Unit-1 The Planet Earth-! 1. ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND EARTH The Solar System The Solar System is made up of all the planets that orbit our Sun. In addition to planets, the Solar System also consists of moons, comets, asteroids, minor planets, and dust and gas. Everything in the ‘Solar System orbits of revolves around the Sun. The Sun contains around 98% of all the material in the Solar System. The larger an object is, the more gravity it has. Because the Sun is so large, its powerful gravity attracts all the other objects in the Solar System towards it. At the same time, these objects, which are moving very rapidly, try to fly away from the Sun, outward into the emptiness of outer space. The result of the planets trying to fly away, at the same time that the Sun is trying to pull them inward is that they become trapped half-way in between. Balanced between flying towards the Sun, and escaping into space, they spend eternity orbiting around their parent star. Our solar system consists of an average star we call the Sun, the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It includes: the satellites of the planets; numerous comets, asteroids, and meteoroids; and the interplanetary medium. The Sun is the richest source of electromagnetic energy (mostly in the form of heat and light) in the solar system. The Sun's nearest known stellar neighbour is a red dwarf star called Proxima Centaury, at a distance of 4.3 light years away. The whole solar system, together with the local stars visible on a clear night, orbits the center of our home galaxy, a spiral disk of 200 billion stars we call the Miky Way. The Milky Way has two small Galaxies orbiting it nearby, which are visible from the southern hemisphere. They are called the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud. The nearest large galaxy is the Andromeda Galaxy. It is a spiral galaxy like the Mikky Way but is 4 times as massive and is 2 million light years away. Our galaxy, one of the billions of galaxies known, is travelling through intergalactic space. The planets, most of the satellites of the planets and the asteroids revolve around the Sun in the same direction, in nearly circular orbits, When looking down from above the Sun's north pole, the planets orbit in a counter-clockwise direction. The planets orbit the Sun in or near the same plane, called the ecliptic. Pluto is @ special case in that its orbit is the most highly inclined (18 degrees) and the most highly elliptical of all the planets. Because of this, for part of its orbit, Pluto is closer to the Sun than is Neptune. The axis of rotation for most of the planets is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic. The exceptions are Uranus and Pluto, which are tipped on their sides. Composition Of The Solar System The Sun contains 99.85% of all the matter in the Solar System. The planets, which condensed out of the same disk of material that formed the Sun, contain only 0.135% of the mass of the solar system. Jupiter contains more than twice the matter of all the other planets combined. Satellites of the planets, comets, asteroids, meteoroids, and the interplanetary medium constitute the remaining 0.015%. The following table is a list of the mass distribution within our Solar System. © Sun: 99.85% Planets : 0.135% Comets : 0.01% Satellites : 0.00005% Minor Planets : 0.0000002% Meteoroids : 0.0000001% Interplanetary Medium : 0.0000001%€ Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-I) The Jovian Planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are known as the Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets, because they are all gigantic compared with Earth, and they have a gaseous nature like Jupiter's. The Jovian planets are also referred to as the gas giants, although some or all of them might have small solid cores. The following diagram shows the approximate distance of the Jovian planets to the Sun. Mean Distances Of The Jovian Planets From The sun (Orbits drawn approximately to scale, Pluto ommited to accommodate scale) 42 2719 72 0186205 to oat Light Hours | Astronomical Units Fig. : Mean Distances of the Jovian Planets from the Sun Origin of The Solar System ‘Our solar system formed about 5 billion years ago, from an enormous cloud of dust and gas, a nebula. The Sun, like other stars, was formed in a nebula, an interstellar cloud of dust and gas (mostly hydrogen). These stellar nurseries are abundant in the arms of spiral galaxies (like our galaxy, the Milky Way). In the stellar nursery, dense parts of the clouds undergo gravitational collapse and compress to form a rotating gas globule. The globule is cooled by emitting radio waves and infrared radiation. It is compressed by gravitational forces and also by shock waves of pressure from @ supernova or the hot gas released from nearby bright stars. These forces cause the roughly-spherical globule to collapse and rotate. The process of collapse takes from between 10,000 to 1,000,000 years. The origin of the solar system has long been a fascinating subject posing difficult questions of deep significance. It takes one to the heart of the question of our origins, of how we came to be here and why our surroundings look the way they do. Unfortunately, we currently lack a self-consistent model for the origin of the solar system and other planetary systems. The early stages of planet formation are obscure, and we have only a modest understanding of how much the orbits of planets change during and after their formation. At present, we cannot say whether terrestrial planets similar to the Earth are commonplace or highly unusual, Nor do we know the source of the water that makes our planet habitable. In the face of such uncertainty, one might ask whether we will ever understand how planetary systems form. In fact, the last 10 years have seen rapid progress in almost every area of planetary science, and our understanding of the origin of the solar system and other planetary systems has improved greatly as a result. Planetary science today is as exciting as it has been at any time since the Apollo landings on the Moon, and the coming decade looks set to continue this trend.€EEduncle different from those of our own solar system and provide fingerprints of nearby stars that preceded our Sun, These include red giants, asymptotic giant branch stars, supernovae, and novae. It has also become clear from studying modern molecular clouds that stars like our Sun can form in significant numbers in close proximity to each other. Geology (The Planet Earth-I) Such observation also provides clues as to how own solar system formed because they have provided us with images of circumstellar disks—the environments in which planetary objects are born. Observations from space-based infrared telescopes such as the Infrared Astronomical Satelite (IRAS) have shown that many young stars give off more infrared radiation than would be expected for biackbodies of the same size. This infrared excess comes from micron-sized grains of dust orbiting the star in an optically thick (opaque) disk. Dark, dusty disks can be seen with the Hubble Space Telescope surrounding some young stars in the Orion Nebula (Fig.). Fig. : Proplyds are young stellar objects embedded in an optically dense envelope of gas and dust. The objects shown here are from the Orion Nebula These disks have been dubbed proplyds, short for protoplanetary disks. It is thought that protoplanetary disks are mostly composed of gas, and in a few cases this gas has been detected, although gas is generally much harder to see than dust. The fraction of stars having a massive disk declines with stellar age, and large infrared excesses are rarely seen in stars older than 107 years. In some cases, such as the disk surrounding the star HR 4796A, there are signs that the inner portion of a disk has been cleared of dust (Fig.), perhaps due to the presence of one or more planets. Fig. : The circumstellar disk surrounding HR 4796A as revealed by interferometry measurements of the infrared excess. Note the area close into the star swept clear of dust, which has presumably been incorporated into planetary objectsEEduncle Geology (he Planet Interplanetary Space Nearly all the solar system by volume appears to be an empty void, Far from being nothingness, this vacuum of “space” comprises the interplanetary medium. It includes various forms of energy and at least two material components: interplanetary dust and interplanetary gas. Interplanetary dust consists of microscopic solid particles. Interplanetary gas is a tenuous flow of gas and charged particles, mostly protons and electrons ~- plasma -- which stream from the Sun, called the solar wind. Inferacten Between Skiar Wing and Interstar Win ehogsue?——~ ga 1 Hetiospher ze—> tz fa = =< 2 =ss— — ‘Solar Wd aS ke Fig. : Interplanetary Space The solar wind can be measured by spacecraft, and it has a large effect on comet tails. It also has a measurable effect on the motion of spacecraft. The speed of the solar wind is about 400 kilometres (250 miles) per second in the vicinity of Earth's orbit. The point at which the solar wind meets the interstellar medium, which is the "solar" wind from other stars, is called the heliopause. It is a boundary theorized to be roughly circular or teardrop-shaped, marking the edge of the Sun's influence perhaps 100 AU from the Sun. The space within the boundary of the heliopause, containing the Sun and solar system, is referred to as the heliosphere. The solar magnetic field extends outward into interplanetary space; it can be measured on Earth and by spacecraft. The solar magnetic field is the dominating magnetic field throughout the interplanetary regions of the solar system, except in the immediate environment of planets which have their own magnetic fields. The Terrestrial Planets The terrestrial planets are the four innermost planets in the solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth ‘and Mars. They are called terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface like the Earth's. The planets, Venus, Earth, and Mars have significant atmospheres while Mercury has almost none, The following diagram shows the approximate distance of the terrestrial planets to the Sun. ‘Mean Distances Of The Terrestrial Planets From The Sun {Orbits drawn approximately o scale) 6 18a 2p M1015 32 Light Minutes | Astronomical Units : Mean Distances of Terrestrial Planets from the