Earth Science: Origin and Structure

of the Earth (Part I)

THE BIG BANG THEORY
• according to the theory, the universe formed approximately 13.7 billion years ago
from a cataclysmic expansion which hurled all matter and created space
• this cosmic expansion, however, is different from a typical explosion ( or "Bang" )
because both matter and space were created simultaneously
• as a consequence of this event, the first subatomic particles (e.g. protons,
neutrons, and electrons ) were formed.
• cooling of these debris allowed the formation of simplest atoms ( the first elements
, Hydrogen and Helium) which dominate the universe we have now.

ETERNAL INFLATION OF THE UNIVERSE

• simply states that after the Big Bang, the formation of the universe never stopped
and is continuously making other different universe (multiverses) which could be
different or similar to our own in terms of physical laws.

MODEL OF AN OSCILLATING UNIVERSE

• explain an alternative solution to the question of beginnings and endings for our
universe. With the Big Bang theory explaining the origin of matter, space and time
from a singularity, the model of an oscillating universe states that a similar
contraction and return to that singularity should be possible ( called the Big Crunch)

THE SOLAR NEBULA HYPOTHESIS: THE BIRTH OF A STAR

• during the Big Bang , most of the subatomic particles are still too excited (high
energy state) to actually slow down and form larger clusters of atoms. It was only
when the cooling and contraction of the first formed gasses (H and He ) allowed
these atoms to be close enough and undergo the process of nuclear fusion. This
process is very important because it involves the release of tremendous amount of
energy in the form of light, heat and cosmic rays. And thus, the first stars are formed
from this contraction of gases and nuclear fusion.

THE BIRTH OF A PLANET

• the cyclic birth (solar nebula) and the death (super nova) of stars allowed the
formation of elements that drift into space for billion years. As these particles collect
and form large accumulations of dust and gas , the central portion again becomes
so massive (amd in time will become a star again) leaving a small portion of
materials to form relatively smaller clusters of dust and gas that will now become the
planets

THE EARTH SYSTEMS

• Earth is traditionally divided into three spheres : Geosphere , Hydrosphere, and
Athmosphere
• Geosphere
•the largest ; compromises of the solid portion of the earth
•major divisions:
•Crust - Earth's thin and rocky outer skin. It is generally divided into two types based
on composition and physical properties ( Oceanic and Continental, not to be
confused with oceans and continents). Oceanic crust, although usually found
beneath oceans and large bodies of water, is made up of basaltic rocks rich in
ferromagnesian materials. In terms of thickness, the oceanic crust is thinner(7km)
compared to continental crust. Continental crust, on the other hand, is thicker (may
exceed 70 km) especially in mountainous regions. Composition of continental crust
is different as it is dominated by granitic rocks

•Mantle - comprises more than 82 percent of the Earth's total volume. The rocks
found in this layer are more related to denser materials such as iron and
magnesium. Due to pressure differences between mantle near the surface and
mantle at deeper depths, this layer is further subdivided into an upper mantle and a
lower mantle. The upper mantle extends from the bottom of the crust to a depth of
about 660 km. Because of pressure and compositional differences , the upper
mantle is further divided into a 'stiff' lithosphere and a 'plastic' asthenosphere. The
litosphere is actually the stiff portion of the upper mantle and the whole crust above
it. The asthenosphere , on the other hand, is like a weaker ( hence the use of the
term 'plastic') layer beneath the lithosphere. Deeper than the mantle and extends
2,900 km to the top of the core , the lower mantle is the more rigid portion of the
mantle.

•Core - considered to be the sink of dense elements ( iron and nickel) from the
differentiation process, the core represents the deepest portion of the earth with a
radius of approximately 3,400 km. It is further divided into two regions using their
physical properties. The outer core represents the liquid portion of the core where
the movement of the iron is beleived to be generating the Earth's magnetic field.
The solid inner core , on the other hand, remains in such phase due to immense
pressure

THE HYDROSPHERE
• accounting for more than seventy percent of the Earth's surface area, water is
what makes our planet unique in the solar system
• within the solar system's habitable zone (a stretch of distance from the sun that
allows the existence of several phases of elements including water that is vital to
the formation, and survival of life), the existence of surface water provided the
medium for different life process to occur
• the hydrosphere is not limited to the water we see on the surface as oceans ,
rivers, lakes, and seas. Underground and hidden from our sight , groundwater is
part of the hydrosphere cycle that keeps all thw water continuously transported and
transformed from one form to another.
• ice locked in polar regions and mountains in high latitudes are also part of this
delicate cycle that has been going on since the formation of the earth.

