Lecture 05: The Habitability of Earth (PDF)
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These lecture notes discuss the habitability of Earth, focusing on various geological processes and features, including the history of Earth and life, plate tectonics, and Earth's interior structures. The notes cover basic concepts in geology, such as the rock cycle and the formation of rocks and minerals.
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The Habitability of Earth (Ch. 4) 1 View of the Moon on Tuesday through the Cronyn Observatory telescope Image credit: Andromeda Adler (AST 2021A) Reconstructing the History of Earth and Life Our goals for learning: How is geology crucial to our existence? What can we le...
The Habitability of Earth (Ch. 4) 1 View of the Moon on Tuesday through the Cronyn Observatory telescope Image credit: Andromeda Adler (AST 2021A) Reconstructing the History of Earth and Life Our goals for learning: How is geology crucial to our existence? What can we learn from rocks and fossils? How do we learn the age of a rock or fossil? What does the geological record show? 3 © 2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley How is geology crucial to our existence? The five terrestrial worlds of the Solar System 4 © 2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley Geology and life are deeply connected over long time scales Volcanism releases gasses trapped in Earth’s interior: the original source of the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans releases heat and creates chemical environments that may have helped originate life 5 Geology and life are deeply connected over long time scales Plate tectonics the motion and recycling of rock between the surface and the interior largely responsible for long-term climate stability 6 Geology and life are deeply connected over long time scales Earth’s magnetic field generated in Earth’s deep interior shields and preserves atmosphere from the solar wind; without it, the atmosphere would have been stripped (like on Mars). 7 How is Earth’s surface shaped by plate tectonics? 8 © 2008 Pearson Education Inc, publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley Seafloor and Continental Crust Thin (5–10 km) seafloor crust differs from thick (20–70 km) continental crust Dating of seafloor shows it is young:
