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Earth Science
name for all sciences that collectively seek to understand Earth and its neighbors in space
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geology
- "study of earth"
- -physical geology = examines materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the many processes that operate beneath and upon its surface
- -historical geology = understand origin of Earth and development of planet through its 4.5 billion year history
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Oceanography
study of oceans in all their aspects and relationships
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Meteorology
study of the atmosphere and processes that produce weather and climate
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astronomy
study of the universe
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environment
everything that surrounds and influences an organism
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physical environment
encompasses water, air, soil, and rock, as well as conditions such as temperature, humidity, and sunlight
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renewable
can be replenished over relatively short time spans
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nonrenewable
continue to form but processes that creat them are so slow that significant deposits take millions of years to accumulate
ex: aluminum, copper, iron, oil, natural gas, coal
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hypothesis
tentative/untested explanation
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theory
well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts
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paradigms
explain a large number of interrelated aspects of the natural world
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geological time scale
divides 4.5 billion year history of earth into many different units and provides a meaningful time frame within which the events of the geological past are arranged
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nebular hypothesis
bodies of our solar system evolved from an enormous rotating cloud called the solar nebula
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hydrosphere
dynamic mass of liquid that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again
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atmosphere
life-giving gaseous envelope
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biosphere
includes all life on earth
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crust
earth's relatively thin, rocky outer skin, is of two different types - continental crust and oceanic crust
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mantle
a solid, rocky shell that extends to a depth of nearly 2900 km; bountary between the crust and mantle represents a marked change in chemical compoisition
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asthenosphere
"weak sphere"; stiff layer to a depth of about 350km; top portion of the asthensophere has a temperature/pressure regime that results in a small amount of melting
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lower mantle
depth of 2900km, strengthens in depth, very hot and capable of very gradual flow
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core
iron-nickel alloy with minor amounts of oxygen, silicon, and sulfur - elements that readily form compounds with iron
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outer core
liquid layer 2260km thick; the movement of metallic iron within this zone generates Earth's magnetic field
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inner core
sphere having a radius of 1216km; the iron in the inner core is solid due to the immense pressure that exist in the center of the planet
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plate tectonics
first comprehensive model of earth's internal workings
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lithospheric plates
earth's rigid outer shell (litosphere) broken into numerous slabs which are in continual motion
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