THE ATMOSPHERE
• layer of gaseous envelope that surrounds the planet on the surface and extends
thinly unto space
• most of the gases are found near the surface and decreases away from the planet
with increasing altitude
• provides the exchange of gases we need for respiration and also protects us from
too much ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun
• layers of atmosphere:
• troposphere - lowest layer closest to the Earth's surface and extends up to around
eleven kilometers
- densest later of the atmosphere where most of the gases are located ; includes
majority of weather and climate controls in the atmosphere
• stratosphere - layer next to the atmosphere where the ozone layer is found and
extends up to 50 km high. Ozone layer absorbs most ultraviolet radiation from the
sun before they come in contact with the surface of the earth
• mesosphere - acts as a layer for meteors to burn because of the increasing
density of the atmosphere before going down to the stratosphere and troposphere
• thermosphere - second to the last layer of the atmosphere before the exosphere.
Here, the density of gas molecules is very low compared to the troposphere. It is
called as such because of the excitement of the gas molecules coming from
ultraviolet and x-ray radiation

ANCIENT ASTRONOMY
• the golden age of early astronomy began in Ancient Greece around 600 B.C
• the Greeks were able to explain natural phenomena from their observations of the
world
• applying geometry and mathematics, the Greeks were able to measure distance
(from earth) and size of the moon with good accuracy just by looking at them from a
far
• the Greeks, because of their close affinity to mysticism , have held the idea of a
Geocentric view of the Universe (this means the earth is the center of the universe
and everything revolves around the planet)
• the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C) was the one to conclude of
a spherical earth because of the curved shadow it casts on the moon during
eclipses.
• Eratosthenes (276 - 194 B. C) , a Greek mathematician , was able to measure the
circumference of the earth using principles of geometry
• Aristarchus (312 - 230 B.C) was the first Greek to speculate about a Heliocentric
(sun - centered) universe through his geometric calculations of the size and
distances of the moon and sun.
• most of what we know from ancient Greek astronomy comes from the works
compiled by Ptolemy (A.D. 141) which includes models of the universe from the
motion of celestial bodies. In these works called the Almagest the planets move
around the earth in perfect circular orbits (back then, a circle is considered pure and
perfect shape) . We know now that the sun is the center of the solar system and
earth is one of the planets revolving around it but Ptolemy was able to develop such
good models by explaining the movement of celestial bodies by using circles and
remaining to an Earth-centered universe ideology.

MODERN ASTRONOMY
• for quite some time, the Aristotelian view of the universe persisted mainly through
the works of Ptolemy and Greek philosophers. For modern astronomy to succeed ,
it took numerous scientific breakthroughs to disprove religiously rooted notions of
the universe
• Nicolaus Copernicus - a polish astronomers who believed that the Earth was
just a planet and planets revolved around a central star. For Copernicus, the Earth
is just like any other planet and that the movement of the heavenly bodies around it
can be attributed toa rotation. He sticked to spherical planets and perfect circular
orbits making his predictions on the locations of planets full with errors

• Tycho Brahe - he began to observe the locations of heavenly bodies with such
precision that his works become a legacy to astronomy. He did not believe in
Copernican view of the solar system and was determined to disprove them through
his works. Brahe believed that if the Earth indeed revolves around the sun, the
apparent position of nearby stars should shift accordingly. This apparent shift is
called Stellar Parallax and is now used for measuring the distances of nearby stars.
Back then, telescopes were not as precise as they are now which would make the
"apparent" difficult to determine

• Johannes Kepler - was an assistant of Brahe after he left his observatory in

Copenhagen. Years after Brahe's death , Kepler derived the three basic laws of
planetary motion. Kepler was the first to speculate about the irregularity of Mars'
orbit (that it was not circular but elliptical). Later on , he was also able to predict
about the variation in the orbital speed of Mars ( it speeds up when it is nearer to
the sun. And in 1609 , he proposed his two laws of planetary motion:
1. The path of a planet around the sun is not perfectly circular but an ellipse. Having
an ellipse would mean that the orbit has two foci and one being the sun.
2. The law of equal area stating that a line connecting the sun and the earth will
sweep a constant area in space that is proportional to the time.
- the orbital periods of planets and distance from the sun is proportional. In a
mathematical formula, Kepler expressed that the orbital period (time it take to
revolve around the sun) squared is equal to the mean solar distance cubed. For
example , Mars has an orbital period of 1.88 years (Earth years) . From calculations,
the distance of Mars from the Sun should be 1.52 astronomical units (1
astronomical = distance of Earth from sun) or 1.52 times the distance of Earth from
the sun.

