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CC’s Voice: Hello, students, welcome to our new lessons for the coverage for

your third exam. As your facilitator, I am expecting you to give


more value to science as a subject.

CO In these weeks, we will discuss about the earth science as a subject


and about the minerals and rocks. After a week, we will
differentiate about the exogenic and endogenic processes. Lastly,
how does the history of the earth and plate tectonics create. You
are expected gain new knowledge and perform different task.
Let us begin!

Big Picture

Week 6-7: Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of this chapter, the students should
be able to:

a. Explain the earth science which is the study minerals and rocks;
b. Differentiate exogenic and endogenic processes; and
c. Discuss the history of the earth and plate tectonics.

Big Picture in Focus: ULOa. Explain the earth science which is the study
minerals and rocks.

Metalanguage
Earth sciences, the fields of study concerned with the solid Earth, its waters, and the
air that envelops it. Included are the geologic, hydrologic, and atmospheric sciences. The
broad aim of the Earth sciences is to understand the present features and the past evolution of
Earth and to use this knowledge, where appropriate, for the benefit of humankind. Thus, the
basic concerns of the Earth scientist are to observe, describe, and classify all the features of
the Earth, whether characteristic or not, to generate hypotheses with which to explain their
presence and their development, and to devise means of checking opposing ideas for their
relative validity. In this way the most plausible, acceptable, and long-lasting ideas are
developed.
Essential Knowledge

The physical environment in which humans live includes not only the immediate
surface of the solid Earth but also the ground beneath it and the water and air above it. Early
humans were more involved with the practicalities of life than with theories, and, thus, their
survival depended on their ability to obtain metals from the ground to produce, for example,
alloys, such as bronze from copper and tin, for tools and armor, to find adequate water
supplies for establishing dwelling sites, and to forecast the weather, which had a far greater
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bearing on human life in earlier times than it has today. Such situations represent the
foundations of the three-principal component disciplines of the modern Earth sciences.

The rapid development of science as a whole over the past century and a half has
given rise to an immense number of specializations and subdisciplines, with the result that the
modern Earth scientist, perhaps unfortunately, tends to know a great deal about a very small
area of study but only a little about most other aspects of the entire field. It is therefore very
important for the layperson and the researcher alike to be aware of the complex interlinking
network of disciplines that make up the Earth sciences today, and that is the purpose of this
article. Only when one is aware of the marvelous complexity of the Earth sciences and yet
can understand the breakdown of the component disciplines is one in a position to select
those parts of the subject that are of greatest personal interest.

It is worth emphasizing two important features that the three divisions of the Earth
sciences have in common. First is the inaccessibility of many of the objects of study. Many
rocks, as well as water and oil reservoirs, are at great depths in the Earth, while air masses
circulate at vast heights above it. Thus, the Earth scientist has to have a good three-
dimensional perspective. Second, there is the fourth dimension: time. The Earth scientist is
responsible for working out how the Earth evolved over millions of years. For example, what
were the physical and chemical conditions operating on the Earth and the Moon 3.5 billion
years ago? How did the oceans form, and how did their chemical composition change with
time? How has the atmosphere developed? And finally, how did life on Earth begin? and
from what did humankind evolve?

Today the Earth sciences are divided into many disciplines, which are themselves
divisible into six groups:

1. Those subjects that deal with the water and air at or above the solid surface of
the Earth. These include the study of the water on and within the ground
(hydrology), the glaciers and ice caps (glaciology), the oceans (oceanography),
the atmosphere and its phenomena (meteorology), and the world’s climates
(climatology). In this article such fields of study are grouped under the
hydrologic and atmospheric sciences and are treated separately from the
geologic sciences, which focus on the solid Earth.
2. Disciplines concerned with the physical-chemical makeup of the solid Earth,
which include the study of minerals (mineralogy), the three main groups of
rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic petrology), the chemistry of
rocks (geochemistry), the structures in rocks (structural geology), and the
physical properties of rocks at the Earth’s surface and in its interior
(geophysics).
3. The study of landforms (geomorphology), which is concerned with the
description of the features of the present terrestrial surface and an analysis of
the processes that gave rise to them.
4. Disciplines concerned with the geologic history of the Earth, including the
study of fossils and the fossil record (paleontology), the development of

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sedimentary strata deposited typically over millions of years (stratigraphy), and


the isotopic chemistry and age dating of rocks (geochronology).
5. Applied Earth sciences dealing with current practical applications beneficial to
society. These include the study of fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal); oil
reservoirs; mineral deposits; geothermal energy for electricity and heating; the
structure and composition of bedrock for the location of bridges, nuclear
reactors, roads, dams, and skyscrapers and other buildings; hazards
involving rock and mud avalanches, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and the
collapse of tunnels; and coastal, cliff, and soil erosion.
6. The study of the rock record on the Moon and the planets and their satellites
(astrogeology). This field includes the investigation of relevant terrestrial
features—namely, tektites (glassy objects resulting from meteorite impacts) and
astroblemes (meteorite craters).
With such intergradational boundaries between the divisions of the Earth sciences (which, on
a broader scale, also intergrade with physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and certain
branches of engineering), researchers today must be versatile in their approach to problems.
Hence, an important aspect of training within the Earth sciences is an appreciation of their
multidisciplinary nature.
Earth, third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in
terms of size and mass. Its single most outstanding feature is that its near-surface
environments are the only places in the universe known to harbor life. It is designated by the
symbol ♁. Earth’s name in English, the international language of astronomy, derives from
Old English and Germanic words for ground and earth, and it is the only name for a planet of
the solar system that does not come from Greco-Roman mythology.
Since the Copernican revolution of the 16th century, at which time the Polish
astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a Sun-centered model of the universe (see
heliocentric system), enlightened thinkers have regarded Earth as a planet like the others of
the solar system. Concurrent sea voyages provided practical proof that Earth is a globe, just
as Galileo’s use of his newly invented telescope in the early 17th century soon showed
various other planets to be globes as well. It was only after the dawn of the space age,
however, when photographs from rockets and orbiting spacecraft first captured the dramatic
curvature of Earth’s horizon, that the conception of Earth as a roughly spherical planet rather
than as a flat entity was verified by direct human observation. Humans first witnessed Earth
as a complete orb floating in the inky blackness of space in December 1968 when Apollo 8
carried astronauts around the Moon. Robotic space probes on their way to destinations
beyond Earth, such as the Galileo and the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR)
spacecraft in the 1990s, also looked back with their cameras to provide other unique portraits
of the planet.
Viewed from another planet in the solar system, Earth would appear bright and bluish
in color. Easiest to see through a large telescope would be its atmospheric features, chiefly
the swirling white cloud patterns of midlatitude and tropical storms, ranged in roughly
latitudinal belts around the planet. The polar regions also would appear a brilliant white,
because of the clouds above and the snow and ice below. Beneath the changing patterns of
clouds would appear the much darker blue-black oceans, interrupted by occasional tawny
patches of desert lands. The green landscapes that harbor most human life would not be easily
seen from space. Not only do they constitute a modest fraction of the land area, which itself is

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less than one-third of Earth’s surface, but they are often obscured by clouds. Over the course
of the seasons, some changes in the storm patterns and cloud belts on Earth would be
observed. Also, prominent would be the growth and recession of the winter snowcap across
land areas of the Northern Hemisphere.
Scientists have applied the full battery of modern instrumentation to studying Earth in
ways that have not yet been possible for the other planets; thus, much more is known about
its structure and composition. This detailed knowledge, in turn, provides deeper insight into
the mechanisms by which planets in general cool down, by which their magnetic fields are
generated, and by which the separation of lighter elements from heavier ones as planets
develop their internal structure releases additional energy for geologic processes and alters
crustal compositions.
Earth’s surface is traditionally subdivided into seven continental masses: Africa,
Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. These continents are
surrounded by four major bodies of water: the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.
However, it is convenient to consider separate parts of Earth in terms of concentric, roughly
spherical layers. Extending from the interior outward, these are the core, the mantle, the crust
(including the rocky surface), the hydrosphere (predominantly the oceans, which fill in low
places in the crust), the atmosphere (itself divided into spherical zones such as the
troposphere, where weather occurs, and the stratosphere, where lies the ozone layer that
shields Earth’s surface and its organisms against the Sun’s ultraviolet rays), and the
magnetosphere (an enormous region in space where Earth’s magnetic field dominates the
behavior of electrically charged particles coming from the Sun).
Knowledge about these divisions is summarized in this astronomically oriented
overview. The discussion complements other treatments oriented to the Earth sciences and
life sciences. Earth’s figure and dimensions are discussed in the article geodesy. Its magnetic
field is treated in the article geomagnetic field. The early evolution of the solid Earth and its
atmosphere and oceans is covered in geologic history of Earth. The geologic and biological
development of Earth, including its surface features and the processes by which they are
created and modified, are discussed in geochronology, continental landform, and plate
tectonics. The behavior of the atmosphere and of its tenuous, ionized outer reaches is treated
in atmosphere, while the water cycle and major hydrologic features are described in
hydrosphere, ocean, and river. The solid Earth as a field of study is covered in geologic
sciences, the methods and instruments employed to investigate Earth’s surface and interior
are discussed in Earth exploration, and the history of the study of Earth from antiquity to
modern times is surveyed in Earth sciences. The global ecosystem of living organisms and
their life-supporting stratum are detailed in biosphere.