Sun€ Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth Some key recent developments follow : © A decade ago, the first planet orbiting another Sunlike star was discovered. Since then, new planets have been found at an astounding rate, and roughly 200 objects are known today. Most of these planets appear to be gas giants similar to Jupiter and Satur. Recently, several smaller planets have been found, and these may be akin to Uranus and Neptune, oF possibly large analogues of terrestrial planets like Earth. © In the last 10 years, there have been a number of highly successful space missions to other bodies in the solar system, including Mars, Saturn, Titan, and several asteroids and comets, information and images returned from these missions have transformed our view of these objects and greatly enhanced our understanding of their origin and evolution. © The discovery that one can physically separate and analyze star dust-presolar grains that can be extracted from meteorites and that formed in the envelopes of other stars—has meant that scientists can for the first time test decades of theory on how stars work. The parallel development of methods for extracting isotopic information at the submicron scale has opened up a new window to the information stored in such grains. © The development of muttiple collectors inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry has made it possible to use new isotopic systems for determining the mechanisms and timescales for the growth of bodies early in the solar system. © Our theoretical understanding of planet formation has advanced substantially in several areas, including new models for the rapid growth of giant planets, a better understanding of the physical and chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks, and the growing realization that planets can migrate substantially during and after their formation. ‘© The recent development of powerful new computer codes and equations of state has facilitated realistic, high-resolution simulations of collisions between planet-sized bodies. Scientists are discovering that the resolution of their models significantly changes the outcome, and the race is on to find reliable solutions. Today, the formation of the solar system is being studied using three complementary approaches ‘© Astronomical observations of protoplanetary disks around young stars are providing valuable information about probable conditions during the early history of the solar system and the timescales involved in planet formation. The discovery of new planets orbiting other stars is adding to the astonishing diversity of possible planetary systems and providing additional tests for theories of how planetary systems form. © Physical, chemical, and isotopic analyses of meteorites and samples returned by space missions are generating important information about the formation and evolution of objects in the solar system and their constituent materials. This field of cosmochemistry has taken off in several important new directions in recent years, including the determination of timescales involved in the formation of the terrestrial planets and asteroids, and constraints on the origin of the materials that make up the solar system. © Theoretical calculations and numerical simulations are being used to examine every stage in the formation of the solar system. These provide valuable insights into the complex interplay of physical and chemical processes involved, and help to fill in some of the gaps when astronomical and cosmochemical data are unavailable. Star Formation and Protoplanetary Disks The solar system formed 4.5~4.6 billion years (Ga) ago by the collapse of a portion of a molecular cloud of gas and dust rather like the Eagle or Orion Nebulae. Some of the star dust from that ancient Solar Nebula has now been isolated from primitive meteorites. Their isotopic compositions are vastly€ Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-I) Roughly half of the stars up to a few hundred million years old have low-mass, optically thin (nearly transparent) disks containing some dust but apparently litte or no gas. In a few cases, such as the star Beta Pictoris, a disk can be seen at visible wavelengths when the light from the star itself is blocked. Dust grains in these disks will be quickly accelerated outward by radiation pressure or spiral inward due to Poynting-Robertson drag caused by collisions with photons from the central star. This dust should be either removed from the disk or destroyed in high-speed collisions with other dust grains on a timescale that is short compared to the age of the star. For this reason, the dust in these disks is thought to be second-generation material formed by collisions between asteroids or sublimation from comets orbiting these stars in more massive analogues of the Kuiper Belt in our own solar system These are often referred to as debris disks as a result. In the solar system, the planets all orbit the Sun in the same direction, and their orbits are very roughly coplanar. This suggests the solar system originated from a disk-shaped region of the material referred to as the solar nebula, an idea going back more than 2 centuries to Kant and later Laplace. The discovery of disks of gas and dust around many young stars provides strong support for this idea and implies that planet formation is associated with the formation of stars themselves. Stars typically form in clusters of a few hundred to a few thousand objects in dense regions of the interstellar medium called molecular clouds (see Fig.). The gas in molecular clouds is cold (roughly 10 K) and dense compared to that in other regions of space (roughly 104 atomsicm: ) but still much more tenuous than the gas in a typical laboratory “vacuum.” Stars in these clusters are typically separated by about 0.1 pc (0.3 lightyears), much less than the distance between stars in the Sun's neighbourhood Fig. : This Hubble Space Telescope image of the Orion Nebula shows molecular clouds of gas and dust illuminated by radiation from young stars. Some early stars appear shrouded in dusty disks. Scientists think that our solar system formed by the collapse of a portion of a similar kind of molecular cloud leading to the formation of a new star embedded in a dusty disk. How that collapse occurred |s unclear. It may have been triggered by a shock wave carrying material being shed from another star such as an AGB star or supernovaduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-) It is unclear precisely what causes the densest portions of a molecular cloud (called molecular cloud cores) to collapse to form stars. It may be that contraction of a cloud core is inevitable sooner or later due to the core’s own gravity, or an external event may cause the triggered collapse of a core. The original triggered collapse theory was based on the sequencing found in the ages of stars in close proximity to one another in molecular clouds. This suggests that the formation and evolution of some stars triggered the formation of additional stars in neighbouring regions of the cloud. However, several other triggering mechanisms are possible, such as energetic radiation and mass loss from other newly formed stars, the effects of @ nearby, pulsating asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star, or a shock wave from the supernova explosion of a massive star. Gas in molecular cloud cores is typically moving. When a core collapses, the gas has too much angular momentum for all the material to form a single, isolated star. In many cases, a binary star system forms. In others cases, a single protostar forms (called a T Tauri star or pre-main sequence star), while a significant fraction of the gas goes into orbit about the star-forming a disk that is typically 100 astronomical units (AU) in diameter, Temperatures in T Tauri stars are initially too low for nuclear reactions to take place, However, T Tauri stars are much brighter than older stars like the Sun due to the release of gravitational energy as the star contracts. The initial collapse of a molecular cloud core takes roughly 105 years, and material continues to fall onto both the star and its disk until the core is depleted. The spectra of T Tauri stars contain strong ultraviolet and visible emission lines caused by hot gas falling onto the star. This provides evidence that disks lose mass over time as the material moves inward through the disk and onto the star, a process called viscous accretion. This process provides one reason why older stars do not have disks, another reason being planet formation itself. Estimated disk accretion rates range from 10-6 to 10-9 solar masses per year. The mechanism responsible for viscous accretion is unclear. A promising candidate is magneto- rotational instability (MRI), in which partially ionized gas in the disk becomes coupled to the local magnetic field. Because stars rotate, the magnetic field sweeps around rapidly, increasing the orbital velocity of material that couples strongly to it and moving it outward. Friction causes the remaining material to move inward. As a result, a disk loses mass to its star and spreads outwards over time. This kind of disk evolution explains why the planets currently contain only 0.1% of the mass in the solar system but have retained more than 99% of its angular momentum. MRI requites a certain fraction of the gas to be ionized, and it may not be effective in all portions: of a disk. Disks are also eroded over time by photo evaporation. In this process, gas is accelerated when atoms absorb ultraviolet photons from the central star or nearby, energetic stars, until the gas is moving fast enough to escape into interstellar space, T Tauri stars often have jets of material moving rapidly away from the star perpendicular to the plane of the disk. These jets are powered by the inward accretion of material through the disk coupled with the rotating magnetic field. Outward flowing winds also arise from the inner portions of a disk. It is Possible that @ wind arising from the very inner edge of the disk (called the x-wind) can entrain small solid particles with it. These objects will be heated strongly as they emerge from the disk’s shadow. Many of these particles will return to the disk several AU from the star, and may drift inward again to repeat the process. Some of these particles may be preserved today in meteorites. T Tauri stars are strong emitters of X-rays, generating fluxes up to 104 times greater