•Galileo Galilei - greatest Italian scientist of the Renaissance , strongly supported

the Copernican Heliocentric theory. Galileo did a lot of experiments explaining
theories and descriptions of moving objects which later become the evidences for
great scientific breakthroughs. With the help of a telescope he constructed on his
own ( following the idea of a Dutch lens maker) , Galileo was able to view heavenly
bodies no one was ever able to do in the past. From here he made discoveries that
shook the foundations of ancient astronomy
1. The discovery of Jupiter's moon which would mean that not all heavenly bodies
revolve around the Earth as stated in ancient astronomy
2. Planets are just like the Earth and not just points of light like stars
3. The phases of planet Venus as seen from Earth
4. The moon surface is not smooth as previously thought (glass sphere). Instead ,
craters and mountain-like features were observed.
5. The sun has darker spots (called sunspots) and from these observations , the
sun appears to also rotate
- the Copernican theory was critically condemned by the church because it does not
follow the old Scriptures and was putting humans away as a center of Creation.
Despite the opposition, Galileo continued to write and complete his works (Dialogue
of the Great World System) which put him under permanent house arrest until his
death.

•Sir Isaac Newton - at the early age of 23 , he was able to theorize the existence
of a force that held the moon in orbit around the earth. This was called the Law of
Universal Gravitation which states that : every body that is present in this universe is
able to attract other bodies via a force that is directly proportional to their masses
and inversely proportional to the square of their distance from each other

PRESENT ASTRONOMY
•fast forward to the present , the advancement of technology has lead us to dicover
more of what is in Earth (through artificial satelites orbiting the planet) and beyond
(unmanned spacecraft) . We have come to refine the works from ancient astronomy
and made sense if the universe through laws and theories we have found consistent
through time.
 Earth Science: Earth Materials and
Processes (Part I)
⏺️MINERALS
• a naturally occurring , inorganic, homogenous solid with definite chemical
composition and ordered internal/ crystalline structure
1. A mineral is naturally - occurring : should be naturally- occurring with respect to
its formation. It should be made by natural processes without the aid of any
organism.
2. A mineral is inorganic : the process to produce a mineral by natural means is
extended further by making sure that no organic material ( or what was once part of
an organism) be considered a mineral.
3. A mineral is a homogenous solid : we should be able to see something that is
uniform in appearance and is in solid state of matter
4. A mineral has a definite chemical composition: a mineral must possess uniformity
in its chemical composition. This means that a material, is we are to call it a mineral,
should have definite chemical constituents.
5. A mineral has an ordered internal/crystalline structure : a crystalline material is
something that has its elemental components arranged in an ordered fashion. This
means that the material repeats this order in a three-dimensional framework that
can be extend virtually into infinity
⏺️MINERALOIDS
• any material which passes most of the criteria (but not all) we have set can be
considered a mineraloid. Most of the time , mineraloids are naturally-occuring ,
inorganic, homogenous solids with definite chemical compositions but with no
ordered internal structure.
⏺️MINERAL PROPERTIES
•Color - perceived wavelength of light that bounced off from the material and is
detected by our eyes
•Streak - the color of a mineral in powdered form
•Luster - the behavior of light as it is reflected by the surface of a mineral. In the
description of luster , minerals are characterized as being Metallic or Non-Metallic
•Hardness - the resistance of a mineral to scratching
•Cleavage - the tendency of a mineral to break along particular directions. Cleavage
is described as Perfect, Good, Fair , or Poor
•Other Properties -
a.) Magnetism - tendency of a mineral to be attracted to a magnet
b.) Fluorescence - some minerals , when exposed to certain wavelengths of light,
will glow or appear to release a certain light. This phenomenon is known as
fluorescence
c.) Reaction to chemicals - because of their definite chemical compositions ,
minerals will react at certain conditions to different chemicals presented to them.
d.) Taste - some minerals will exhibit taste like salty , sweet, or bitter. It should be
noted , however, that a large portion of minerals are also not safe to eat . Hence,
taste is often not used for the identification of minerals.
e.) Odor - certain minerals give off distinct smell similar to some spices (e.g. garlic)
or industrial materials (e.g fireworks)