Slide 1

Lecture Outlines
PowerPoint
Chapter 1

Earth Science 11e
Tarbuck/Lutgens

© 2006 Pearson Prentice Hall


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Earth Science, 11e
Introduction to
Earth Science
Chapter 1


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Earth Science
Encompasses all sciences that seek to
understand
• Earth
• Earth's neighbors in space

Earth Science includes
• Geology - literally the “study of Earth”
• Oceanography – a study of the ocean


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Earth Science
Earth Science includes
• Meteorology - the study of the atmosphere
and the processes that produce weather
• Astronomy - the study of the universe


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People and the environment
Environment
• Surrounds and influences organisms
• Physical environment encompasses water,
air, soil, and rock
• Term “environmental” is usually reserved
for those aspects that focus on the
relationships between people and the
natural environment


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People and the environment
Resources
• An important focus of the Earth sciences
• Includes water, soil, minerals, and energy
• Two broad categories
• Renewable – can be replenished (examples
include plants and energy from water and wind)
• Nonrenewable – metals (examples include
metals and fuels)


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People and the environment
Population
• Population of the planet is growing rapidly
• Rate of mineral and energy usage has
climbed more rapidly than the overall
growth of population

Environmental problems
• Local, regional, and global


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People and the environment
Environmental problems
• Human-induced and accentuated
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•
•
•

Urban air pollution
Acid rain
Ozone depletion
Global warming

• Natural hazards
• Earthquakes
• Landslides


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People and the environment
Environmental problems
• Natural hazards continued
• Floods
• Hurricanes

• World population pressures


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Quiz Break Section 1


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Scientific inquiry
Science assumes the natural world is
• Consistent
• Predictable

Goal of science
• To discover patterns in nature
• To use the knowledge to predict


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Scientific inquiry
An idea can become a
• Hypothesis (tentative or untested explanation)
• Theory (tested and confirmed hypothesis)
• Paradigm (a theory that explains a large number
of interrelated aspects of the natural world)

Scientific method
• Gather facts through observation
• Formulate hypotheses and theories


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Scientific inquiry
Scientific knowledge is gained through
• Following systematic steps
•
•
•
•

Collecting facts
Developing a hypothesis
Conduct experiments
Re-examine the hypothesis and accept, modify,
or reject

• Theories that withstand examination
• Totally unexpected occurrences


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Early evolution of Earth
Origin of Earth
• Most researchers believe that Earth and the
other planets formed at essentially the same
time
• Nebular hypothesis
• Solar system evolved from an enormous rotating
cloud called the solar nebula
• Nebula was composed mostly of hydrogen and
helium


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Early evolution of Earth
Origin of Earth
• Nebular hypothesis continued
• About 5 billion years ago the nebula began to
contract
• Assumes a flat, disk shape with the protosun
(pre-Sun) at the center
• Inner planets begin to form from metallic and
rocky clumps
• Larger outer planets began forming from
fragments with a high percentage of ices


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The Nebular hypothesis

Figure 1.7


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Early evolution of Earth
Formation of Earth’s layered structure
• As Earth formed, the decay of radioactive
elements and heat from high-velocity
impacts caused the temperature to
increase
• Iron and nickel began to melt and sink toward
the center
• Lighter rocky components floated outward,
toward the surface

• Gaseous material escaped from Earth’s
interior to produce the primitive
atmosphere


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Earth's “Spheres"
Hydrosphere
• Ocean – the most prominent feature of the
hydrosphere
• Nearly 71% of Earth's surface
• About 97% of Earth's water

• Also includes fresh water found in streams,
lakes, and glaciers, as well as that found
underground


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Earth's “Spheres"
Atmosphere
• Thin, tenuous blanket of air
• One half lies below 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles)

Biosphere
• Includes all life
• Concentrated near the surface in a zone that
extends from the ocean floor upward for
several kilometers into the atmosphere


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Earth's “Spheres"
Solid Earth
• Based on compositional differences, it
consists of the crust, mantle, and core
• Divisions of the outer portion are based on
how materials behave
• Lithosphere - rigid outer layer
• Divisions of Earth’s surface - continents and
ocean basins


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Quiz Break Section 2


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Earth’s layered structure
Using the following:

V = 4/3 π r3
Ave. Crust thickness
= ~30 Km
Upper mantle = 670 Km
What makes up the
greatest volume of
Earth?
a) Crust
b) Upper mantle
c) Lower mantle
d) Outer core
e) Inner Core


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Earth system science
Earth is a dynamic body with many
separate but highly interacting parts or
spheres
Earth system science studies Earth as a
system composed of numerous parts, or
subsystems
System - any size group of interacting
parts that form a complex whole


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Earth system science
System
• Closed systems are self-contained (e.g. an
automobile cooling system)
• Open systems - both energy and matter
flow into and out of the system (e.g. a river
system)


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Earth system science
Feedback mechanisms
• Negative-feedback mechanisms resist
change and stabilize the system
• Positive-feedback mechanisms enhance
the system

Earth as a system
• Consists of a nearly endless array of
subsystems (e.g. hydrologic cycle, rock
cycle)


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Earth system cycles

Figure 1.17


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Earth system science
Earth as a system
• Sources of energy
• Sun – drives external processes such as
weather, ocean circulation and erosional
processes
• Earth’s interior – drives internal processes
including volcanoes, earthquakes and
mountain building

• Humans are part of the Earth system


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Quiz Break Section 3


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End of Chapter 1