Mineral, naturally occurring homogeneous solid with a definite chemical composition and a
highly ordered atomic arrangement; it is usually formed by inorganic processes. There are
several thousand known mineral species, about 100 of which constitute the major mineral
components of rocks; these are the so-called rock-forming minerals.
A mineral, which by definition must be formed through natural processes, is distinct
from the synthetic equivalents produced in the laboratory. Artificial versions of minerals,
including emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, and other valuable gemstones, are regularly
produced in industrial and research facilities and are often nearly identical to their natural
counterparts.
By its definition as a homogeneous solid, a mineral is composed of a single solid
substance of uniform composition that cannot be physically separated into simpler chemical
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compounds. Homogeneity is determined relative to the scale on which it is defined. A


specimen that appears homogeneous to the unaided eye, for example, may reveal several
mineral components under a microscope or upon exposure to X-ray diffraction techniques.
Most rocks are composed of several different minerals; e.g., granite consists
of feldspar, quartz, mica, and amphibole. In addition, gases and liquids are excluded by a
strict interpretation of the above definition of a mineral. Ice, the solid state of water (H2O), is
considered a mineral, but liquid water is not; liquid mercury, though sometimes found in
mercury ore deposits, is not classified as a mineral either. Such substances that resemble
minerals in chemistry and occurrence are dubbed mineraloids and are included in the general
domain of mineralogy.

Azurite. It is also called chessylite, is a basic copper carbonate ordinarily found with
malachite in the oxidized zone of copper lodes. © Rainer Walter Schmied/Dreamstime.com
Since a mineral has a definite composition, it can be expressed by a specific chemical
formula. Quartz (silicon dioxide), for instance, is rendered as SiO 2, because
the elements silicon (Si) and oxygen (O) are its only constituents and they invariably appear
in a 1:2 ratio. The chemical makeup of most minerals is not as well defined as that of quartz,
which is a pure substance. Siderite, for example, does not always occur as pure iron carbonate
(FeCO3); magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), and, to a limited extent, calcium (Ca) may
sometimes substitute for the iron. Since the amount of the replacement may vary, the
composition of siderite is not fixed and ranges between certain limits, although the ratio of
the metal cation to the anionic group remains fixed at 1:1. Its chemical makeup may be
expressed by the general formula (Fe, Mn, Mg, Ca)CO 3, which reflects the variability of
the metal content.

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Trigonal system. Trigonal (rhombohedral) crystals of quartz. Piotr Menducki


Minerals display a highly ordered internal atomic structure that has a regular
geometric form. Because of this feature, minerals are classified as crystalline solids. Under
favorable conditions, crystalline materials may express their ordered internal framework by a
well-developed external form, often referred to as crystal form or morphology. Solids that
exhibit no such ordered internal arrangement are termed amorphous. Many amorphous
natural solids, such as glass, are categorized as mineraloids.

Traditionally, minerals have been described as resulting exclusively from inorganic


processes; however, current mineralogic practice often includes as minerals
those compounds that are organically produced but satisfy all other mineral
requirements. Aragonite (CaCO3) is an example of an inorganically formed mineral that also
has an organically produced, yet otherwise identical, counterpart; the shell (and the pearl, if it
is present) of an oyster is composed to a large extent of organically formed aragonite.
Minerals also are produced by the human body: hydroxylapatite [Ca5(PO4)3(OH)] is the chief
component of bones and teeth, and calculi are concretions of mineral substances found in
the urinary system.

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Pyrite. Schematic representation of the structure of pyrite (FeS2) as based on a cubic array of
ferrous iron cations (Fe2+) and sulfur anions (S−). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Occurrence and Formation.
Minerals form in all geologic environments and thus under a wide range of chemical
and physical conditions, such as varying temperature and pressure. The four main categories
of mineral formation are: (1) igneous, or magmatic, in which minerals crystallize from a
melt, (2) sedimentary, in which minerals are the result of sedimentation, a process whose
raw materials are particles from other rocks that have undergone weathering or erosion,
(3) metamorphic, in which new minerals form at the expense of earlier ones owing to the
effects of changing—usually increasing—temperature or pressure or both on some
existing rock type, and (4) hydrothermal , in which minerals are chemically
precipitated from hot solutions within Earth. The first three processes generally lead to
varieties of rocks in which different mineral grains are closely intergrown in an interlocking
fabric. Hydrothermal solutions, and even solutions at very low temperatures (e.g.,
groundwater), tend to follow fracture zones in rocks that may provide open spaces for
the chemical precipitation of minerals from solution. It is from such open spaces, partially
filled by minerals deposited from solutions, that most of the spectacular mineral specimens
have been collected. If a mineral that is in the process of growth (as a result of precipitation)
is allowed to develop in a free space, it will generally exhibit a well-developed crystal form,
which adds to a specimen’s aesthetic beauty. Similarly, geodes, which are rounded, hollow,
or partially hollow bodies commonly found in limestones, may contain well-formed crystals
lining the central cavity. Geodes form as a result of mineral deposition from solutions such
as groundwater.

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Pyrite crystals. It is shape depends on the amount of iron and sulfur in the sample. Iron-rich
pyrite forms cube-shaped crystals, whereas samples that contain increasing amounts of sulfur
form duodecahedral-shaped crystals. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The Nature of Minerals
Morphology. Nearly all minerals have the internal ordered arrangement
of atoms and ions that is the defining characteristic of crystalline solids. Under favorable
conditions, minerals may grow as well-formed crystals, characterized by their smooth plane
surfaces and regular geometric forms. Development of this good external shape is largely
a fortuitous outcome of growth and does not affect the basic properties of a crystal.
Therefore, the term crystal is most often used by material scientists to refer to any solid with
an ordered internal arrangement, without regard to the presence or absence of external faces.

Azurite crystals. Eric Hunt

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Symmetry elements. The external shape, or morphology, of a crystal is perceived as


its aesthetic beauty, and its geometry reflects the internal atomic arrangement. The external
shape of well-formed crystals expresses the presence or absence of a number
of symmetry elements. Such symmetry elements include rotation axes, rotoinversion axes, a
centre of symmetry, and mirror planes.

Cueva de los Cristales. Massive selenite (gypsum) crystals from the Cave of Crystals
(Cueva de los Cristales), Naica Mine, Chihuahua, Mexico. Javier Trueba—MSF/Photo
Researchers, Inc.
A rotation axis is an imaginary line through a crystal around which it may be rotated
and repeat itself in appearance one, two, three, four, or six times during a complete rotation.
(For example, a sixfold rotation occurs when the crystal repeats itself each 60°—that is, six
times in a 360° rotation.)

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symmetry elements. Translation-free symmetry elements as expressed by the morphology of


crystals showing a sixfold axis of rotation, fourfold axis of inversion, centre of symmetry,
and mirror/symmetry plane. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Morphologically, crystals can be grouped into 32 crystal classes that represent the 32
possible symmetry elements and their combinations. These crystal classes, in turn, are
grouped into six crystal systems. In decreasing order of overall symmetry content, beginning
with the system with the highest and most complex crystal symmetry, they are isometric (or
cubic), hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic. (Many sources list
seven crystal systems by dividing the hexagonal crystal system into two parts—trigonal and
hexagonal.)

Polymorphism is the ability of a specific chemical composition to crystallize in more


than one form. This generally occurs as a response to changes in temperature or pressure or
both. The different structures of such a chemical substance are called polymorphic forms, or
polymorphs. For example, the element carbon (C) occurs in nature in two different
polymorphic forms, depending on the external (pressure and temperature) conditions. These
forms are graphite, with a hexagonal structure, and diamond, with an isometric structure. The
composition FeS2 occurs most commonly as pyrite, with an isometric structure, but it is also
found as marcasite, which has an orthorhombic internal arrangement. The
composition SiO2 is found in a large number of polymorphs, among
them quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, coesite, and stishovite. The stability field (conditions
under which a mineral is stable) of these SiO 2 polymorphs can be expressed in a stability
diagram, with the external parameters of temperature and pressure as the two axes. In the
general quartz field, there is additional polymorphism leading to the notation of high quartz
and low quartz, each form having a slightly different internal
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structure. Cristobalite and tridymite are the high-temperature forms of SiO 2, and indeed these
SiO2 polymorphs occur in high-temperature lava flows. The high-pressure forms of
SiO2 are coesite and stishovite, and these can be found in meteorite craters, formed as a result
of high explosive pressures upon quartz-rich sandstones, and in very deep-
seated rock formations, as from Earth’s upper mantle or very deep in subduction zones.

