Geology 302 Chapter 1.txt

the overall study of structure and history of the Universe

formation of the universe

Egyptian mathematician developed equations that appeared to predict the wanderings of the plants in context of the geocentric mode. Church leaders adopted the model in the middle Ages.

discovered the earth and planets orbited the sun. There for the earth could not be the center of the universe.

explained gravity

The sun accounts for 98.8% of the mass in the solar system. The remaining 0.2% includes a lot of objects including the rest of the planets.

an object that orbits a star, is spherical and has cleared its neighborhood of other objects.

8 plants not including Pluto. The plants surrounding the sun are terrestrial plants surrounded by a shell of rock surrounding a ball of metallic iron alloy. The outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are gas giant planets that consist mostly of gas and ice. There are millions of asteroids (chunk of rock and/or metal). Comets (tails due to evaporation)

are immense balls of incandescent gas in which nuclear reactions produce heat and light. Holds galaxies together. The sun and over 300 billion stars form the milky way galaxy. More than 100 billion galaxies constitute the visible universe. The nearest galaxy to us is Andromeda which lies 2.2 million light years away. A light year is the distsnce traveled in one year (10 trillion km)

disturbances that transmit energy from one point to another by causing periodic motions. The distance between waves are wavelengths. The number of waves that pass thru a point in a given time is a frequency.

Austrian physicist C.J. Doppler (1803-1853) interpreted the phenomenon and thus the change in frequency that happens when a wave sourse moves in now known as the Doppler effect. Light energy moves in waves.

Edwin Hubble in the 1920�s discovered plants were moving away from each other.

All matter and energy, everything that now constitutes the universe was initially packed into a infinitely small point, The point explodes 13.7 billion years ago. The universe was so small and dense. Formation of new nuclei in the first few minutes of time is called the big bang nucleosynthesis. Eventually the universe cooled enough for chemical bonds to bind atoms of certain elements together in molecules. The universe expanded into patchy clouds of nebulae.

When the universe reach 200 mya, All matter is exerts gravitational pull. A protostar is formed that continues to grow by pulling in more mass. The protostar ignites to form a star. First generation stars formed which tended to be very massive reaching a 100x�s the sun which dies out faster which survives 1-10�s of millions of years and then go supernova. The universe contains 92 naturally occurring elements. There 87 more which a created during the lifecycle of stars which is called nucleosynthesis. The stream of atoms emitted from a star is called stellar wind. Second generation of stars were created which lived and died. Our sun may be 3, 4, or 5th generation.

The sun and all other objects in the Solar System formed from material that been swirling around in the nebula. The outer part is called the proplanetary disk and it is the source of planets and moons. The disk consisted of 92 elements (volatile materials such as hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia, water and carbon monoxide. The solar system formed about 9 bya after the big bang

it can repeal or attract meaning it has north and south poles. By trapping cosmic rays, the Van Allen belt protects life on earth from dangerous radiation.

An envelope of gas consisting of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen.

Some land surface consists of solid rock, whereas some a covering of sediment (materials such as sand and gravel, in which grains are not stuck together.

the variation in elevation of the land, surface, defines plains, mountains, and valleys

the variation in elevation of the ocean floor, defines submarine ridges, plains and deep trenches.

Produced by fusion reactions in stars and supernova explosions. 4 elements make up 90% of the earths surface: iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium. The remaining are the other 88% of the elements.

Carbon containing living organisms or characteristics that resemble compounds in living organisms

, natural substance in which atoms are arranged in orderly pattern

Solid in which atoms are not arranged in an orderly pair

Aggregates of material crystals or grains, masses of natural glass. Igneous rocks: molten liquid cools. Sedimentary: breaks from preexisting rocks or minerals that come out of water.

preexisting rocks change in response to heat and pressure.

Accumulation of loose mineral grains that have not stuck together.

solids composed of metal atoms ex(iron, aluminum, copper and tin)

solid material become hot and transform into liquids

The inner layers are more dense. A crust (not so dense), mantle (denser solid), the core (very dense)

Ground shaking due to breaking of rocks on the earth. A fracture on which sliding occurs is a fault.

used to propose, test, and provide (for or against) a given hypothesis.

untested explanation, educated guess

make an observation; make an hypothesis; gather evidence; Reject; the remaining hypothesis is most probable.

it is a universal statemnt of fact, often written as a math equation; 10 to the 0 = 1, 10 to the 1 = 1. 10 to 2 = 100

1=10x; 2=100x, 3=100x; 4=1000x

time constant = straight line; rate changing = curved line. Rate equals distance over time

what ever is most probabl, given the evidence in hand: An astroid did it.

plate techtonics, volcanos, earthquakes, sefimentology, geophysics, paleontology, climate change, geo astronomer/astro geologist, mid ocean ridges

The downward push from overlying rock increases with depth. At the center of the earth the pressure probably reaches about 3,600,000 atm. Depth rate of change temperature with depth is referred to as the geothermal gradient.