than that of the Sun during the strongest solar flares. Careful sampling of large populations of young solar mass stars in the Orion Nebula shows that this is normal behavior in young stars. This energetic flare activity is strongest in the first millon years and declines at later times, persisting for up to 108 years. From this, it has been concluded that the young Sun generated 105 times as many energetic protons as today. It is thought that reactions between these protons and material in the disk may have provided some of the short-lived isotopes whose daughter products are seen today in meteorites although the formation of nearly all of these predates that of the solar system.The minimum mass of material that passed through the solar nebula can be estimated from the total mass of the planets, asteroids, and comets in the solar system. However, all of these objects are depleted in hydrogen and helium relative to the Sun. Ninety percent of the mass of the terrestrial planets is made up of oxygen, magnesium, silicon, and iron (Fig,), and although Jupiter and Saturn are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, they are enriched in the heavier elements compared to the Sun. When the missing hydrogen and helium is added, the minimum-mass solar nebula (MMSN) turns out to be 1-2% of the Sun’s mass. The major uncertainties in this number come from the fact that the interior compositions of the giant planets and the initial mass of the Kuiper Belt are poorly known. Not all of this mass necessarily existed in the nebula at the same time, but it must have been present at some point. Current theoretical models predict that planet formation is an inefficient process, with some mass falling into the Sun or being ejected into interstellar space, so the solar nebula was probably more massive than the MMSN. Gas in the solar nebula was heated as it viscously accreted toward the Sun, releasing gravitational energy. The presence of large amounts of dust meant the inner portions of the nebula were optically thick to infrared radiation so these regions became hot. Numerical disk models show that temperatures probably exceeded 1500 K in the terrestrial planet forming region early in the disk’s history. Viscous heating mainly took place at the disk midplane where most of the mass was concentrated. The surfaces of the disk would have been much cooler. The amount of energy generated by viscous accretion declined rapidly with distance from the Sun. In the outer nebula, solar itradiation was the more important effect. Protoplanetary disks are thought to be flared, so that their vertical thickness grows more rapidly than their radius. As a result, the surface layers are always irradiated by the central star. For this reason, the surface layers of the outer solar nebula may have been warmer than the midplane. The nebula cooled over time as the viscous accretion rate declined and dust was swept up by larger bodies, reducing the optical depth. In the inner nebula, cooling was probably rapid. Models show that at the midplane at 1 AU, the temperature probably fell to about 300 K after 105 years. Because the energy generated by viscous accretion and solar irradiation declined with distance from the Sun, disk temperatures also deciined with heliocentric distance. At some distance from the Sun, a location referred to as the ice line, temperatures became low enough for water ice to form. Initially, the ice line may have been 5-6 AU from the Sun, but it moved inward over time as the nebula cooled, Some asteroids contain hydrated minerals formed by reactions between water ice and dry rock This suggests water ice was present when these asteroids formed, in which case the ice line would have been no more than 2-3 AU from the Sun at the time. Meter-sized icy bodies drifted rapidly inward through the solar nebula due to gas drag. As the collapse proceeds, the temperature and pressure within the globule increases, as the atoms are in close proximity. Also, the globule rotates faster and faster. This spinning action causes an increase in centrifugal forces (a radial force on spinning objects) that causes the globule to have a central core and a surrounding flattened disk of dust (called a protoplanetary disk or accretion disk). The central core becomes the star; the protoplanetary disk may eventually coalesce into orbiting planets, asteroids, etc. Protostar The contracting cloud heats up due to friction and forms a glowing protostar; this stage lasts for roughly 50 million years. If there is enough material in the protostar, the gravitational collapse and the heating continue, ‘A Newborn Star and a Solar System When a temperature of about 27,000,000°F is reached, nuclear fusion begins at the core of the Sun. This is the nuclear reaction in which hydrogen atoms are converted to helium atoms plus energy. This energy (radiation) production prevents further contraction of the Sun.Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-I) Young stars often emit jets of intense radiation that heat the surrounding matter to the point at which it glows brightly. These narrowly-focused jets can be trillions of miles long and can travel at 500,000 miles per hour. These jets may be focused by the star's magnetic field. Later, the Sun stabilizes ‘and becomes a yellow dwarf, a main sequence star which will remain in this state for about 10 billion years, After that, the hydrogen fuel is depleted and the Sun begins to die. The basic premise in the understanding of our origins, and the properties of all the planets we have studied this term, is that natural forces created and shaped the Solar System. And that there is @ continuity to that process, L.e. it is not @ sequence of random events. Any model or theory for the formation of the Solar System must have a set of explanations for large-scale and small-scale properties. Large-Scale () the planets are isolated in orderly intervals (i) orbits are nearly circular (i) orbits are in the same plane (v) all planets revolve prograde Small-Scale () most planets rotate prograde (i) the systems of moons can be divided into regular objects (spherical) with direct orbits versus irregular objects with eccentric orbits (i) terrestrial planets have: © high densities © thin or no atmospheres © rotate slowly © rocky, poor in ices and H/He (jv) jovian worlds have © low densities © thick atmospheres © rotate rapidly many moons © fluid interiors, rich in ices, HiHe (Ww) most of outer $$ objects (not just jovian worlds) are ice-rich Also, note that the overall architecture of our Solar System is orderly and the ages of its members uniform. All indicators point to a single formation event about 4.6 billion years ago. The above is not to ignore the fact that a great deal of evolution occurred in the Solar System after it formed. For example, the origin secondary atmospheres of the terrestrial worlds underwent a large amount of chemical processing (Venus was baked, Mars was frozen, Earth developed life). There was also orbital evolution as well, rings were formed, moons captured, tidal locking between worlds (e.g. Pluto and Charon). So the Solar ‘System is not a static system, itis dynamic. However, there are two major problems for a theory of this,@Eduncle Geology (The Planet ) 2. THE ORIGIN OF THE EARTH The age of the Earth was once, and still is, a matter great debate. In 1650 Archbishop Ussher used the Bible to calculate that the Earth was created in 4004BC. Later on in the mid-nineteenth century, Charles Darwin believed that the Earth must be extremely old because he recognised that natural selection and evolution required vast amounts of time. It wasn't until the discovery of radioactivity that scientists began to put a timescale on the history of the Earth. Rocks often contain heavy radioactive elements which decay over long periods of time, the decay is unaffected by the physical and chemical conditions and different elements decay at different rates (These rates are slow and half-lives of several hundred million years are not uncommon) Throughout this century the race has been on to discover the oldest rocks in the world. The oldest volcanic rock found so far has been dated at 3.75 billion years old, but this is not the whole story. Meteorites created at the same time as the Earth hit us all the time, radioactive dating shows that they are about 4.55 billion years old. The Early Atmosphere The present composition of the atmosphere is: 21% OXYGEN 78% NITROGEN 0.04% CARBON DIOXIDE 0.9% ARGON The atmosphere wasn't like this when the Earth was created over 4¥% billion years ago. The First Billion Years The Earth's surface was originally molten, as it cooled the volcanoes belched out massive amounts of CARBON DIOXIDE, STEAM, AMMONIA and METHANE. There wes NO OXYGEN. The ‘STEAM condensed to form water which then produced shallow seas. Evidence points to bacteria flourishing 3.8 billion years ago so this means that life got underway about 700 million years after the Earth was created. Such early forms of life existed in the shallow oceans close to thermal vents, these vents were a source of heat and minerals, The Next Billion Years These primitive life forms then took the next evolutionary step and started to PHOTOSYNTHESISE (using sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to food energy and oxygen). This was an important turning point in Earth history because the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was being converted to oxygen. These green plants went on producing oxygen (and removing the CO.). Most of the carbon from the carbon dioxide in the air became locked up in sedimentary rocks as carbonates and fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide also dissolved into the oceans. The ammonia and methane in the atmosphere reacted with the oxygen. Nitrogen gas was released, partly from the reaction between ammonia and oxygen, but mainly from living organisms such as denitrifying bacteria. (remember that nitrogen is a very unreactive gas and it has bullt up slowly), The Last 2% Billion Years or So As soon as the oxygen was produced by photosynthesis it was taken out again by reacting with other elements (such as iron). This continued until about 2.1 billion years ago when the concentration of oxygen increased markedly. The ozone layer was formed which started to filter out harmful ultraviolet ays. This allowed the evolution of new living organisms in the shallow seas. Various Theories The various theories that