2. Dr. Neil S. Suits nsuits@msubillings.edu WF: 9:20-1130; 896-5931

3. Our spheres of study: Lithospherelots Hydrospheresome Pedospherelittle Atmospheresome Biospherelittle Noösphereno

4. Credit where credit is due: I’ve gotten most of this material from web sources and textbooks resources, and from other Earth Science courses available on the Web. I will give the web addresses and proper credit as the course moves along.

5. Rocks Igneous Sedimentary Metamorphic Volcanoes Intrusions Weathering Soils Erosion Water Underground Surface Oceans Wind Glaciers Fossils Earth History Earth’s Interior Earthquakes Mountains Plate Tectonics Other Planets Mineral Resources What is Physical Geology?

6. But first… If these rocks could talk, what would they tell us?

7. ~14.9 GA (GigaAnnum, i.e, Billion Years) today

8. ~ 300,000 years after the Big Bang The first map of the Universe. Not homogeneous. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. First detected by the COBE DMR instrument.

9. Typical spiral galaxy. Similar to ‘our’ Milk Way Galaxy’

10. http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/NebandStar.htm Star Birth and Formation

13. Magnetic fields around a sunspot

14. SUNRocky inner planets The giant Gas planets of the outer solar system Hydrogen, Helium, methane, water, ammonia Silicates with Iron/Nickel cores Hydrogen (74%), some helium (24%)

15. Our moon: Luna

16. Current hypothesis: Luna was formed as a result of an impact by a Mars-sized object in the early stages of Solar System formation.

17. Lunar impact craters

18. Crater Tycho

19. Close up of Tycho

20. The lunar interior: crust, mantle core Mostly rock, very small iron core; cooled and tectonically inactive

21. Mars

22. Craters on Mars

23. The Martian ice cap Frozen water?

24. View of the surface of Mars from the Martian lander

25. Wind-formed dunes on Mars Atmosphere: 0.7% of the Earth’s atmospheric pressure; 95% Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ), 3% Nitrogen (N 2 ); 1.7% Argon, 0.1% Oxygen (O 2 )

26. Olympus Mons The largest mountain in the Solar System Why is it so big? ~ 625 km (324 miles) diameter Scarp Height ~ 6 km (4 miles)

28. Olympus Mons on an overcast day

29. Evidence for water on mars