Pyrite. It is from Navajun, Spain. Photograph by Sandy Grimm. Houston Museum of Natural
Science, 30.2002.150
Chemical composition. The chemical composition of a mineral is of fundamental
importance because its properties greatly depend on it. Such properties, however, are
determined not only by the chemical composition but also by the geometry of
the constituent atoms and ions and by the nature of the electrical forces that bind them. Thus,
for a complete understanding of minerals, their internal structure, chemistry, and bond types
must be considered.
Various analytical techniques may be employed to obtain the chemical composition of
a mineral. Quantitative chemical analyses mainly use so-called wet analytical methods (e.g.,
dissolution in acid, flame tests, and other classic techniques of bench chemistry that rely on
observation), in which the mineral sample is first dissolved. Various compounds are then
precipitated from the solution, which are weighed to obtain a gravimetric analysis. A number
of analytical procedures have been introduced that provide faster but somewhat less accurate
results. Most analyses use instrumental methods such as optical emission, X-ray fluorescence,
atomic absorption spectroscopy, and electron microprobe analysis. Relatively well-
established error ranges have been documented for these methods, and samples must be
prepared in a specific manner for each technique. A distinct advantage of wet analytical
procedures is that they make it possible to determine quantitatively the oxidation states of
positively charged atoms, called cations (e.g., Fe2+ versus Fe3+), and to ascertain the amount
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of water in hydrous minerals. It is more difficult to provide this type of information with
instrumental techniques.
To ensure an accurate chemical analysis, the selected sample, which might include
several minerals, is often made into a thin section (a section of rock less than 1 mm thick
cemented for study between clear glass plates). To reduce the effect of the impurities, an
instrumental technique, such as electron microprobe analysis, is commonly employed. In this
method, quantitative analysis in situ may be performed on mineral grains only 1 micrometre
(10−4 centimetre) in diameter.
Mineral formulas. Elements may exist in the native (uncombined) state, in which
case their formulas are simply their chemical symbols: gold (Au), carbon (C) in its
polymorphic form of diamond, and sulfur (S) are common examples. Most minerals,
however, occur as compounds consisting of two or more elements; their formulas are
obtained from quantitative chemical analyses and indicate the relative proportions of the
constituent elements. The formula of sphalerite, ZnS, reflects a one-to-one ratio between
atoms of zinc and those of sulfur. In bornite (Cu5FeS4), there are five atoms of copper (Cu),
one atom of iron (Fe), and four atoms of sulfur. There exist relatively few minerals with
constant composition; notable examples include quartz (SiO 2) and kyanite (Al2SiO5).
Minerals of this sort are termed pure substances. Most minerals display considerable
variation in the ions that occupy specific atomic sites within their structure. For example, the
iron content of rhodochrosite (MnCO3) may vary over a wide range. As ferrous iron (Fe 2+)
substitutes for manganese cations (Mn2+) in the rhodochrosite structure, the formula for the
mineral might be given in more general terms—namely, (Mn, Fe) CO 3. The amounts of
manganese and iron are variable, but the ratio of the cation to the negatively charged anionic
group remains fixed at one Mn2+or Fe2+ atom to one CO3 group.

Sphalerite. It is a mineral that is the principal ore of zinc. AdstockRF

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Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further
understand the lesson:

*Dela Peña, A. (2016). Earth Science. Pasay City: JFS Publishing Services. 1st edition.
*San Felipe, B. (2015). Earth Science: A Modular Approach. Peteros M.M., Philippines:
Grandbooks Publishing, Inc.
*Shipman, J., Wilson, J., Higgins, C., & Torres, O. (2016). An Introduction to Physical
Science. 14th edition. ISBN: 978-1-305-07912-0
*Tillery, B., Slater, S., & Slater, T. (2020). Physical Science. New York: McGraw-Hill
Education. 12th education.

Big Picture in Focus: ULOb. Differentiate exogenic and endogenic processes

Metalanguage
Clearly, the surface of the earth is not flat but is rather unevenly spread out due to the
presence of landforms including mountains, plains, hills, etc. These uneven landforms are
formed and deformed over a while, in an ongoing process, due to the influence of internal and
external pressure from within and above the surface of the earth. Simply put, we can define
endogenic forces (internal) and exogenic forces (external) as the two major geomorphic
pressures that lead to the earth’s movements and give shape to the earth’s surface. When
these internal and external changes occur continuously, chemical changes and stress are
triggered on the surface of the earth, which eventually leads to the formation of uneven
terrains. Please proceed immediately to the “Essential Knowledge” part since the first lesson
is also definition of essential terms.
Essential Knowledge

The endogenic and exogenic forces causing physical stresses and chemical actions on
earth materials and bringing about changes in the configuration of the surface of the earth are
known as geomorphic processes. Diastrophism and volcanism are endogenic geomorphic
processes. Weathering, mass wasting, erosion and deposition are exogenic geomorphic
processes.
Any exogenic element of nature (like water, ice, wind, etc.,) capable of acquiring and
transporting earth materials can be called a geomorphic agent. When these elements of nature
become mobile due to gradients, they remove the materials and transport them over slopes

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and deposit them at lower level. Geomorphic processes and geomorphic agents especially
exogenic, unless stated separately, are one and the same.
A process is a force applied on earth materials affecting the same. An agent is a
mobile medium (like running water, moving ice masses, wind, waves and currents etc.)
which removes, transports and deposits earth materials. Running water, groundwater,
glaciers, wind, waves and currents, etc., can be called geomorphic agents.
Gravity besides being a directional force activating all downslope movements of
matter also causes stresses on the earth’s materials. Indirect gravitational stresses activate
wave and tide induced currents and winds. Without gravity and gradients there would be no
mobility and hence no erosion, transportation and deposition are possible. So, gravitational
stresses are as important as the other geomorphic processes. Gravity is the force that is
keeping us in contact with the surface and it is the force that switches on the movement of all
surface material on earth. All the movements either within the earth or on the surface of the
earth occur due to gradients — from higher levels to lower levels, from high pressure to low
pressure areas etc.

EXOGENIC PROCESSES
The exogenic processes derive their energy from atmosphere determined by the
ultimate energy from the sun and also the gradients created by tectonic factors. Gravitational
force acts upon all earth materials having a sloping surface and tend to produce movement of
matter in down slope direction. Force applied per unit area is called stress. Stress is produced
in a solid by pushing or pulling. This induces deformation. Forces acting along the faces of
earth materials are shear stresses (separating forces). It is this stress that breaks rocks and
other earth materials. The shear stresses result in angular displacement or slippage. Besides
the gravitational stress earth materials become subjected to molecular stresses that may be
caused by a number of factors amongst which temperature changes, crystallization and
melting are the most common. Chemical processes normally lead to loosening of bonds
between grains, dissolving of soluble minerals or cementing materials. Thus, the basic reason
that leads to weathering, mass movements, and erosion is development of stresses in the body
of the earth materials. As there are different climatic regions on the earth’s surface the
exogenic geomorphic processes vary from region to region. Temperature and precipitation
are the two important climatic elements that control various processes.
All the exogenic geomorphic processes are covered under a general term, denudation.
The word ‘denude’ means to strip off or to uncover. Weathering, mass wasting/movements,
erosion and transportation are included in denudation. The flow chart in the figure below
gives the denudation precipitation and temperature exert influence indirectly on exogenic
geomorphic processes. Within different climatic regions there may be local variations of the
effects of different climatic elements due to altitudinal differences, aspect variations and the
variation in the amount of insolation received by north and south facing slopes as compared
to east and west facing slopes. Further, due to differences in wind velocities and directions,
amount and kind of precipitation, its intensity, the relation between precipitation and
evaporation, daily range of temperature, freezing and thawing frequency, depth of frost
penetration, the geomorphic processes vary within any climatic region.

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Denudational processes and their driving forces