have been put forward to explain the origin of our solar system are briefly described below€ Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-I) The Nebular Hypothesis This was the first scientific explanation given for solving the mystery of the origin of our solar system, by a German philosopher (Kant) in 1755. Later, in 1796 a French mathematician (Laplace) developed this theory more fully and expressed it scientifically. Interestingly enough, Laplace was unaware of the earfier work done by Kent, and still, both arrived at similar conclusions quite independently. This hypothesis assumes the existence of a large globular mass of gas, slowly rotating through space. This gaseous mass, called a nebula, gradually became smaller in response to its inherent gravitational pull And as it contracted, its speed of rotation increased. Eventually, the outermost part of the nebula rotated 0 rapidly that rings of gas got separated from the shrinking nebular body. These rings slowly got condensed to form the planets (including earth), and the central mass became the sun. The major drawback of this hypothesis is the fact that the sun is rotating too slowly in comparison to the planets, for this mechanism to have worked. If this system of origin of the solar system actually did take place, then the sun should have been having the greatest angular momentum, because it is the most massive element of the solar system and lies at the centre of the system. The factual position, on the other hand, is quite contrary, as the sun is having only 2% of the total angular momentum. Another objection to this theory is that it is more probable that such detached rings of gas would have been dissipated in space rather than getting condensed into solid planets, (b) oy @ ©) Fig. : Formation of the Solar System. (a) The Solar System was originally a diffuse cloud of dust and gas. (b) This dust and gas began to coalesce due to gravity. (c) The shrinking mass began to Totate and formed a disk. (d) The mass broke up into a discrete protosun orbited by large protoplanets. (e) The Sun heated until fusion temperatures were reached. The heat from the Sun drove most of the hydrogen and helium away from the closest planets, leaving small, solid cores behind. The massive outer planets are still composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. The Planetesimal Hypothesis This theory was proposed in about 1900 by an American geologist (Chamberlin) and an American astronomer (Moulton). This theory assumes the existence of two stars in space, in the very beginning The sun was thus, considered to be one of these two stars existing before the formation of planets. At some time in the remote past, an “intruder” star passed by the sun, thereby exerting a gravitational force€EEduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-1) ‘on the sun, strong enough to pull masses of solar material from opposite sides of the sun. This detached material was dragged along, in the direction of movement of the passing star, and later got cooled and condensed into solid particles called “planetesimals", each pursuing its own orbit around the sun. The largest of these planetesimals acted as nuclei that attracted other planetesimals, and by accretion, the planets eventually grew to their present size. Still other knots or clusters of planetesimals, located near the clusters {rom which the planets were formed, formed the satellites in the same fashion. According to this hypothesis, the angular momentum of the planets was derived from the pull of the passing star. But the major objection to this idea is that such a sideways motion of planetesimais could not possibly be produced by the passing star, because when it was about 150 million km away from the sun, it would be moving almost directly away from it. Moreover, this theory has been discredited, because lot of astronomers believe that it is highly unlikely, that another star could have passed ‘so close’ to the sun and, even if such a ‘near miss’ had occurred, it is doubtful that the intruder star could have generated sufficient lateral thrust to set the detached solar masses in motion in orbits, Instead, itis more likely that such masses would have fallen back into the sun. The Tidal Hypothesis This hypothesis is very similar to the above-described ‘planetesimal hypothesis’ and assumes the existing once of two stars. This theory was given by two Britishers (Jeans and Jeffrey). According to them, tides were created in the sun, as a result of the force of attraction between the sun and the “passing star”. Due to this tidal action, a gaseous filament got separated from the sun, as soon as the passing star went away. This separated filament was in the form of a spindle and was unstable. It further broke off into various parts, each of which condensed to form individual planets. Some of these newly formed planets were further disrupted during their first trip around the sun in an eccentric orbit thug providing material for the eventual development of the satelite. The objections to this theory are again like those which were against the Planetesimal hypothesis. Say for example, the passing star cannot possibly impart the proper angular momentum to the Gaseous filament. Furthermore, the astronomers eventually showed that a hot filament pulled from Sun would not form solid planets but would simply diffuse into space. The Buffon's Theory According to Buffon, the Sun and the passing star collided together during their individual movements in the Space. As a result of this collision, an unstable gaseous material was detached, and the planets were formed in the same way as in the Tidal hypothesis’. The objections to this theory are the same as are there to the Tidal hypothesis. The Protoplanet Hypothesis or Turbulent Hypothesis: This is the latest and widely accepted theory, and was first proposed in 1944 by a German physicist, In the same year, his views were also supported, with some modifications of course, by a Soviet mathematician. Later in 1951, an American scientist modified this theory, thus finally enunciated the protoplanet hypothesis. This theory assumes that in the very beginning, there was a hot gaseous nebula mass, rapidly rotating in space. This nebula got collected some dust etc, due to gravitational attraction, thus forming a disc type cloud of dust and gas. Because of its rotating nature, this nebular disc developed large whirlpools or vortexes at various places. Ultimately, these vortexes (eddies) got separated from the nebular mass, These independent eddies also contained a whole system Of eddies. These eddies might then collected the surrounding dusty material by gravitational attraction, thus forming swirls of dust and gas, called protoplanets. In fact, it is believed that nine such protoplanets one for each of the present day planets were formed in this way. These original protopianets were much larger than the finished planets. Smaller eddies than got developed inside some of the larger eddies, giving rise to spinning discs that became the satellites or moon of the planets.€Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth! This theory is summarised in Fig. os Fig. : How Solar System was Formed Many of the astronomers today support this theory, because observations with large telescopes have revealed numerous true nebulas between the Stars. Equally significant is the fact that some of these massive eddies of gas and dust are actually condensing to form new stars. Moreover, this hypothesis is generally acceptable to most cosmogonists, because it explains many of the known: facts about the solar system. It is, nonetheless far from complete, and the origin of the solar system and that of the earth, is still largely in the realm of speculation.3. GEOSPHERE AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE EARTH The Geosphere Since 'geo' means ‘ground,’ the geosphere describes all of the rocks, minerals and ground that are found on and in Earth. This includes all of the mountains on the surface, as well as all of the liquid rock in the mantle below us and the minerals and metals of the outer and inner cores. The continents, the ocean floor, all of the rocks on the surface, and all of the sand in the deserts are all considered part of the geosphere. Basically, if it looks like solid ground, it's part of the ‘ground’ sphere The geosphere is considered that portion of the Earth system that includes the Earth's interior, rocks and minerals, landforms and the processes that shape the Earth's surface. The Earth itself (contrary to Christopher Columbus) is not a perfect sphere. It is what is called an oblate spheroid, with a radius of 6,357 kilometres (km) from the Earth's center to the North Pole and 6,378 km from the center to the Equator. Prior to advanced instruments and spacecraft, 17th-century scientist Sir Isaac Newton predicted a similar shape based on the effects of the Earth's daily rotation and his studies of other planets. Geodesy (the study of the Earth's shape) is a very important science, in that it is critical for helping us understand satellite orbits, create maps and navigate on the planet using devices such as the Global Positioning System (GPS). The Composition of the Earth Structure ‘Scientists divide the Earth into three layers—the crust, the mantle, and the core—based on the composition of each layer. These layers are made up of progressively denser materials toward the center of the Earth. Earth’s thin outer layer, that is made almost entirely of light elements. It makes up less than 1 percent of the planet's mass. The crust is Earth's thinnest layer. It is 5 km to 8 km thick beneath the oceans and is 20 km to 70 km thick beneath the continents. This is the layer beneath the crust, makes up 64 percent of the mass of the Earth. The mantle is approximately 2,900 km thick and is made of rocks of medium density. Earth's innermost layer is the core is composed of the densest elements, It has a radius of approximately 3,400 km, Fig. : The Earth's Interior€EEduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-I) Fig Cross section through the Earth. Expanded section shows the relationship between the two types of crust, the lithosphere and the asthenosphere, and the mantle. The crust ranges from 5 to 75 kilometers thick. \ Divisions of the core and the mantle are The Inner Core (5150 km-6371 km) : solid Fe-Ni due to great pressure despite high temperature The Outer Core (2900 km-5150 km) : molten Fe-NiGEduncle logy (The Planet Earth!) ‘The Lower Mantle (670 km-2900 km) : dense silicate rocks The Upper Mantle (base of the crust to 670 km) : silicate rocks The temperature at the core-mantle boundary is ~ 500°C. Heat Sources in The Earth 1. Heat from the early accretion and differentiation of the Earth still slowly reaching surface. 