundwater
Provides a habitat for a wide variety of organisms