Climatic factors being equal, the intensity of action of exogenic geomorphic processes
depends upon type and structure of rocks. The term structure includes such aspects of rocks
as folds, faults, orientation and inclination of beds, presence or absence of joints, bedding
planes, hardness or softness of constituent minerals, chemical susceptibility of mineral
constituents; the permeability or impermeability etc. Different types of rocks with differences
in their structure offer varying resistances to various geomorphic processes. A particular rock
may be resistant to one process and nonresistant to another. And, under varying climatic
conditions, particular rocks may exhibit different degrees of resistance to geomorphic
processes and hence they operate at differential rates and give rise to differences in
topography. The effects of most of the exogenic geomorphic processes are small and slow
and may be imperceptible in a short time span, but will in the long run affect the rocks
severely due to continued fatigue.
Finally, it boils down to one fact that the differences on the surface of the earth
though originally related to the crustal evolution continue to exist in some form or the other
due to differences in the type and structure of earth materials, differences in geomorphic
processes and in their rates of operation. Some of the exogenic geomorphic processes have
been dealt in detail here. Stated below are the four types of exogenic process with their
specific different examples of each type.
1. Weathering is action of elements of weather and climate over earth materials.
There are a number of processes within weathering which act either individually or together
to affect the earth materials in order to reduce them to fragmental state. Weathering is defined
as mechanical disintegration and chemical decomposition of rocks through the actions of
various elements of weather and climate. As very little or no motion of materials takes place
in weathering, it is an in-situ or on-site process.
Weathering processes are conditioned by many complex geological, climatic,
topographic and vegetative factors. Climate is of particular importance. Not only weathering
processes differ from climate to climate, but also the depth of the weathering mantle. There
are three major groups of weathering processes : (i) chemical; (ii) physical or mechanical;
(iii) biological weathering processes. Very rarely does any one of these processes ever
operate completely by itself, but quite often a dominance of one process can be seen.
i. Chemical Weathering Processes. A group of weathering processes viz; solution,
carbonation, hydration, oxidation and reduction act on the rocks to decompose, dissolve or
reduce them to a fine clastic state through chemical reactions by oxygen, surface and/or soil
water and other acids. Water and air (oxygen and carbon dioxide) along with heat must be
present to speed up all chemical reactions. Over and above the carbon dioxide present in the
air, decomposition of plants and animals increases the quantity of carbon dioxide
underground. These chemical reactions on various minerals are very much similar to the
chemical reactions in a laboratory. When something is dissolved in water or acids, the water
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or acid with dissolved contents is called solution. This process involves removal of solids in
solution and depends upon solubility of a mineral in water or weak acids. On coming in
contact with water many solids disintegrate and mix up as suspension in water. Soluble rock
forming minerals like nitrates, sulphates, and potassium etc. are affected by this process. So,
these minerals are easily leached out without leaving any residue in rainy climates and
accumulate in dry regions. Minerals like calcium carbonate and calcium magnesium
bicarbonate present in limestones are soluble in water containing carbonic acid (formed with
the addition of carbon dioxide in water), and are carried away in water as solution. Carbon
dioxide produced by decaying organic matter along with soil water greatly aids in this
reaction. Common salt (sodium chloride) is also a rock forming mineral and is susceptible to
this process of solution.
Carbonation is the reaction of carbonate and bicarbonate with minerals and is a
common process helping the breaking down of feldspars and carbonate minerals. Carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and soil air is absorbed by water, to form carbonic acid that acts
as a weak acid. Calcium carbonates and magnesium carbonates are dissolved in carbonic acid
and are removed in a solution without leaving any residue resulting in cave formation.
Hydration is the chemical addition of water. Minerals take up water and expand; this
expansion causes an increase in the volume of the material itself or rock. Calcium sulphate
takes in water and turns to gypsum, which is more unstable than calcium sulphate. This
process is reversible and long, continued repetition of this process causes fatigue in the rocks
and may lead to their disintegration. Many clay minerals swell and contract during wetting
and drying and a repetition of this process results in cracking of overlying materials. Salts in
pore spaces undergo rapid and repeated hydration and help in rock fracturing. The volume
changes in minerals due to hydration will also help in physical weathering through
exfoliation and granular disintegration.
Oxidation and Reduction. In weathering, oxidation means a combination of a
mineral with oxygen to form oxides or hydroxides. Oxidation occurs where there is ready
access to the atmosphere and oxygenated waters. The minerals most commonly involved in
this process are iron, manganese, sulfur etc. In the process of oxidation rock breakdown
occurs due to the disturbance caused by addition of oxygen. Red color of iron upon oxidation
turns to brown or yellow. When oxidized minerals are placed in an environment where
oxygen is absent, reduction takes place. Such conditions exist usually below the water table,
in areas of stagnant water and waterlogged ground. Red color of iron upon reduction turns to
greenish or bluish grey. These weathering processes are interrelated. Hydration, carbonation
and oxidation go hand in hand and hasten the weathering process.
ii. Physical Weathering Processes. Physical or mechanical weathering processes
depend on some applied forces. The applied forces could be: (i) gravitational forces such as
overburden pressure, load and shearing stress; (ii) expansion forces due to temperature
changes, crystal growth or animal activity; (iii) water pressures controlled by wetting and
drying cycles. Many of these forces are applied both at the surface and within different earth
materials leading to rock fracture. Most of the physical weathering processes are caused by
thermal expansion and pressure release. These processes are small and slow but can cause
great damage to the rocks because of continued fatigue the rocks suffer due to repetition of
contraction and expansion.
Unloading and Expansion. Removal of overlying rock load because of continued
erosion causes vertical pressure release with the result that the upper layers of the rock
expand producing disintegration of rock masses. Fractures will develop roughly parallel to
the ground surface. In areas of curved ground surface, arched fractures tend to produce
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massive sheets or exfoliation slabs of rock. Exfoliation sheets resulting from expansion due to
unloading and pressure release may measure hundreds or even thousands of meters in
horizontal extent. Large, smooth rounded domes called exfoliation domes result due to this
process.
Temperature Changes and Expansion. Various minerals in rocks possess their own
limits of expansion and contraction. With rise in temperature, every mineral expands and
pushes against its neighbor and as temperature falls, a corresponding contraction takes place.
Because of diurnal changes in the temperatures, this internal movement among the mineral
grains of the superficial layers of rocks takes place regularly. This process is most effective in
dry climates and high elevations where diurnal temperature changes are drastic. As has been
mentioned earlier though these movements are very small, they make the rocks weak due to
continued fatigue. The surface layers of the rocks tend to expand more than the rock at depth
and this leads to the formation of stress within the rock resulting in heaving and fracturing
parallel to the surface. Due to differential heating and resulting expansion and contraction of
surface layers and their subsequent exfoliation from the surface results in smooth rounded
surfaces in rocks. In rocks like granites, smooth surfaced and rounded small to big boulders
called tors form due to such exfoliation.
Freezing, Thawing and Frost Wedging. Frost weathering occurs due to growth of
ice within pores and cracks of rocks during repeated cycles of freezing and melting. This
process is most effective at high elevations in mid-latitudes where freezing and melting is
often repeated. Glacial areas are subject to frost wedging daily. In this process, the rate of
freezing is important. Rapid freezing of water causes its sudden expansion and high pressure.
The resulting expansion affects joints, cracks and small inter granular fractures to become
wider and wider till the rock breaks apart.
Salt Weathering. Salts in rocks expand due to thermal action, hydration and
crystallization. Many salts like calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium and barium have a
tendency to expand. Expansion of these salts depends on temperature and their thermal
properties. High temperature ranges between 30 and 50 degrees-C of surface temperatures in
deserts favor such salt expansion. Salt crystals in near-surface pores cause splitting of
individual grains within rocks, which eventually fall off. This process of falling off of
individual grains may result in granular disintegration or granular foliation. Salt
crystallization is most effective of all salt-weathering processes. In areas with alternating
wetting and drying conditions salt crystal growth is favored and the neighboring grains are
pushed aside. Sodium chloride and gypsum crystals in desert areas heave up overlying layers
of materials and with the result polygonal cracks develop all over the heaved surface. With
salt crystal growth, chalk breaks down most readily, followed by limestone, sandstone, shale,
gneiss and granite etc.
iii. Biological weathering. It is contribution to or removal of minerals and ions from
the weathering environment and physical changes due to growth or movement of organisms.
Burrowing and wedging by organisms like earthworms, termites, rodents etc., help in
exposing the new surfaces to chemical attack and assists in the penetration of moisture and
air. Human beings by disturbing vegetation, ploughing and cultivating soils, also help in
mixing and creating new contacts between air, water and minerals in the earth materials.
Decaying plant and animal matter help in the production of humic, carbonic and other acids
which enhance decay and solubility of some elements. Plant roots exert a tremendous
pressure on the earth materials mechanically breaking them apart.

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2. Mass movements. These movements transfer the mass of rock debris down the
slopes under the direct influence of gravity. That means, air, water or ice do not carry debris
with them from place to place but on the other hand the debris may carry with its air, water or
ice.
The movements of mass may range from slow to rapid, affecting shallow to deep
columns of materials and include creep, flow, slide and fall. Gravity exerts its force on all
matter, both bedrock and the products of weathering. So, weathering is not a pre-requisite for
mass movement though it aids mass movements. Mass movements are very active over
weathered slopes rather than over unweathered materials. Mass movements are aided by
gravity and no geomorphic agent like running water, glaciers, wind, waves and currents
participate in the process of mass movements. That means mass movements do not come
under erosion though there is a shift (aided by gravity) of materials from one place to another.
Materials over the slopes have their own resistance to disturbing forces and will yield
only when force is greater than the shearing resistance of the materials. Weak unconsolidated
materials, thinly bedded rocks, faults, steeply dipping beds, vertical cliffs or steep slopes,
abundant precipitation and torrential rains and scarcity of vegetation etc., favor mass
movements. Several activating causes precede mass movements. They are : (i) removal of
support from below to materials above through natural or artificial means; (ii) increase in
gradient and height of slopes; (iii) overloading through addition of materials naturally or by
artificial filling; (iv) overloading due to heavy rainfall, saturation and lubrication of slope
materials; (v) removal of material or load from over the original slope surfaces; (vi)
occurrence of earthquakes, explosions or machinery; (vii) excessive natural seepage; (viii)
heavy drawdown of water from lakes, reservoirs and rivers leading to slow outflow of water
from under the slopes or river banks; (ix) indiscriminate removal of natural vegetation. Heave
(heaving up of soils due to frost growth and other causes), flow and slide are Mass
movements can be grouped under two major classes: (i) slow movements; (ii) rapid
movements.
Slow Movements
Soil Creep is one type under this category which can occur on moderately steep, soil
covered slopes. Movement of materials is extremely slow and imperceptible except through
extended observation. Materials involved can be soil or rock debris. Have you ever seen
fence posts, telephone poles lean downslope from their vertical position and in their linear
alignment? If you have, that is due to the creep effect. Depending upon the type of material
involved, several types of creep viz., soil creep, talus creep, rock creep, rock-glacier creep
etc., can be identified. Also included in this group is solifluction which involves slow
downslope flowing soil mass or fine-grained rock debris saturated or lubricated with water.
This process is quite common in moist temperate areas where surface melting of deeply
frozen ground and long continued rain respectively, occur frequently. When the upper
portions get saturated and when the lower parts are impervious to water percolation, flowing
occurs in the upper parts.
Rapid Movements
These movements are mostly prevalent in humid climatic regions and occur over
gentle to steep slopes. Movement of water-saturated clayey or silty earth materials down low-
angle terraces or hillsides is known as earthflow. Quite often, the materials slump making
steplike terraces and leaving arcuate scarps at their heads and an accumulation bulge at the
toe. When slopes are steeper, even the bedrock especially of soft sedimentary rocks like shale
or deeply weathered igneous rock may slide downslope.

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Another type in this category is mudflow. In the absence of vegetation cover and with
heavy rainfall, thick layers of weathered materials get saturated with water and either slowly
or rapidly flow down along definite channels. It looks like a stream of mud within a valley.
When the mudflows emerge out of channels onto the piedmont or plains, they can be very
destructive engulfing roads, bridges and houses. Mudflows occur frequently on the slopes of
erupting or recently erupted volcanoes. Volcanic ash, dust and other fragments turn into mud
due to heavy rains and flow down as tongues or streams of mud causing great destruction to
human habitations.
A third type is the debris avalanche, which is more characteristic of humid regions
with or without vegetation cover and occurs in narrow tracks on steep slopes. This debris
avalanche can be much faster than the mudflow. Debris avalanche is similar to snow
avalanche. In Andes mountains of South America and the Rockies mountains of North
America, there are a few volcanoes which erupted during the last decade and very devastating
mudflows occurred down their slopes during eruption as well as after eruption.
Landslides. These are relatively rapid and perceptible movements. The materials
involved are relatively dry. The size and shape of the detached mass depends on the nature of
discontinuities in the rock, the degree of weathering and the steepness of the slope.
Depending upon the type of movement of materials several types are identified in this
category.
Slump is slipping of one or several units of rock debris with a backward rotation with
respect to the slope over which the movement takes place. Rapid rolling or sliding of earth
debris without backward rotation of mass is known as debris slide. Debris fall is nearly a free
fall of earth debris from a vertical or overhanging face. Sliding of individual rock masses
down bedding, joint or fault surfaces is rockslide. Over steep slopes, rock sliding is very fast
and destructive. Slides occur as planar failures along discontinuities like bedding planes that
dip steeply. Rock fall is free falling of rock blocks over any steep slope keeping itself away
from the slope. Rock falls occur from the superficial layers of the rock face, an occurrence
that distinguishes it from rockslide which affects materials up to a substantial depth.