2 Heat released by the radioactive breakdown of unstable nuclides. Heat transfer is by 1. Radiation (heat from distant source via an intervening medium) Conduction (hot and cold bodies in physical contact) Convection (hotter regions of a fluid upwell, colder regions sink) Advection (fiow of hot material in cooler material typically through fractures or pipes) ser ae —_—_—> ==* Radiation ‘Convection ‘Conduction Heat Transfer Mechanism The Lithosphere It Is the stony part of the Earth (litho = stone) and in a broader sense includes alll the solid materials composing the Earth from the surface downwards. In the detailed study of the interior of the Earth, however, the of the planet is subdivided into three specific layers or zones: the crust, be mantle ‘and the core. The term lithosphere is now understood to include only the uppermost shelf of the earth, the crust and a part of the second layer, the mantle, up to which the material exists in a definite solid state. Following is just an outline of the important features of the three layers.€Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth’) The Crust It is the uppermost solid shell of the earth which has a varying thickness in different areas as follows : © Under the oceans : 5 - 6 km © Under the continents: 30 - 35 km. © Under the mountains : 60 - 70 km It is obvious that when compared with the radius of the Earth (6730 km, on an average), the crust makes just an insignificant part in the structure of the earth. It is at best analogous to the skin of a big sized apple. As regards the chemical composition of the crust, analyses made by Clarke, Washington, Goldschmidt and Plodervaat on rock samples from different geographic zones have all shown that: () Silica (Si0,) is the most dominant component; its value ties above 50% by volume in the ‘oceanic crust and above 62% in continental crust; (i) Alumina (AI,0,) is the next dominant component, its value varying between 13-16 per cent; (ii) Iron Oxide (Fe,0,)- 8%, Lime (Ca0)-6%; Sodium Oxide-4%. Magnesium Oxide-4%, Potassium Oxide-2.5% and Titanium oxide-2% are the other components making the crust of the Earth. The solid aggregate that makes the crust of the earth is named as a rock. This is undoubtedly the most common term used in geological literature, and is broadly synonymous with the word stone. The entire crust is made up of different types of rocks. Continental Crust and Oceanic Crust The continental crust ranges from about 15 km than 60 km. (Under high mountain ranges). It is composed mainly of light-coloured rocks rich in silicon, aluminium and potassium. Some of these are similar in composition and density to granite so it is generalized as “granitic. The oceanic crust is composed mainly of dark-coloured iron and magnesium-rich rocks such as basaltic lava flows and datk- coloured plutonic rocks with a thin layer (average 0.5 km.) of sediments. itis termed “basaltic”. It makes up about 65% of the surface of the earth. ‘The Crust has Two Subdivisions ()) SIAL = It is also known as the upper continental crust. It consists of all types of rocks like igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic which are exposed at the land surface. Its composition is usually granitic to granodiorite In the ocean basins, they are floored by a basaltic - horizon which is poorer in potassium and richer in aluminium than the basalts of the land surface and are coaled ocean tholeiites (W) SIMA : It is also known as lower - Continental crust. Its thickness is about 22 km. It includes two parts (2) Outer Sima (up to 19 km) (b) Inner Sima (up to 19 - 33 Kms) ‘© The composition of outer sima is intermediate and the composition of the inner sima is basic to the ultrabasic composition. The seismic discontinuity at depths ranging from 10 to 30 km (in between SIMA and SIAL) is called CONRAD DISCONTINUITY (Vp 6.4 km’) ‘© The chemical compositions of the crust have been determined by TAYLOR AND McClennan (1985), which is based upon 75% Archaean average crust plus 25% model, andesite, the latter to reflect post - early Precambrian additions to the continents. The model has a reasonable based also on the trace element data, Whereas the overall composition of the ocean crust is Mafic (basaltic) and the ‘overall composition the continental crust is intermediate (55 —64 % SiO.)@Eduncle Continental Crust has Three Parts (a) Continental shields that consist of Precambrian (>570 Ma) crystalline igneous and high grade metamorphic rocks (b) Continental platforms contain fiat lying, gently folded younger metasedimentary rocks usually overlying more Precambrian basement. (©) Young, mainly tertiary (>70 Ma ) fold mountains that may contain older, deformed metasedimentary rocks and that almost contain young igneous, both volcanic and intrusive rocks. s A @ 38% 14% 15% Fig. : Relative Atomic Abundances of The Seven most Common Elements that Comprise 97% of The Earth's Mass ‘The Mantle The next layer is a low-velocity zone in the upper mantle from a depth of about 100 km to a depth of about 250 km. This zone is also called the asthenosphere (‘weak layer") and Is considered to be plastic to the rigid zone above which is called the lithosphere. The lithosphere contains the and the upper mantle down to the low-velocity zone. This partially melted zone is thought to be the base of the plates which move on the surface of the Earth. This layer makes up about 80% of the earth by volume. Solid Samples ripped out of the mantle by volcanic action as well as some exposed mantle rocks show us that the mantle is much more homogeneous than the crust. Itis made primarily of olivine (Mg, SiO.) with some pyroxene (MgSiO,) and garnet. I's named for the gem quality olivine (peridot) as peridotite. The temperature in the earth increases with depth (30 degrees C/km near the surface) to about 3000 degrees at the mantle-core boundary, but the rate of increase in the mantle is so small that mantle must be a good transporter of heat from deep to shallower areas. It does this by flowing plastically in @ process called convection Due to the decay of radioactive elements like uranium, thorium and potassium about half the heat flow coming out of the earth. Because the mantle is plastic, it is not rigid enough to support the continental and oceanic crusts; so they have to “float” on the mantle. So mountains have crust thicknesses of up to 60 km, while average thickness may be 35 km. Oceanic crust is thin and dense so it floats much lower than continental material would. Glaciers on Greenland have depressed the central part of the “continent” to below sea level. The Mohorovicic Discontinuity © The depth below the surface of the Earth at which a striking change in the properties of the materials is observed has been named as Mohorovicic discontinuity. In geological literates it is often referred to as M-discontinuity or simply as Moho. © The material below Moho forms a nearly homogeneous zone to a depth of 2900 km is reached, Mantle is that zone within the Earth that starts from M-discontinuity and continues, up to @ depth of 2900 km. 18€Eduncle Geoto © Mantle is made up of an extremely basic material called aptly ultra basic, that is very rich in iron and magnesium but quite poor in silica, This zone is characterized by a high density that increases with depth. ‘© The material of the mantle is believed to be variably viscous in nature so much that the overlying crystal blocks can virtually float over it, of course at a very slow rate and in a broader sense of the term. Earth: © Thus, it defines the boundary between the crust and the mantle of the earth. It is at an average depth of 35 km on the continents and 8 km in the oceans (not counting the water), © Many of the most important geological processes such as volcanism, seismic activity and formation of mountains-orogeny- are believed to originate in the mantle. In fact, very little is known as yet about the mantle because we have not yet been able to pierce the earth up to an actual depth of this zone. All observations about this zone are of indirect nature, mostly based on the behavior of seismic waves (shock waves released during an earthquake) from their passage within the earth. © These studies show that the mantle also has a complex layered structure like the crust. It is also sometimes distinguished into upper mantle, middle mantle and lower mantle. The Core Itis the third and the innermost structural shell of the earth as conclusively proved by the seismic evidence. It starts at a depth of 2900 km below the surface and extends right up to the center of the earth, at a depth of 6370 km. The core remains a mystery in many ways. Within the core, the physical nature and composition of the material are not uniform throughout its depth. Further, it has a very high density at the mantle-core boundary, above 10gicc. But despite such a high density, the outer core behaves like a liquid towards the seismic waves. The liquid-like core extending from a depth of 2900 km to about 4800, km is often termed as outer core. The Inner Core Starting from 4800 km and extending up to 6370 km is of unknown nature but definitely of solid character and with properties resembling to a metallic body. According to @ widely favoured view, the core may be made up of iron and nickel, allowed in some yet unknown manner. This view gets some support from the composition of meteorites that are often recovered from different regions of the globe, The meteorites, as already mentioned, are wandering fragments from the interiors of some other destroyed planets that enter our atmosphere as meteors from time to time. © The total core has a radius of about 3486 km. © The inner core has a radius of 1216 km. © The core’s average density is over 10 gmicm* Densities of silicate minerals in the crust and the mantle range from about 2.6 to about 4. Because the average density of the earth is a little over 5.4 gmjcm’, it makes sense that the core has to have a high density to compensate for the average ‘Oxygen (most common anion in the mantle) is such a large, low density element that no amount of compression could account for the high density of these