Physical Geology

Dr. Teng-To Yu 余騰鐸

Room 4353 Monday 3rd, Thursday 1st~2nd class
Dept. Resource Engineering, NCKU
Spring semester, 2008

Office: 4328a Office Hours: Monday 1st~2nd, 4th Class.

Thursday 7th~8th class.
Phone: 06-2757575/62823
E-Mail: [email protected]

Over View of the Course

The textbook for the course is Physical Geology, [9th Edition, 2005].
Each student should purchase the textbook, no Xerox copy is allowed to
use at class. It is available from Book Stores on campus.
Class will be presented at electronic format (ex: PowerPoint), Internet will be used to
share the class materials. Weekly exercise will be issued as experimental topics;
another two longer semester exercise will be assigned, too. At least 3 surprise
quizzes will hold during the semester.

Grading Policy
Grades will be based on examinations, homework, and semester projects.
40 points on Examinations
15 points for Homework
20 points for the two longer exercises
15 points for experimental surveys
10 points for the quizzes
100 Total Points

There are three in-class examinations scheduled during the semester and a final
examination scheduled during the finals period. All home work exercises, reading
assignments, and the semester projects are posted on the class Web site. Exercises
are due no later than the posted date and you will loose half credit for each day late.
 Lecture Outlines
Physical Geology, 11/e

Plummer, McGeary &

Carlson
Introducing Geology and an
Overview of Important
Concepts
Physical Geology 11/e, Chapter 1

Steve Kadel, Glendale Community College

 Geology in Today’s World
• Geology - The scientific study of the Earth
– Physical Geology is the study of Earth’s materials,
changes of the surface and interior of the Earth,
and the forces that cause those changes

• Practical Aspects of Geology

– Natural resources
– Geological hazards
– Environmental protection
 Practical Aspects of
Geology
• Natural Resources
– All manufactured objects
depend on Earth’s
resources
– Localized concentrations
of useful geological
resources are mined or
extracted
– If it can’t be grown, it
must be mined
– Most resources are
limited in quantity and
non-renewable
 Resource Extraction and
Environmental Protection
• Coal Mining
– Careless mining can release
acids into groundwater

• Petroleum Resources
– Removal, transportation and
waste disposal can damage
the environment Alaska pipeline

• Dwindling resources can encourage disregard for

ecological damage caused by extraction activities
 Geologic Hazards
• Earthquakes
– Shaking can damage buildings
and break utility lines; large
undersea quakes may generate
tsunamis
• Volcanoes
– Ash flows and mudflows can
overwhelm populated areas
• Landslides, floods, and wave erosion
 Geologic Hazards
• Earthquakes
– Shaking can damage buildings
and break utility lines; large
undersea quakes may generate
tsunamis
• Volcanoes
– Ash flows and mudflows can
overwhelm populated areas
• Landslides, floods, and wave erosion
 Geologic Hazards
• Earthquakes
– Shaking can damage buildings
and break utility lines; large
undersea quakes may generate
tsunamis
• Volcanoes
– Ash flows and mudflows can
overwhelm populated areas
• Landslides, floods, and wave erosion
 Physical Geology Concepts
• Earth’s Systems
– Atmosphere
• the gases that envelop the
Earth
– Hydrosphere
• water on or near the Earth’s
surface
– Biosphere
• all living or once-living
materials
– Geosphere
• the solid rocky Earth
 Physical Geology Concepts

• Earth’s Heat Engines

– External (energy from the Sun)
• Primary driver of atmospheric (weather)
and hydrospheric (ocean currents)
circulation
• Controls weathering of rocks at Earth’s
surface

– Internal (heat moving from hot

interior to cooler exterior)
• Primary driver of most geospheric
phenomena (volcanism, magmatism,
tectonism)
 Earth’s Interior
• Compositional Layers
– Crust (~3-70 km thick)
• Very thin outer rocky shell of Earth
– Continental crust - thicker and less
dense
– Oceanic crust - thinner and more
dense

– Mantle (~2900 km thick)

• Hot solid that flows slowly over
time; Fe-, Mg-, Si-rich minerals
– Core (~3400 km radius)
• Outer core - metallic liquid; mostly
iron
• Inner core - metallic solid; mostly
iron
 Earth’s Interior
• Mechanical Layers
– Lithosphere (~100 km thick)
• Rigid/brittle outer shell of
Earth
• Composed of both crust and
uppermost mantle
• Makes up Earth’s tectonic
“plates”
– Asthenosphere
• Plastic (capable of flow) zone
on which the lithosphere
“floats”
 Theory of Plate Tectonics
Continental Drift Hypothesis
Originally proposed in early 20th century to
explain the “fit of continents”, matching
rock types and fossils across ocean basins,
etc.
Insufficient evidence found for driving
mechanism; hypothesis initially rejected
Plate Tectonics Theory
Originally proposed in the late 1960s
Included new understanding of the seafloor
and explanation of driving force
Describes lithosphere as being broken into
plates that are in motion
Explains origin and distribution of volcanoes,
fault zones and mountain belts
 Tectonic Plate Boundaries
Divergent boundaries
– Plates move apart
– Magma rises, cools and forms new lithosphere
– Typically expressed as mid-oceanic ridges
Transform boundaries
– Plates slide past one another
– Fault zones, earthquakes mark boundary
– San Andreas fault in California
Convergent boundaries
– Plates move toward each other
– Mountain belts and volcanoes common
– Oceanic plates may sink into mantle along a
subduction zone, typically marked by a deep
ocean trench
 Tectonic Plate Boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
– Plates move apart
– Magma rises, cools and forms new lithosphere
– Typically expressed as mid-oceanic ridges
• Transform boundaries
– Plates slide past one another
– Fault zones, earthquakes mark boundary
– San Andreas fault in California
• Convergent boundaries
– Plates move toward each other
– Mountain belts and volcanoes common
– Oceanic plates may sink into mantle along a
subduction zone, typically marked by a deep
ocean trench
 Tectonic Plate Boundaries
• Divergent boundaries
– Plates move apart
– Magma rises, cools and forms new lithosphere
– Typically expressed as mid-oceanic ridges
• Transform boundaries
– Plates slide past one another
– Fault zones, earthquakes mark boundary
– San Andreas fault in California
• Convergent boundaries
– Plates move toward each other
– Mountain belts and volcanoes common
– Oceanic plates may sink into mantle along a
subduction zone, typically marked by a deep
ocean trench
 Surficial Processes
Uplift
– Volcanic and/or tectonic forces build crust
up above sea level
– Removal of material by erosion allows
isostatic uplift of underlying continental
rocks
Weathering and Erosion
– Rainfall and glaciers flow down slopes
– Moving water, ice and wind loosen and
erode geologic materials, creating
sediment
Deposition
– Loose sediment is deposited in low areas
when transport agent (water, ice, wind)
loses its carrying power
– Earlier sediments get buried by later ones
and harden into sedimentary rock
 Geologic Time
“Deep” Time
– Most geologic processes occur gradually
over millions of years
– Changes typically imperceptible over the
span of a human lifetime
– Current best estimate for age of Earth is
~4.56 billion years
Geologic Time and the History of Life
– Complex life forms first became abundant about
544 million years ago
– Reptiles became abundant ~230 million years ago
– Dinosaurs became extinct (along with many other
organisms) ~65 million years ago
– Humans have been around for a few million years
• “Nothing hurries geology”
Mark Twain
End of Chapter 1