3. Erosion involves acquisition and transportation of rock debris. When massive


rocks break into smaller fragments through weathering and any other process, erosional
geomorphic agents like running water, groundwater, glaciers, wind and waves remove and
transport it to other places depending upon the dynamics of each of these agents. Abrasion by
rock debris carried by these geomorphic agents also aids greatly in erosion. By erosion, relief
degrades, i.e., the landscape is worn down. That means, though weathering aids erosion it is
not a pre-condition for erosion to take place. Weathering, mass-wasting and erosion are
degradational processes. It is erosion that is largely responsible for continuous changes that
the earth’s surface is undergoing. As indicated in figure above, denudational processes like
erosion and transportation are controlled by kinetic energy. The erosion and transportation of
earth materials is brought about by wind, running water, glaciers, waves and ground water.
Of these the first three agents are controlled by climatic conditions. They represent three
states of matter —gaseous (wind), liquid (running water) and solid (glacier) respectively.
The erosion can be defined as “application of the kinetic energy associated with the
agent to the surface of the land along which it moves”. Kinetic energy is computed as KE =
1/2 m v 2, where ‘m’ is the mass and ‘v’ is the velocity. Hence the energy available to perform
work will depend on the mass of the material and the velocity with which it is moving.
Obviously then you will find that though the glaciers move at very low velocities due to
tremendous mass are more effective as the agents of erosion and wind, being in gaseous state,
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is less effective. The work of the other two agents of erosion waves and ground water is
not controlled by climate. In case of waves, it is the location along the interface of litho- and
hydrosphere — coastal region — that will determine the work of waves, whereas the work of
ground water is determined more by the lithological character of the region. If the rocks are
permeable and soluble and water is available only then karst topography develops. In the next
chapter we shall be dealing with the landforms produced by each of these agents of erosion.
Deposition is a consequence of erosion. The erosional agents lose their velocity and
hence energy on gentler slopes and the materials carried by them start to settle themselves. In
other words, deposition is not actually the work of any agent. The coarser materials get
deposited first and finer ones later. By deposition depressions get filled up. The same
erosional agents viz., running water, glaciers, wind, waves and groundwater act as
aggradational or depositional agents also.

4. Sedimentation is the tendency for particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid.
This process is gravity, centrifugal acceleration or electromagnetism. The major causes of
water population which is siltation.

ENDOGENIC PROCESSES
The energy emanating from within the earth is the main force behind endogenic
geomorphic processes. This energy is mostly generated by radioactivity, rotational and tidal
friction and primordial heat from the origin of the earth. This energy due to geothermal
gradients and heat flow from within induces diastrophism and volcanism in the lithosphere.
Due to variations in geothermal gradients and heat flow from within, crustal thickness and
strength, the action of endogenic forces are not uniform and hence the tectonically controlled
original crustal surface is uneven.
Diastrophism. All processes that move, elevate or build up portions of the earth’s
crust come under diastrophism. They include: (i) orogenic processes involving mountain
building through severe folding and affecting long and narrow belts of the earth’s crust; (ii)
epeirogenic processes involving uplift or warping of large parts of the earth’s crust; (iii)
earthquakes involving local relatively minor movements; (iv) plate tectonics involving
horizontal movements of crustal plates. In the process of orogeny, the crust is severely
deformed into folds. Due to epeirogeny, there may be simple deformation. Orogeny is a
mountain building process whereas epeirogeny is continental building process. Through the
processes of orogeny, epeirogeny, earthquakes and plate tectonics, there can be faulting and
fracturing of the crust. All these processes cause pressure, volume and temperature (PVT)
changes which in turn induce metamorphism of rocks. Epeirogeny and orogeny, cite the
differences.
Volcanism. It includes the movement of molten rock (magma) onto or toward the
earth’s surface and also formation of many intrusive and extrusive volcanic forms.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further
understand the lesson:

*Dela Peña, A. (2016). Earth Science. Pasay City: JFS Publishing Services. 1st edition.

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*San Felipe, B. (2015). Earth Science: A Modular Approach. Peteros M.M., Philippines:
Grandbooks Publishing, Inc.
*Shipman, J., Wilson, J., Higgins, C., & Torres, O. (2016). An Introduction to Physical
Science. 14th edition. ISBN: 978-1-305-07912-0
*Tillery, B., Slater, S., & Slater, T. (2020). Physical Science. New York: McGraw-Hill
Education. 12th education.

Big Picture in Focus: ULOc. Discuss the history of the earth and plate tectonics.

Metalanguage
Geologic history of Earth, evolution of the continents, oceans, atmosphere, and
biosphere. The layers of rock at Earth’s surface contain evidence of the evolutionary
processes undergone by these components of the terrestrial environment during the times at
which each layer was formed. By studying this rock record from the very beginning, it is thus
possible to trace their development and the resultant changes through time. Please proceed
immediately to the “Essential Knowledge” part since the first lesson is also definition of
essential terms.
Essential Knowledge

From the point at which the planet first began to form, the history of Earth spans
approximately 4.6 billion years. The oldest known rocks—the faux amphibolites of the
Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt in Quebec, Canada—however, have an isotopic age of 4.28
billion years. There is in effect a stretch of approximately 300 million years for which no
geologic record for rocks exists, and the evolution of this pregeologic period of time is, not
surprisingly, the subject of much speculation. To understand this little-known period, the
following factors have to be considered: the age of formation at 4.6 billion years ago, the
processes in operation until 4.3 billion years ago, the bombardment of Earth by meteorites,
and the earliest zircon crystals.
It is widely accepted by both geologists and astronomers that Earth is roughly 4.6
billion years old. This age has been obtained from the isotopic analysis of many meteorites as
well as of soil and rock samples from the Moon by such dating methods as rubidium–
strontium and uranium–lead. It is taken to be the time when these bodies formed and, by
inference, the time at which a significant part of the solar system developed. When the
evolution of the isotopes of lead-207 and lead-206 is studied from several lead deposits of
different age on Earth, including oceanic sediments that represent a homogenized sample of
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Earth’s lead, the growth curve of terrestrial lead can be calculated, and, when this is
extrapolated back in time, it is found to coincide with the age of about 4.6 billion years
measured on lead isotopes in meteorites. Earth and the meteorites thus have had similar lead
isotope histories, and so it is concluded that over a period of about 30 million years they
condensed or accreted as solid bodies from a primeval cloud of interstellar gas and dust—the
so-called solar nebula from which the entire solar system is thought to have formed—at about
the same time.
Models developed from the comparison of lead isotopes in meteorites and the decay
of hafnium-182 to tungsten-182 in Earth’s mantle, however, suggest that approximately 100
million years elapsed between the beginning of the solar system and the conclusion of the
accretion process that formed Earth. These models place Earth’s age at approximately 4.5
billion years old.
Particles in the solar nebula condensed to form solid grains, and with increasing
electrostatic and gravitational influences they eventually clumped together into fragments or
chunks of rock. One of these planetesimals developed into Earth. The constituent metallic
elements sank toward the centre of the mass, while lighter elements rose toward the top. The
lightest ones (such as hydrogen and helium) that might have formed the first, or primordial,
atmosphere probably escaped into outer space. In these earliest stages of terrestrial accretion
heat was generated by three possible phenomena: (1) the decay of short-lived radioactive
isotopes, (2) the gravitational energy released from the sinking of metals, or (3) the impact of
small planetary bodies (or planetesimals). The increase in temperature became sufficient to
heat the entire planet. Melting at depth produced liquids that were gravitationally light and
thus rose toward the surface and crystallized to form the earliest crust. Meanwhile, heavier
liquids rich in iron, nickel, and perhaps sulfur separated out and sank under gravity, giving
rise to the core at the centre of the growing planet; and the lightest volatile elements were
able to rise and escape by outgassing, which may have been associated with surface volcanic
activity, to form the secondary atmosphere and the oceans. This chemical process of melting,
separation of material, and outgassing is referred to as the differentiation of the Earth. The
earliest thin crust was probably unstable and so foundered and collapsed to depth. This in turn
generated more gravitational energy, which enabled a thicker, more stable, longer-lasting
crust to form. Once Earth’s interior (or its mantle) was hot and liquid, it would have been
subjected to large-scale convection, which may have enabled oceanic crust to develop above
upwelling regions. Rapid recycling of crust–mantle material occurred in convection cells, and
in this way the earliest terrestrial continents may have evolved during the 300-million-year
gap between the formation of Earth and the beginning of the rock record. It is known from
direct observation that the surface of the Moon is covered with a multitude of meteorite
craters. There are about 40 large basins attributable to meteorite impact. Known as maria,
these depressions were filled in with basaltic lavas caused by the impact-induced melting of
the lunar mantle. Many of these basalts have been analyzed isotopically and found to have
crystallization ages of 3.9 to 4 billion years. Research has shown that Earth, with a greater
attractive mass than the Moon, must have undergone more extensive meteorite bombardment.
According to the English-born geologist Joseph V. Smith, a minimum of 500 to 1,000 impact
basins were formed on Earth within a period of about 100 to 200 million years prior to 3.95
billion years ago. Moreover, plausible calculations suggest that this estimate represents
merely the tail end of an interval of declining meteorite bombardment and that about 20 times
as many basins were formed in the preceding 300 million years. Such intense bombardment