core materials. From meteorite analyses and cosmic abundances of elements the outer core is thought to be primarily made of iron with small amounts of oxygen. nickel, chromium, silicon and carbon, to lower its melting point. Also the density would be higher if it were pure iron. The inner core is thought to be almost pure iron with @ higher melting point. its diameter can be measured using seismic reflection. In the early stages of the earth formation, when it was molten, elements were segregated by density and by combining with other elements to form compounds of different densities. Evidently, blocks of iron rich material sank towards the center.Geology (The Planet Eart 4. SHAPE AND SIZE OF THE EARTH Geodesy is the science that studies the shape and size of the Earth. As discussed in Voyagers, the shape of the earth was long known to be round. Aristotle and Pythagoras both argued that the earth Was a sphere from the curved shadow it cast during lunar eclipses, About two thousand years later, Sir Isaac Newton suggested that the earth was not a perfect sphere, but rather somewhat flattened at its poles. From mathematical considerations of the combined gravitational and centrifugal forces which the earth experiences, Newton computed that the Earth's shape should be an oblate spheroid, a solid formed When an ellipse is rotated about its axis. Expeditions to Peru in 1735 and to Lapland in 1736 confirmed this theory. The difference in axes is about 1 part in 300. This means the earth's equatorial diameter is 7,926 miles, while its polar diameter is 7,900 miles. Earth's Size As the largest of the terrestrial planets, Earth has an estimated mass of 5.9736 x 1024 kg. Its volume is also the largest of these planets at 108.321 x 1010km:, In addition, Earth is the densest of the terrestrial planets as it is made up of a crust, mantle and core. The Earth's crust is the thinnest of these layers while the mantle comprises 84% of Earth's volume and extends 1,800 miles (2,900 km) below the surface. What makes Earth the densest of these planets however is its core. It is the only terrestrial planet with @ liquid outer core that surrounds a solid, dense inner core. Earth's average density is 5515 * 10 kgim®. Mars, the smallest of the terrestrial planets by density, is only around 70% as dense as Earth. Earth is classified as the largest of the terrestrial planets based on its circumference and diameter as well, At the equator, Earth's circumference is 24,901.55 miles (40,075.16 km). It is slightly smaller between the North and South poles at 24,859.82 miles (40,008 km). Earth's diameter at the poles is 7,899.80 miles (12,713.5 km) while it is 7,926.28 miles (12,756.1 km) at the equator. For comparison, the largest planet in Earth’s solar system, Jupiter, has a diameter of 88,846 miles (142,984 km) Earth's Shape Earth's circumference and diameter differ because its shape is classified as an oblate spheroid or ellipsoid, instead of a true sphere. This means that instead of being of equal circumference in all areas, the poles are squished, resulting in a bulge at the equator, and thus a larger circumference and diameter there. The equatorial bulge at Earth's equator is measured at 26.5 miles (42.72 km) and is caused by the planet's rotation and gravity. Gravity itself causes planets and other celestial bodies to contract and form a sphere. This is because it pulls all the mass of an object as close to the center of gravity (the Earth’s core in this case) as possible Because Earth rotates, this sphere is distorted by the centrifugal force. This is the force that causes objects to move outward away from the center of gravity. Therefore, as the Earth rotates, centrifugal force is greatest at the equator so it causes a slight outward bulge there, giving that region a larger circumference and diameter. Local topography also plays a role in the Earth's shape, but on a global scale its role is very small The largest differences in local topography across the globe are Mount Everest, the highest point above sea level at 29,035 ft (8,850 m), and the Mariana Trench, the lowest point below sea level at 35,840 ft (10,924 m). This difference is only a matter of about 12 miles (19 km), which is very minor overall. If equatorial bulge is considered, the world’s highest point and the place that is farthest from the Earth's center is the peak of the volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador as it is the highest peak that is nearest the equator. Its elevation is 20,561 ft (6,267 m)€EEduncle Geology (The Planet Earth!) Geodesy To ensure that the Earth's size and shape is studied accurately, geodesy, a branch of science responsible for measuring the Earth’s size and shape with surveys and mathematical calculations is used. Throughout history, geodesy was a significant branch of science as early scientists end philosophers attempted to determine the Earth's shape. Aristotle is the first person credited with trying to calculate Earth's size and was therefore, an early geodesist. The Greek philosopher Eratosthenes followed and was able to estimate the Earth's circumference at 25,000 miles, only slightly higher than today’s accepted measurement, In order to study the Earth and use geodesy today, researchers often refer to the ellipsoid, geoid and datums. An ellipsoid in this field is a theoretical mathematical model that shows @ smooth, simplistic representation of the Earth's surface. It is used to measure distances on the surface without having to account for things like elevation changes and landforms. To account for the reality of the Earth’s surface, geodesists use the geoid which is a shape that is constructed using the global mean sea level and as a result takes elevation changes into account. The basis of ali geodetic work today though is the datum. These are sets of data that act as reference points for global surveying work. In geodesy, there are two main datums used for transportation and navigation in the U.S. and they make up a portion of the National Spatial Reference System. Today, technology like satellites and global positioning systems (GPS) allow geodesists and other scientists to make extremely accurate measurements of the Earth’s surface. In fact it is so accurate, geodesy can allow for worldwide navigation but it also allows researchers to measure small changes in the Earth's surface down to the centimetre level to obtain the most accurate measurements of the Earth's size and shape.Geduncle 2 5. EARTH-MOON SYSTEM The moon is the earth's nearest neighbour in space. In addition to its proximity, the moon is also exceptional in that it is quite massive compared to the earth itself, the ratio of their masses being far larger than the similar ratios of other natural satellites to the planets they orbit (though that of Charon and the dwarf planet Pluto exceeds that of the moon and earth). For this reason, the earth-moon system is sometimes considered a double planet. It is the center of the earth-moon system, rather than the center of the earth itself, that describes an elliptical orbit around the sun in accordance with Kepler's laws. It is also more accurate to say that the earth and moon together revolve about their common center of mass, rather than saying that the moon revolves about the earth. This common center of mass lies beneath the earth's surface, about 3,000 mi (4800 km) from the earth's center. The Lunar Month ‘The moon was studied, and its apparent motions through the sky recorded, beginning in ancient times. The Babylonians and the Maya, for example, had remarkably precise calendars for eclipses and other astronomical events. Astronomers now recognize different kinds of months, such as the synodic month of 29 days, 12 hr, 44 min, the period of the lunar phases, and the sidereal month of 27 days, 7 hr, 43 min, the period of lunar revolution around the earth The Lunar Orbit ‘As seen from above the earth's north pole, the moon moves in a counterclockwise direction with an average orbital speed of about 0.6 mi/sec (1 km/sec), Because the lunar orbit is elliptical, the distance between the earth and the moon varies periodically as the moon revolves in its orbit. At perigee, when the moon is nearest the earth, the distance is about 227,000 mi (365,000 km); at apogee, when the moon is farthest from the earth, the distance is about 254,000 mi (409,000 km). The average distance is about 240,000 mi (385,000 km), or about 60 times the radius of the earth itself. The plane of the moon's orbit is tilted, or inclined, at an angle of about 5° with respect to the ecliptic, The line dividing the bright and dark portions of the moon is called the terminator. Retarded Lunar Motion Due to the earth's rotation, the moon appears to rise in the east and set in the west, like all other heavenly bodies; however, the moon's own orbital motion carries it eastward against the stars. This apparent motion is much more rapid than the similar motion of the sun. Hence the moon appears to overtake the sun and rises on an average of 50 minutes later each night. There are many variations in this retardation according to latitude and time of year. In much of the Northern Hemisphere, at the autumnal equinox, the harvest moon occurs; moonrise and sunset nearly coincide for several days around full moon. The next succeeding full moon, called the hunter's moon, also shows this coincidence. Solar and Lunar Eclipses Although an optical illusion causes the moon to appear larger when it is near the horizon than when it is near the zenith, the true angular size of the moon's diameter is about 1/2", which also happens to be the sun's apparent diameter. This coincidence makes possible total eclipses of the sun in which the solar disk is exactly covered by the disk of the moon, An eclipse of the moon occurs when the earth's shadow falls onto the moon, temporarily blocking the sunlight that causes the moon to shine. Eclipses ‘can occur only when the moon, sun, and earth are arranged along a straight line—lunar eclipses at the full moon and solar eclipses at new moon. Tidal Influence of The Moon The gravitational influence of the moon is chiefly responsible for the tides of the earth's oceans, the twice-daily rise and fall of sea level. The ocean tides are caused by the flow of water toward the two points on the earth's surface that are instantaneously directly beneath the moon and directly opposite the moon. Because of frictional drag, the earth's rotation carries the two tidal bulges slightly forward of the line connecting earth and moon.Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth) The resulting torque slows the earth's rotation while increasing the moon's orbital velocity. As a result, the day is getting longer and the moon is moving farther away from the earth. The moon also raises much smaller tides in the solid crust of the earth, deforming its shape. The tidal influence of the earth on the moon was responsible for making the moon's periods of rotation and revolution equal, so that the same side of the moon always faces earth. The Earth and the Moon directly influence each other, so it is best to think of these two objects as part of one larger system, rather than two separate, individual objects. Compared to the Earth, the Moon is relatively large. It has 1% of Earth's mass, and has 1/4 the Earth's radius. The Earth and Moon can almost be considered a binary planet system. The most notable influence that the two objects have ‘on each other is TIDES. See Figures from C and M Fig. : Tidal Influence of the Moon The top panel shows the force of gravity felt by the Earth from the Moon. It is strongest just below the Moon, and weakest on the side of the Earth opposite from the Moon. The lower left panel shows the difference in the force felt on various places on the Earth compared to the force felt by the center of the Earth. This shows how the Moon tidally DEFORMS the Earth. Below the Moon, the ocean water gets pullled into a high tide. On the opposite side of the Earth from the Moon, the water gets left behind, because it isn't being pulled as strongly as the center of the Earth, so there is a high tide on that side, as well. On the two sides of Earth perpendicular to the Moon, the net effect is that the water gets squeezed towards the center of the Earth, causing low tides at these two locations. As the Earth rotates once around during a 24 hour day, each location goes through high tide, low tide, high tide, and low tide. In the right panel, the two images show how the Sun also contributes to the tides on Earth. The tidal force on the Earth from the Sun is WEAKER than the tidal force on the Earth from the Moon. The way we observe the effect of the Sun is that when the Moon is in its Full or New phase, the Sun ENHANCES the tidal effect of the Moon, leading to higher high tides. These are called SPRING TIDES. When the Moon is at 1st or 3rd Quarter (the Sun/Earth line is perpendicular to the Moon/Earth line), the Sun's tidal force CANCELS some of the Moon's tidal force, leading to lower than normal high tides. These are called NEAP TIDES. Tides in the Earth/Moon system have led to an effect called TIDAL LOCKING, and the Moon is now in a SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT (its rotation period is equal to its orbital period around the Earth). This effect is common, and occurs in many other systems. In the case of the Earth/Moon, this is how it works :Edunc! le Geology (The Planet Earth: i The tidal bulge on the Earth rotates as the Earth rotates, and in general, the high tide bulge doesn't point straight at the Moon like in the Figure above. instead, the Moon lags behind the bulge. The force of gravity from the Moon pulls the Earth in the direction OPPOSITE to its rotation, causing the Earth's rotation period to slow down. You might remember this by thinking that the tidal bulge is shifting in order to line up with the object causing it. ‘The Moon gets deformed by the Earth, too, although since there is no water on the Moon the effect isn't as obvious. However, the tidal bulge on the Moon has already shifted so that it points directly at the Earth. This is why the Moon always points the same face to the Earth. Because of Newton's third law (equal/opposite reaction), as the Earth slows down because ‘of the Moon's pull, the Earth is pushing the Moon slowly AWAY from the Earth. It gets farther away from us year after year.Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-I) 6. FORMATION OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS Analyses of the approximately 4 billion-year-old Acasta Gneiss suggests that the first continents and oceans developed before the Archean. The Archean, however, is the period during which the present continents took shape. Most present continents have shields at their cores that formed between 3 to 2.5 billion years ago during the early Archean. Evidence of ancient oceanic crust is often found in today's greenstone belts. Continental crust gradually grew from the selective melting of dark-colored basaltic igneous rocks within the oceanic crust. Through time, these melts became increasingly rich in silica, as geologic processes melted more of the lower-temperature, lighter-density minerals. Much as a helium balloon rises through the air, these silica-tich meits rose from deep within Earth and formed granitic plutons (intrusive bodies) nearer the surface. Early in the Archean the granitic crust of continents had begun to form from the basaltic crust of the ocean floor. Continental landmasses began forming about 3.7 billion years ago from the horizontal accretion of smaller micro-continents. The Kenoran orogeny was one such event, which formed what is now the Great Lakes region of North America during the Late Archean. Direct evidence for running water on Earth comes from the Isukasia region of Greenland. There, 3.8-billion-year-old rocks preserve original sedimentary layering that formed when sediments weathered from exposed rocks were deposited by water. This is evidence that the hydrologic cycle was in place by the Early Archean, with water evaporating from the seas, condensing and falling as rain, and forming oceans. Weathering and erosion of early continents had built widespread continental shelves by 2.7-3.0 billion years ago. The theory of plate tectonics is nowadays more or less universally accepted by geologists, we have mentioned the basic idea briefly at the beginning of this class. The basic thought is, that it of being permanent fixtures of the earth’s surface, the continents and ocean basins undergo continuous change. Both are parts of lithospheric plates that move against each other, and in the process, new crust is created at mid-oceanic ridges (spreading centers), and old crust is consumed at convergent plate boundaries (subduction zones). Even before the theory of plate tectonics, there were a variety of geologic observations that suggested that the continents were on the move, but because nobody had a good idea what the underlying driving mechanisms might be, the idea languished in obscurity for the first half of the 20th century. Plate Margins Sg emt emus@GEduncle Fig. : Plate tectonics : Lithosphere is the outer strong shell of the Earth, consisting of the crust and the uppermost mantle, and divided into many plates, in perpetual relative motion. Magma genesis in the Earth is intimately linked to tectonics, Alfred Wegener, the pioneer of continental drift, thought that the continents as plates move through the oceanic crust, implying thus that the shorelines of the continents are the margins of the continental plates. However, even though that may be initially a reasonable assumption (the shorelines being major geographic features), continental margins need not necessarily be plate margins. Today scientists have a fairly good understanding of how the plates move and how such movements relate to the earthquake and volcanic activity. Most movement occurs along narrow zones between plates where the results of plate-tectonic forces are most evident. There are basically three different types of plate boundaries (divergent, convergent, transform), and a fourth type (boundary zones) is sometimes designated when it is dificult to define a clear boundary: Divergent Boundaries : where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. Convergent Boundaries : where the crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another. Transform Boundaries : where the crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other. Plate Boundary Zones : broad belts in which boundaries are not well defined and the effects of plate interaction are unclear. ‘The Three Principal Types of Plate Margins and Various Associated Features are Illustrated in The Picture Above.@Eduncle Geology (The Planet Earth) Divergent Boundaries Fig. : Divergent Boundaries Divergent plate boundaries occur along spreading centers where plates are moving apart (white arrows) due to mantle convection and new crust is created by magma pushing up from the mantle. Perhaps the best known of the divergent boundaries is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This submerged mountain range, which extends from the Arctic Ocean to beyond the southern tip of Africa, is but one segment of the global mid-ocean ridge system that encircles the Earth. The rate of spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge averages about 2.5 centimetres per year (cm/yr), or 25 km in a million years. This rate may seem slow by human standards, but because this process has been going on for millions of years, it has resulted in plate movement of thousands of kilometres. Seafloor spreading over the past 100 to 200 million years has caused the Atlantic Ocean to grow from a tiny inlet of water between the continents of Europe, Africa, and the Americas into the vast ocean that exists today. The volcanic country of Iceland, which straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, offers scientists a natural laboratory for studying on land the processes also occurring along he submerged parts of a spreading ridge. Iceland is splitting along the spreading center between the North American and Eurasian Plates, as North America moves westward relative to Eurasia, The consequences of this type of plate movement are easy to see around Krafla Volcano, in the northeastern part of Iceland, and the Thingvellir Fissure Zone. Continental DIVERGENT TRANSFORM onmaorruscan comes SEG" LR ‘oust CONVERGENT MARGIN (subduction) —— Fig. : Plate Margins@eEduncle Geology (The Planet Earth) Table : The Layers of The Earth ___coMrosmion: DEPTH PROPERTIES: 10k ‘Cool, hard, and strong 20-70 km ‘Cook, hard ad stro 75-125 km Cool, bard, ed strong Extends to 390 hin Hot, weak, and | piste ie ‘mcd Extends from 38010 | Hot, under great oo kat (pressure, ad ly strong, Extcads from 66010 | High presure forms 90 tn gla from thone of the ppc toe Extends from 290010 | Liquid $150 kam ‘Eutcnds from 