Introduction to Earth Science

Earth Science Branches

• Earth science is the study of Earth and neighboring planets, including historical events and processes that formed Earth.
• Four branches of Earth science: Geology, Meteorology, Astronomy, and Oceanography.
• Geology is the study of the Earth, divided into Physical and Historical Geology.

Scientific Method

• Series of steps used by scientists to answer questions about the world.
• Steps: Question, Background Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Analyze Data, Conclusion.
• Importance of Biases, Peer Review, and Scientific Theories.

International System of Units

• Standard system of measurement based on a decimalized system.
• Prefixes used to differentiate large from small numbers.
• Units for length, mass, volume, density, and temperature: meter, kilogram, meter³, kg/m³, and kelvin.

Geologic Time Scale

• Divided into eons, eras, periods, and epochs.
• Relative and Absolute Age Dating methods.
• Stratigraphy, Law of Superposition, and Radiometric Dating.

Fossil Record

• Importance of Rapid Burial, Hard Parts, and Elements in fossil preservation.
• Large animals with hard body parts more likely to be preserved.
• Climate conditions affecting fossil preservation.

Periodic Table

• Organizational model for elements based on the number of protons.
• Arranged into periods and groups.
• Elements classified as metals, nonmetals, or metalloids.

Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures

• Elements: pure substances made up of one type of atom.
• Compounds: made up of two or more elements bound chemically.
• Mixtures: two or more substances that do not form chemical bonds.

Matter and Phases

• Matter: anything with mass and takes up space.
• Four common states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.
• Phases can transition through melting, freezing, condensation, evaporation, sublimation, deposition, ionization, and deionization.

Chemical Reactions

• Five types: combination, decomposition, single-replacement, double-replacement, and combustion reactions.
• Chemical change, no creation or destruction of matter, rearrangement of atoms.

Atomic Structure

• Atoms contain subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
• Protons and neutrons in the nucleus, electrons outside.
• Atomic number (Z) and mass number (A) define an element.

Earth's Spheres

• Interconnected spheres: atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere.
• Atmosphere has five layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
• Geosphere has four layers: inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust.
• Hydrosphere is all water on Earth.### The Four Spheres of Earth
• The biosphere consists of all living organisms, including plants, animals, and microscopic life.
• The geosphere comprises Earth's crust, ranging from oceanic crust to mountain tops.
• The hydrosphere contains all water on Earth, including rivers, streams, and oceans.
• The atmosphere is composed of gases, water vapor, and clouds in the sky.

Geology

• Geology is the study of Earth's structure and dynamics, divided into branches like geology, geochemistry, petrology, mineralogy, paleontology, and environmental geology.
• Earth is composed of four main layers: crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core.

Earth's Layers

• The crust is less dense, made of granite, and broken into tectonic plates that resemble jigsaw puzzle pieces.
• The mantle is the thickest layer, composed mainly of iron, magnesium, and calcium-rich silicate minerals.
• The outer core is liquid iron and nickel, creating Earth's magnetic field.
• The inner core is a solid, dense ball made mostly of iron and nickel.

Seismology

• Seismic waves are vibrations that travel underground, occurring due to sudden material movements.
• P waves are compressional waves that can move through solids and liquids.
• S waves are shear waves that shake the ground up and down, only able to move through solids.

Plate Tectonics

• Plate tectonics is the theory that unifies observations about the movement of Earth's plates.
• The theory states that plates move on top of the mantle, driven by convection currents caused by heat from the earth's core.
• Plate tectonics explains how the face of Earth changes over time.

Tectonic Plates

• The Earth's crust and solid upper part of the mantle form the lithosphere, broken into 7 major tectonic plates.
• The 7 major plates, listed from largest to smallest, are the Pacific, North American, Eurasian, African, Antarctic, Indo-Australian, and South American Plates.
• Tectonic plates move towards, away from, or past each other due to heat transfer from the core.

Plate Boundaries

• Convergent boundaries occur when two plates move towards each other, creating areas of subduction or collision.
• Divergent boundaries occur when two plates move apart, forming new crust and underwater mountain ranges or rift valleys.
• Transform boundaries occur when two plates slide past each other, forming fault lines and causing earthquakes.

Deep Sea Drilling Project

• The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) analyzed the ocean floor to support the theory of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics.
• Samples from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge showed that new oceanic crust is constantly formed due to upwelling magma through diverging tectonic plates.

Earth Science Branches

• Earth science is the study of Earth and neighboring planets, including historical events and processes that formed Earth.
• Four branches of Earth science: Geology, Meteorology, Astronomy, and Oceanography.
• Geology is the study of the Earth, divided into Physical and Historical Geology.

Scientific Method

• Series of steps used by scientists to answer questions about the world.
• Steps: Question, Background Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Analyze Data, Conclusion.
• Importance of Biases, Peer Review, and Scientific Theories.

International System of Units

• Standard system of measurement based on a decimalized system.
• Prefixes used to differentiate large from small numbers.
• Units for length, mass, volume, density, and temperature: meter, kilogram, meter³, kg/m³, and kelvin.

Geologic Time Scale

• Divided into eons, eras, periods, and epochs.
• Relative and Absolute Age Dating methods.
• Stratigraphy, Law of Superposition, and Radiometric Dating.

Fossil Record

• Importance of Rapid Burial, Hard Parts, and Elements in fossil preservation.
• Large animals with hard body parts more likely to be preserved.
• Climate conditions affecting fossil preservation.

Periodic Table

• Organizational model for elements based on the number of protons.
• Arranged into periods and groups.
• Elements classified as metals, nonmetals, or metalloids.

Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures

• Elements: pure substances made up of one type of atom.
• Compounds: made up of two or more elements bound chemically.
• Mixtures: two or more substances that do not form chemical bonds.

Matter and Phases

• Matter: anything with mass and takes up space.
• Four common states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.
• Phases can transition through melting, freezing, condensation, evaporation, sublimation, deposition, ionization, and deionization.

Chemical Reactions

• Five types: combination, decomposition, single-replacement, double-replacement, and combustion reactions.
• Chemical change, no creation or destruction of matter, rearrangement of atoms.

Atomic Structure

• Atoms contain subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
• Protons and neutrons in the nucleus, electrons outside.
• Atomic number (Z) and mass number (A) define an element.

Earth's Spheres

• Interconnected spheres: atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere.
• Atmosphere has five layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.
• Geosphere has four layers: inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust.
• Hydrosphere is all water on Earth.### The Four Spheres of Earth
• The biosphere consists of all living organisms, including plants, animals, and microscopic life.
• The geosphere comprises Earth's crust, ranging from oceanic crust to mountain tops.
• The hydrosphere contains all water on Earth, including rivers, streams, and oceans.
• The atmosphere is composed of gases, water vapor, and clouds in the sky.

Geology

• Geology is the study of Earth's structure and dynamics, divided into branches like geology, geochemistry, petrology, mineralogy, paleontology, and environmental geology.
• Earth is composed of four main layers: crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core.

Earth's Layers

• The crust is less dense, made of granite, and broken into tectonic plates that resemble jigsaw puzzle pieces.
• The mantle is the thickest layer, composed mainly of iron, magnesium, and calcium-rich silicate minerals.
• The outer core is liquid iron and nickel, creating Earth's magnetic field.
• The inner core is a solid, dense ball made mostly of iron and nickel.

Seismology

• Seismic waves are vibrations that travel underground, occurring due to sudden material movements.
• P waves are compressional waves that can move through solids and liquids.
• S waves are shear waves that shake the ground up and down, only able to move through solids.

Plate Tectonics

• Plate tectonics is the theory that unifies observations about the movement of Earth's plates.
• The theory states that plates move on top of the mantle, driven by convection currents caused by heat from the earth's core.
• Plate tectonics explains how the face of Earth changes over time.

Tectonic Plates

• The Earth's crust and solid upper part of the mantle form the lithosphere, broken into 7 major tectonic plates.
• The 7 major plates, listed from largest to smallest, are the Pacific, North American, Eurasian, African, Antarctic, Indo-Australian, and South American Plates.
• Tectonic plates move towards, away from, or past each other due to heat transfer from the core.

Plate Boundaries

• Convergent boundaries occur when two plates move towards each other, creating areas of subduction or collision.
• Divergent boundaries occur when two plates move apart, forming new crust and underwater mountain ranges or rift valleys.
• Transform boundaries occur when two plates slide past each other, forming fault lines and causing earthquakes.

Deep Sea Drilling Project

• The Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) analyzed the ocean floor to support the theory of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics.
• Samples from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge showed that new oceanic crust is constantly formed due to upwelling magma through diverging tectonic plates.