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would have covered most of Earth’s surface, with the impacts causing considerable
destruction of the terrestrial crust up to 4 billion years ago.
An exciting discovery was made in 1983 by William Compston and his research
group at the Australian National University with the aid of an ion microprobe. Compston and
his associates found that a water-laid clastic sedimentary quartzite from Mount Narryer in
western Australia contained detrital zircon grains that were 4.18 billion years old. In 1986
they further discovered that one zircon in a conglomerate only 60 km (about 37 miles) away
was 4.276 billion years old; 16 other grains were determined to be the same age or slightly
younger. In 2014 American geochemist John Valley and colleagues discharged lead atoms at
one of the zircon crystals discovered in western Australia’s Jack Hills and discovered that the
crystals are more than 4.4 billion years old. This mineral is the oldest dated material on Earth.
The rocks from which the zircons in the quartzites and conglomerates were derived have
either disappeared or have not yet been found. The ages of these single zircon grains are at
least roughly 100 million years older than those of the oldest known intact rocks.
Earth’s secondary atmosphere began to develop at the time of planetary
differentiation, probably in connection with volcanic activity. Its component gases, however,
were most likely very different from those emitted by modern volcanoes. Accordingly, the
composition of the early secondary atmosphere was quite distinct from that of today’s
atmosphere. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane predominated;
however, free oxygen could not have been present, since even modern volcanic gases contain
no oxygen. It is therefore assumed that the secondary atmosphere during the Archean Eon (4
billion to 2.5 billion years ago) was anoxygenic. The free oxygen that makes up the bulk of
the present atmosphere evolved over geologic time by two possible processes. First, solar
ultraviolet radiation (the short-wavelength component of sunlight) would have provided the
energy needed to break up water vapor into hydrogen, which escaped into space, and free
oxygen, which remained in the atmosphere. This process was in all likelihood important
before the appearance of the oldest extant rocks, but after that time the second process,
organic photosynthesis, became predominant. Primitive organisms, such as blue-green algae
(or cyanobacteria), cause carbon dioxide and water to react by photosynthesis to produce
carbohydrates, which they need for growth, repair, and other vital functions, and this reaction
releases free oxygen. The discovery of stromatolites (layered or conical sedimentary
structures formed by sediment-binding marine algae) in 3.5-billion-year-old limestones in
several parts of the world indicates that blue-green algae existed by that time. The presence of
such early carbonate sediments is evidence that carbon dioxide was present in the
atmosphere, and it has been calculated that it was at least 100 times greater than the amount
in the present-day atmosphere. It can be assumed that such abundant carbon dioxide would
have caused retention of heat, resulting in a greenhouse effect and a hot atmosphere.
What happened to all the oxygen that was released? It might be surprising to learn
that it took at least 1 billion years before there was sufficient oxygen in the atmosphere for
oxidative diagenesis to give rise to red beds (sandstones that are predominantly red in color
due to fully oxidized iron coating individual grains) and that 2.2 billion years passed before a
large number of life-forms could evolve. An idea formulated by the American paleontologist
Preston Cloud has been widely accepted as an answer to this question. The earliest primitive
organisms produced free oxygen as a by-product, and in the absence of oxygen-mediating
enzymes it was harmful to their living cells and had to be removed. Fortunately for the
development of life on the early Earth there was extensive volcanic activity, which resulted in
the deposition of much lava, the erosion of which released enormous quantities of iron into
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the oceans. This ferrous iron is water-soluble and therefore could be easily transported, but it
had to be converted to ferric iron, which is highly insoluble, before it could be precipitated as
iron formations. In short, the organisms produced the oxygen and the iron formations
accepted it. Iron formations can be found in the earliest sediments (those deposited 3.8 billion
years ago) at Isua in West Greenland, and thus this process must have been operative by this
time. Iron formations dating to early Precambrian time (4.6 billion to 541 million years ago)
are so thick and common that they provide the major source of the world’s iron. Large
quantities of iron continued to be deposited until about 2 billion years ago, after which time
the formations decreased and disappeared from the sedimentary record. Sulfides also
accepted oxygen in the early oceans to be deposited as sulfates in evaporites, but such rocks
are easily destroyed. One finds, nonetheless, 3.5-billion-year-old barite/gypsum-bearing
evaporites up to 15 metres (about 49 feet) thick and at least 25 km (15.5 miles) in extent in
the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It seems likely that the excess iron in the early
oceans was finally cleared out by about 1.7 billion years ago, and this decrease in the
deposition of iron formations resulted in an appreciable rise in the oxygen content of the
atmosphere, which in turn enabled more eolian red beds to form. Further evidence of the lack
of oxygen in the early atmosphere is provided by detrital uraninite and pyrite and by
paleosols—i.e., fossil soils. Detrital uraninite and pyrite are readily oxidized in the presence
of oxygen and thus do not survive weathering processes during erosion, transport, and
deposition in an oxygenous atmosphere. Yet, these minerals are well preserved in their
original unoxidized state in conglomerates that have been dated to be more than 2.2 billion
years old on several continents. Paleosols also provide valuable clues, as they were in
equilibrium with the prevailing atmosphere. From analyses of early Precambrian paleosols it
has been determined that the oxygen content of the atmosphere 2.2 billion years ago was one
hundredth of the present atmospheric level (PAL).
Fossils of eukaryotes, which are organisms that require an oxygen content of about
0.02 PAL, bear witness to the beginning of oxidative metabolism. The first microscopic
eukaryotes appeared about 1.4 billion years ago. Life-forms with soft parts, such as jellyfish
and worms, developed in profusion, albeit locally, toward the end of the Precambrian about
650 million years ago, and it is estimated that this corresponds to an oxygen level of 0.1 PAL.
By the time land plants first appeared, roughly 400 million years ago, atmospheric oxygen
levels had reached their present values.
Volcanic degassing of volatiles, including water vapor, occurred during the early
stages of crustal formation and gave rise to the atmosphere. When the surface of Earth had
cooled to below 100 °C (212 °F), the hot water vapor in the atmosphere would have
condensed to form the early oceans. The existence of 3.5-billion-year-old stromatolites is, as
noted above, evidence of the activity of blue-green algae, and this fact indicates that Earth’s
surface must have cooled to below 100 °C by this time. Also, the presence of pillow
structures in basalts of this age attests to the fact that these lavas were extruded under water,
and this probably occurred around volcanic islands in the early ocean. The abundance of
volcanic rocks of Archean age is indicative of the continuing role of intense volcanic
degassing, but since early in the Proterozoic Eon (2.5 billion to 541 million years ago) much
less volcanic activity has occurred. Until about 2 billion years ago there was substantial
deposition of iron formations, cherts, and various other chemical sediments, but from roughly
that time onward the relative proportions of different types of sedimentary rock and their
mineralogy and trace element compositions have been very similar to their Phanerozoic
equivalents (that is, rocks laid down during the Phanerozoic Eon [541 million years ago to the
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present]); it can be inferred from this relationship that the oceans achieved their modern
chemical characteristics and sedimentation patterns from approximately 2 billion years ago.
By the late Precambrian, some 1 billion years ago, ferric oxides were chemically precipitated,
indicating the availability of free oxygen. During Phanerozoic time, the oceans have been
steady-state chemical systems, continuously reacting with the minerals added to them via
drainage from the continents and with volcanic gases at the oceanic ridges.
The geologic history of Earth covers more than 4.5 billion years of time. Different
types of phenomena and events in widely separated parts of the world have been correlated
using an internationally acceptable, standardized time scale. There are, in fact, two geologic
time scales. One is relative, or chronostratigraphic, and the other is absolute, or chronometric.
The chronostratigraphic scale has evolved since the mid-1800s and concerns the relative
order of strata. Important events in its development were the realization by English engineer
and geologist William Smith that in a horizontal sequence of sedimentary strata what is now
an upper stratum was originally deposited on a lower one and the discovery by Scottish
geologist James Hutton that an unconformity (discontinuity) indicates a significant gap in
time. Furthermore, the presence of fossils throughout Phanerozoic sediments has enabled
paleontologists to construct a relative order of strata. As was explained earlier, at specific
stratigraphic boundaries certain types of fossils either appear or disappear or both in some
cases. Such biostratigraphic boundaries separate larger or smaller units of time that are
defined as eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages.
The chronometric scale is of more recent origin. It was made possible by the
development of mass spectrometers during the 1920s and their use in geochronological
laboratories for radiometric dating. The chronometric scale is based on specific units of
duration and on the numerical ages that are assigned to the aforementioned
chronostratigraphic boundaries. The methods used entail the isotopic analyses of whole rocks
and minerals of element pairs, such as potassium–argon, rubidium–strontium, uranium–lead,
and samarium–neodymium. Another radiometric time scale has been developed from the
study of the magnetization of basaltic lavas of the ocean floor. As such lavas were extruded
from the mid-oceanic ridges, they were alternately magnetized parallel and opposite to the
present magnetic field of Earth and are thus referred to as normal and reversed. A magnetic-
polarity time scale for the stratigraphy of normal and reversed magnetic stripes can be
constructed back as far as 280–260 million years ago, which is the age of the oldest extant
segment of ocean floor.

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The Geologic Time Scale of the Earth.