5150 kin Solid to the conce of the Eat Lava fountains (10 m high) spouting from eruptive fissures during the October 1980 eruption of Krafla Volcano in Iceland. At Krafla, existing ground cracks have widened and new ones appear every few months. From 1975 to 1984, numerous episodes of rifting (surface cracking) took place along the Krafla fissure zone. Some of these rifting events were accompanied by volcanic activity; the ground would gradually rise 1-2 m before abruptly dropping, signalling an impending eruption. Between 1975 and 1984, the displacements caused by tifting totalled about 7 m. Aerial view of the area around Thingvellir, Iceland, showing a fissure zone (in shadow) that is the on-land exposure of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Right of the fissure, the North American Plate is pulling westward away from the Eurasian Plate (left of the fissure). Large building (near the top) marks the site of Logberg, Iceland's first parliament, founded in the year A.D. 930. The evolution of a divergent plate boundary has three recognizable stages. The birth of a divergent boundary requires that an existing plate begins to divide. This is happening today in East Africa, in an area known as the East African Rift zone. The African continent is slowly splitting in two. As the continental crust divides, magma from the asthenosphere fills in the gap. Several volcanoes are present in the rift zone. Eventually the gap will form a narrow ocean (youth) much like the Red Sea to the north of the East African Rift Zone. The Red Sea separates Saudi Arabia from Africa East Africa may be the site of the Earth's next major ocean. Plate interactions in the region provide scientists with an opportunity to study first hand how the Atlantic may have begun to form about 200 million years ago. Geologists believe that, if spreading continues, the three plates that meet at the edge of the present-day African continent will separate completely, allowing the Indian Ocean to flood the area and making the easternmost corner of Africa (the Horn of Africa) a large island.Fig. : Divergent plate Boundaries A similar narrow sea, the Gulf of California, lies between much of Mexico and Baja California. The view to the south along the Gulf of California, between the Baja peninsula and the mainland of Mexico. The Gulf is spreading, pushing Baja further away from the Mexican mainland. It takes millions of years to form a mature ocean, as rates of plate motions are siow (10-100 mm/yr). At such rates it would take millions of years to form even a narrow ocean. Table : Characteristics and Examples of Plate Boundaries Divergent ‘Ocean-ocea Mid.ovcanie ridge Seow peaing, | Mi-Atanbe nis snap volcanics Contincatcontinent | Rift valley ‘Continents torn spurt, | East African sift casthyuakes sing tmogn,volcanoes Ocean ocean Island acs and Subductioa, ‘Wester Alewtians Comement ‘ac and ocean << volcanoes of rocks Ocean continent Means sateen | Slit dep | Anis textes Set t ooks Comin cominest | Mousiains Deep earthquakes Hinalayas eterntien of rks Transform ‘Ocean ocean Major ofsct of mid | Earthquakes (Offset of East Pacific cane ridge is "he in South Pacific Contincatcontinest | Saul deformed Eartbguahes, San Andean fall unt anges, efermation Elermabco ions | sks Convergent Boundaries The size of the Earth has not changed significantly during the past 600 million years, and very likely not since shortly after its formation 4.6 billion years ago. The Earth’s unchanging size implies that the crust must be destroyed at about the same rate as it is being created. Such destruction (recycling) plates are moving toward each other, and one plate sinks (is a under another.duncle Geology (The Planet Earth: The location where the sinking of a plate occurs is called a subduction zone. The type of convergence (some call it a very slow “collision") that takes place between plates depends on the kind of lithosphere involved. Convergence can occur between an oceanic and a largely continental plate, or between two largely oceanic plates, or between two largely continental plates. Convergence between Continental and Oceanic Crust Off the coast of South America, along the Peru-Chile trench, the oceanic Nazca Plate is pushing into and is being subducted under the continental part of the South American Plate. In turn, the overriding South American Plate is being lifted up, creating the towering Andes mountains, the backbone of the continent. Partial melting of the subducted oceanic crust gives rise to andesitic volcanism parallel to the subduction zone. Because continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust, the oceanic crust will ‘always be subducted under continental crust. Strong, destructive earthquakes and the rapid uplift of mountain ranges are common in these region. Earthquakes are often accompanied by uplift of the land by as much as a few meters Fig.: The convergence of the Nazca and South American Plates has deformed and pushed up limestone strata to form the towering peaks of the Andes, as seen here in the Pachapaqui mining area in Peru, Convergence between Oceanic and Oceanic Crust ‘As with oceanic-continental convergence, when two oceanic plates converge, one is usually subducted under the other (the older one is subducted because of its larger density), and in the process ‘a trench is formed. The Marianas Trench (paralleling the Mariana Islands), for example, marks where the fast-moving Pacific Plate converges against the slower moving Philippine Plate. The Challenger Deep, ‘at the southern end of the Marianas Trench, plunges deeper into the Earth's interior (nearly 11,000 m) than Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, rises above sea level (about 8,854 m) Acctetonary wedge (ine-grained seoone ero Tear et Ocean becones narrower er *TOcean-Continent Convergence Subduction processes in aceanic-oceanic plate convergence also result in the formation of volcanoes. Over millions of years, the erupted lava and volcanic debris pile up on the ocean floor until 28 submarine volcano rises above sea level to form an island volcano. Such voleanoes are typically strung out in chains called island arcs. As the name implies, volcanic island arcs, which closely parallel the trenches, are generally curved.@GEduncle Geology (The Planet Earth-)) The trenches are the Key to understanding how island arcs such as the Marianas and the Aleutian Islands have formed and why they experience numerous strong earthquakes. Magmas that form island arcs are produced by the partial melting of the descending plate and/or the overlying oceanic lithosphere. The descending plate also provides a source of stress as the two plates interact, leading to frequent moderate to strong earthquakes. Continental Convergence The Himalayan mountain range dramatically demonstrates one of the most visible and spectacular consequences of plate tectonics. When two continents meet head-on, neither is subducted because the continental rocks are relatively light and, like two colliding icebergs, resist downward motion. Instead, the crust tends to buckle and be pushed upward or sideways. Young rounten bet ——— 1 Conte conker coir (Sartesvertcal wai exaggeraed i) Fig. : Continent-continent Collision The collision of India into Asia 50 million years ago caused the Eurasian Plate to crumple up and override the Indian Plate. After the collision, the slow continuous convergence of the two plates over millions of years pushed up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to their present heights. Most of this growth occurred during the past 10 million years. The Himalayas, towering as high as 8,854 m above sea level, form the highest continental mountains in the world. Moreover, the neighbouring Tibetan Plateau, at an average elevation of about 4,600 m, is higher than all the peaks in the Alps except for Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa, and is well above the summits of most mountains in the United States. Fig. : Continental Convergence€Eduncle Seauncle Geology (The Planet Earth) Fig. : The collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates has pushed up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. The cross sections show the evolution of the Himalayas and the displacement of slivers of continental crust during this collision. The reference points (small squares) show the ‘amount of uplift of an imaginary point in the Earth's crust during this mountain-building process. ‘Transform Boundaries Fig. : Transform Boundaries Transform boundaries are places where plates slide sideways past each other. At transform boundaries lithosphere is neither created nor destroyed. Many transform boundaries are found on the sea floor, where they connect segments of diverging mid-ocean ridges. California's San Andreas fault is a transform boundary, Transform BoundariesGeology (The Planet Earth-!) The San Andreas fault zone, which is about 1,300 km long and in places tens of kilometres wide, slices through two-thirds of the length of California. Along with it, the Pacific Plate has been grinding horizontally past the North American Plate for 10 million years, at an average rate of about 5 cmiyr. Land ‘on the west side of the fault zone (on the Pacific Plate) is moving in @ northwesterly direction relative to the land on the east side of the fault zone (on the North American Plate) The nature of a tectonic plate can be summarized as follows : A plate is a segment of the lithosphere; thus, it includes the uppermost mantle and all of the overlying crust. A single plate can carry both oceanic and continental crust. The average thickness of lithosphere covered by oceanic crust is 75 kilometers, whereas that of lithosphere covered by a continent is 125 kilometers Lithosphere may be as little as 10 to 15 kilometers thick at an oceanic spreading center. A plate is composed of hard, mechanically strong rock A plate floats on the underlying hot, plastic asthenosphere and glides horizontally over it. A plate behaves like a large slab of ice floating on a pond. It may flex slightly, as thin ice does when a skater goes by, allowing minor vertical movements. In general, however, each plate moves as a large, intact sheet of rock. A plate margin is tectonically active. Earthquakes and volcanoes are common at plate boundaries. In contrast, the interior of a lithospheric plate is normally tectonically stable. Tectonic plates move at rates that vary from less than 1 to 18 centimeters per year.