Plate tectonics, theory dealing with the dynamics of Earth’s outer shell—the
lithosphere—that revolutionized Earth sciences by providing a uniform context for
understanding mountain-building processes, volcanoes, and earthquakes as well as the
evolution of Earth’s surface and reconstructing its past continents and oceans.
The concept of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s. According to the theory,
Earth has a rigid outer layer, known as the lithosphere, which is typically about 100 km (60
miles) thick and overlies a plastic (moldable, partially molten) layer called the asthenosphere.
The lithosphere is broken up into seven very large continental- and ocean-sized plates, six or
seven medium-sized regional plates, and several small ones. These plates move relative to
each other, typically at rates of 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) per year, and interact along their
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boundaries, where they converge, diverge, or slip past one another. Such interactions are
thought to be responsible for most of Earth’s seismic and volcanic activity, although
earthquakes and volcanoes can occur in plate interiors. Plate motions cause mountains to rise
where plates push together, or converge, and continents to fracture and oceans to form where
plates pull apart, or diverge. The continents are embedded in the plates and drift passively
with them, which over millions of years results in significant changes in Earth’s geography.

Earth's tectonic plates. Map showing Earth's major tectonic plates with arrows depicting the
directions of plate movement. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The theory of plate tectonics is based on a broad synthesis of geologic and
geophysical data. It is now almost universally accepted, and its adoption represents a true
scientific revolution, analogous in its consequences to quantum mechanics in physics or the
discovery of the genetic code in biology. Incorporating the much older idea of continental
drift, as well as the concept of seafloor spreading, the theory of plate tectonics has provided
an overarching framework in which to describe the past geography of continents and oceans,
the processes controlling creation and destruction of landforms, and the evolution of Earth’s
crust, atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and climates. During the late 20th and early 21st
centuries, it became apparent that plate-tectonic processes profoundly influence the
composition of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, serve as a prime cause of long-term climate
change, and make significant contributions to the chemical and physical environment in
which life evolves.
Principles of Plate Tectonics
In essence, plate-tectonic theory is elegantly simple. Earth’s surface layer, 50 to 100
km (30 to 60 miles) thick, is rigid and is composed of a set of large and small plates.
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Together, these plates constitute the lithosphere, from the Greek lithos, meaning “rock.” The
lithosphere rests on and slides over an underlying partially molten (and thus weaker but
generally denser) layer of plastic partially molten rock known as the asthenosphere, from the
Greek asthenos, meaning “weak.” Plate movement is possible because the lithosphere-
asthenosphere boundary is a zone of detachment. As the lithospheric plates move across
Earth’s surface, driven by forces as yet not fully understood, they interact along their
boundaries, diverging, converging, or slipping past each other. While the interiors of the
plates are presumed to remain essentially undeformed, plate boundaries are the sites of many
of the principal processes that shape the terrestrial surface, including earthquakes, volcanism,
and orogeny (that is, formation of mountain ranges).

Earth's lithosphere and upper mantle. A cross section of Earth's outer layers, from the
crust through the lower mantle. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The process of plate tectonics may be driven by convection in Earth’s mantle, the pull
of heavy old pieces of crust into the mantle, or some combination of both. For a deeper
discussion of plate-driving mechanisms, see Plate-driving mechanisms and the role of the
mantle.
Earth’s layers
Knowledge of Earth’s interior is derived primarily from analysis of the seismic waves
that propagate through Earth as a result of earthquakes. Depending on the material they travel
through, the waves may either speed up, slow down, bend, or even stop if they cannot
penetrate the material they encounter.
Collectively, these studies show that Earth can be internally divided into layers on the
basis of either gradual or abrupt variations in chemical and physical properties. Chemically,
Earth can be divided into three layers. A relatively thin crust, which typically varies from a
few kilometers to 40 km (about 25 miles) in thickness, sits on top of the mantle. (In some
places, Earth’s crust may be up to 70 km [40 miles] thick.) The mantle is much thicker than
the crust; it contains 83 percent of Earth’s volume and continues to a depth of 2,900 km
(1,800 miles). Beneath the mantle is the core, which extends to the centre of Earth, some
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6,370 km (nearly 4,000 miles) below the surface. Geologists maintain that the core is made
up primarily of metallic iron accompanied by smaller amounts of nickel, cobalt, and lighter
elements, such as carbon and sulfur.

crustal generation and destruction. Three-dimensional diagram showing crustal generation


and destruction according to the theory of plate tectonics; included are the three kinds of plate
boundaries—divergent, convergent (or collision), and strike-slip (or transform).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
There are two types of crust, continental and oceanic, which differ in their
composition and thickness. The distribution of these crustal types broadly coincides with the
division into continents and ocean basins, although continental shelves, which are submerged,
are underlain by continental crust. The continents have a crust that is broadly granitic in
composition and, with a density of about 2.7 grams per cubic cm (0.098 pound per cubic
inch), is somewhat lighter than oceanic crust, which is basaltic (i.e., richer in iron and
magnesium than granite) in composition and has a density of about 2.9 to 3 grams per cubic
cm (0.1 to 0.11 pound per cubic inch). Continental crust is typically 40 km (25 miles) thick,
while oceanic crust is much thinner, averaging about 6 km (4 miles) in thickness. These
crustal rocks both sit on top of the mantle, which is ultramafic in composition (i.e., very rich
in magnesium and iron-bearing silicate minerals). The boundary between the crust
(continental or oceanic) and the underlying mantle is known as the Mohorovičić discontinuity
(also called Moho), which is named for its discoverer, Croatian seismologist Andrija
Mohorovičić. The Moho is clearly defined by seismic studies, which detect an acceleration in
seismic waves as they pass from the crust into the denser mantle. The boundary between the
mantle and the core is also clearly defined by seismic studies, which suggest that the outer
part of the core is a liquid.
The effect of the different densities of lithospheric rock can be seen in the different
average elevations of continental and oceanic crust. The less-dense continental crust has
greater buoyancy, causing it to float much higher in the mantle. Its average elevation above
sea level is 840 meters (2,750 feet), while the average depth of oceanic crust is 3,790 meters
(12,400 feet). This density difference creates two principal levels of Earth’s surface.

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The lithosphere itself includes all the crust as well as the upper part of the mantle
(i.e., the region directly beneath the Moho), which is also rigid. However, as temperatures
increase with depth, the heat causes mantle rocks to lose their rigidity. This process begins at
about 100 km (60 miles) below the surface. This change occurs within the mantle and defines
the base of the lithosphere and the top of the asthenosphere. This upper portion of the
mantle, which is known as the lithospheric mantle, has an average density of about 3.3 grams
per cubic cm (0.12 pound per cubic inch). The asthenosphere, which sits directly below the
lithospheric mantle, is thought to be slightly denser at 3.4–4.4 grams per cubic cm (0.12–0.16
pound per cubic inch)
Plate boundaries
Lithospheric plates are much thicker than oceanic or continental crust. Their
boundaries do not usually coincide with those between oceans and continents, and their
behavior is only partly influenced by whether they carry oceans, continents, or both. The
Pacific Plate, for example, is entirely oceanic, whereas the North American Plate is capped
by continental crust in the west (the North American continent) and by oceanic crust in the
east and extends under the Atlantic Ocean as far as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
In a simplified example of plate motion shown in the figure, movement of plate A to
the left relative to plates B and C results in several types of simultaneous interactions along
the plate boundaries. At the rear, plates A and B move apart, or diverge, resulting in
extension and the formation of a divergent margin. At the front, plates A and B overlap, or
converge, resulting in compression and the formation of a convergent margin. Along the
sides, the plates slide past one another, a process called shear. As these zones of shear link
other plate boundaries to one another, they are called transform faults.

Plate movement. Theoretical diagram showing the effects of an advancing tectonic plate on
other adjacent, but stationary, tectonic plates. At the advancing edge of plate A, the overlap
with plate B creates a convergent boundary. In contrast, the gap left behind the trailing edge
of plate A forms a divergent boundary with plate B. As plate A slides past portions of both
plate B and plate C, transform boundaries develop. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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Divergent margins
As plates move apart at a divergent plate boundary, the release of pressure produces
partial melting of the underlying mantle. This molten material, known as magma, is basaltic
in composition and is buoyant. As a result, it wells up from below and cools close to the
surface to generate new crust. Because new crust is formed, divergent margins are also called
constructive margins.
Continental rifting. Upwelling of magma causes the overlying lithosphere to uplift
and stretch. (Whether magmatism [the formation of igneous rock from magma] initiates the
rifting or whether rifting decompresses the mantle and initiates magmatism is a matter of
significant debate.) If the diverging plates are capped by continental crust, fractures develop
that are invaded by the ascending magma, prying the continents farther apart. Settling of the
continental blocks creates a rift valley, such as the present-day East African Rift Valley. As
the rift continues to widen, the continental crust becomes progressively thinner until
separation of the plates is achieved and a new ocean is created. The ascending partial melt
cools and crystallizes to form new crust. Because the partial melt is basaltic in composition,
the new crust is oceanic, and an ocean ridge develops along the site of the former continental
rift. Consequently, diverging plate boundaries, even if they originate within continents,
eventually come to lie in ocean basins of their own making.

rift valley in Thingvellir National Park. The Thingvellir fracture zone at Thingvellir
National Park in southwestern Iceland is an example of a rift valley. The Thingvellir fracture
lies in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which extends through the centre of Iceland. ©
Ihervas/Shutterstock.com

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Seafloor spreading. As upwelling of magma continues, the plates continue to


diverge, a process known as seafloor spreading. Samples collected from the ocean floor show
that the age of oceanic crust increases with distance from the spreading centre—important
evidence in favor of this process. These age data also allow the rate of seafloor spreading to
be determined, and they show that rates vary from about 0.1 cm (0.04 inch) per year to 17 cm
(6.7 inches) per year. Seafloor-spreading rates are much more rapid in the Pacific Ocean than
in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. At spreading rates of about 15 cm (6 inches) per year, the
entire crust beneath the Pacific Ocean (about 15,000 km [9,300 miles] wide) could be
produced in 100 million years.

age of Earth's oceanic crust. The age of Earth's oceanic crust can be presented to show the
pattern of seafloor spreading at the global scale. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Divergence and creation of oceanic crust are accompanied by much volcanic activity
and by many shallow earthquakes as the crust repeatedly rifts, heals, and rifts again. Brittle
earthquake-prone rocks occur only in the shallow crust. Deep earthquakes, in contrast, occur
less frequently, due to the high heat flow in the mantle rock. These regions of oceanic crust
are swollen with heat and so are elevated by 2 to 3 km (1.2 to 1.9 miles) above the
surrounding seafloor. The elevated topography results in a feedback scenario in which the
resulting gravitational force pushes the crust apart, allowing new magma to well up from
below, which in turn sustains the elevated topography. Its summits are typically 1 to 5 km
(0.6 to 3.1 miles) below the ocean surface. On a global scale, these ridges form an
interconnected system of undersea “mountains” that are about 65,000 km (40,000 miles) in
length and are called oceanic ridges.
Convergent margins
Given that Earth is constant in volume, the continuous formation of Earth’s new crust
produces an excess that must be balanced by destruction of crust elsewhere. This is
accomplished at convergent plate boundaries, also known as destructive plate boundaries,
where one plate descends at an angle—that is, is subducted—beneath the other.

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Because oceanic crust cools as it ages, it eventually becomes denser than the
underlying asthenosphere, and so it has a tendency to subduct, or dive under, adjacent
continental plates or younger sections of oceanic crust. The life span of the oceanic crust is
prolonged by its rigidity, but eventually this resistance is overcome. Experiments show that
the subducted oceanic lithosphere is denser than the surrounding mantle to a depth of at least
600 km (about 400 miles).
The mechanisms responsible for initiating subduction zones are controversial. During
the late 20th and early 21st centuries, evidence emerged supporting the notion that subduction
zones preferentially initiate along preexisting fractures (such as transform faults) in the
oceanic crust. Irrespective of the exact mechanism, the geologic record indicates that the
resistance to subduction is overcome eventually.
Where two oceanic plates meet, the older, denser plate is preferentially subducted
beneath the younger, warmer one. Where one of the plate margins is oceanic and the other is
continental, the greater buoyancy of continental crust prevents it from sinking, and the
oceanic plate is preferentially subducted. Continents are preferentially preserved in this
manner relative to oceanic crust, which is continuously recycled into the mantle. This
explains why ocean floor rocks are generally less than 200 million years old whereas the
oldest continental rocks are more than 4 billion years old. Before the middle of the 20th
century, most geoscientists maintained that continental crust was too buoyant to be
subducted. However, it later became clear that slivers of continental crust adjacent to the
deep-sea trench, as well as sediments deposited in the trench, may be dragged down the
subduction zone. The recycling of this material is detected in the chemistry of volcanoes that
erupt above the subduction zone.
Two plates carrying continental crust collide when the oceanic lithosphere between
them has been eliminated. Eventually, subduction ceases and towering mountain ranges, such
as the Himalayas, are created. Because the plates form an integrated system, it is not
necessary that new crust formed at any given divergent boundary be completely compensated
at the nearest subduction zone, as long as the total amount of crust generated equals that
destroyed.
Subduction zones. The subduction process involves the descent into the mantle of a
slab of cold hydrated oceanic lithosphere about 100 km (60 miles) thick that carries a
relatively thin cap of oceanic sediments. The path of descent is defined by
numerous earthquakes along a plane that is typically inclined between 30° and 60° into the
mantle and is called the Wadati-Benioff zone, for Japanese seismologist Kiyoo Wadati and
American seismologist Hugo Benioff, who pioneered its study. Between 10 and 20 percent of
the subduction zones that dominate the circum-Pacific ocean basin are subhorizontal (that is,
they subduct at angles between 0° and 20°). The factors that govern the dip of the subduction
zone are not fully understood, but they probably include the age and thickness of the
subducting oceanic lithosphere and the rate of plate convergence.

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subducting tectonic plate. A subducting plate's path (called the Benioff-Wadati [or Wadati-
Benioff] zone) is defined by numerous earthquakes along a plane that is typically inclined
between 30° and 60° into the mantle. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Most, but not all, earthquakes in this planar dipping zone result from compression,
and the seismic activity extends 300 to 700 km (200 to 400 miles) below the surface,
implying that the subducted crust retains some rigidity to this depth. At greater depths the
subducted plate is partially recycled into the mantle.
The site of subduction is marked by a deep trench, between 5 and 11 km (3 and 7
miles) deep, that is produced by frictional drag between the plates as the descending plate
bends before it subducts. The overriding plate scrapes sediments and elevated portions of
ocean floor off the upper crust of the lower plate, creating a zone of highly deformed rocks
within the trench that becomes attached, or accreted, to the overriding plate. This chaotic
mixture is known as an accretionary wedge.
The rocks in the subduction zone experience high pressures but relatively low
temperatures, an effect of the descent of the cold oceanic slab. Under these conditions the
rocks recrystallize, or metamorphose, to form a suite of rocks known as blueschists, named
for the diagnostic blue mineral called glaucophane, which is stable only at the high pressures
and low temperatures found in subduction zones. At deeper levels in the subduction zone
(that is, greater than 30–35 km [about 19–22 miles]), eclogites, which consist of high-
pressure minerals such as red garnet (pyrope) and omphacite (pyroxene), form. The formation
of eclogite from blueschist is accompanied by a significant increase in density and has been
recognized as an important additional factor that facilitates the subduction process.
Island arcs. When the downward-moving slab reaches a depth of about 100 km (60
miles), it gets sufficiently warm to drive off its most volatile components, thereby stimulating
partial melting of mantle in the plate above the subduction zone (known as the mantle
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wedge). Melting in the mantle wedge produces magma, which is predominantly basaltic in
composition. This magma rises to the surface and gives birth to a line of volcanoes in the
overriding plate, known as a volcanic arc, typically a few hundred kilometers behind the
oceanic trench. The distance between the trench and the arc, known as the arc-trench gap,
depends on the angle of subduction. Steeper subduction zones have relatively narrow arc-
trench gaps. A basin may form within this region, known as a fore-arc basin, and may be
filled with sediments derived from the volcanic arc or with remains of oceanic crust.
If both plates are oceanic, as in the western Pacific Ocean, the volcanoes form a
curved line of islands, known as an island arc, that is parallel to the trench, as in the case of
the Mariana Islands and the adjacent Mariana Trench. If one plate is continental, the
volcanoes form inland, as they do in the Andes of western South America. Though the
process of magma generation is similar, the ascending magma may change its composition as
it rises through the thick lid of continental crust, or it may provide sufficient heat to melt the
crust. In either case, the composition of the volcanic mountains formed tends to be
more silicon-rich and iron- and magnesium-poor relative to the volcanic rocks produced by
ocean-ocean convergence. Black-arc basins. Where both converging plates are oceanic,
the margin of the older oceanic crust will be subducted because older oceanic crust is colder
and therefore denser. As the dense slab collapses into the asthenosphere, however, it also may
“roll back” oceanward and cause extension in the overlying plate. This results in a process
known as back-arc spreading, in which a basin opens up behind the island arc. The crust
behind the arc becomes progressively thinner, and the decompression of the underlying
mantle causes the crust to melt, initiating seafloor-spreading processes, such as melting and
the production of basalt; these processes are similar to those that occur at ocean ridges. The
geochemistry of the basalts produced at back-arc basins superficially resembles that of basalts
produced at ocean ridges, but subtle trace element analyses can detect the influence of a
nearby subducted slab.

back-arc basin. The trench “roll back” process of back-arc basin formation. Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.

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This style of subduction predominates in the western Pacific Ocean, in which a


number of back-arc basins separate several island arcs from Asia. Examples include the
Mariana Islands, the Kuril Islands, and the main islands of Japan. However, if the rate of
convergence increases or if anomalously thick oceanic crust (possibly caused by rising
mantle plume activity) is conveyed into the subduction zone, the slab may flatten. Such
flattening causes the back-arc basin to close, resulting in deformation, metamorphism, and
even melting of the strata deposited in the basin

sea anchor process in back-arc basin formation. The slab “sea anchor” process of back-arc
basin formation. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Mountain building. If the rate of subduction in an ocean basin exceeds the rate at
which the crust is formed at oceanic ridges, a convergent margin forms as the ocean initially
contracts. This process can lead to collision between the approaching continents, which
eventually terminates subduction. Mountain building can occur in a number of ways at a
convergent margin: mountains may rise as a consequence of the subduction process itself, by
the accretion of small crustal fragments (which, along with linear island chains and oceanic
ridges, are known as terranes), or by the collision of two large continents.
Many mountain belts were developed by a combination of these processes. For
example, the Cordilleran mountain belt of North America—which includes the Rocky
Mountains as well as the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges near the
Pacific coast—developed by a combination of subduction and terrane accretion. As
continental collisions are usually preceded by a long history of subduction and terrane
accretion, many mountain belts record all three processes.
Over the past 70 million years the subduction of the Neo-Tethys Sea, a wedge-shaped
body of water that was located between Gondwana and Laurasia, led to the accretion of
terranes along the margins of Laurasia, followed by continental collisions beginning about 30
million years ago between Africa and Europe and between India and Asia. These collisions
culminated in the formation of the Alps and the Himalayas.
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Jurassic paleogeography. The distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow


seas, and deep ocean basins during the late Jurassic Period. Included in the paleogeographic
reconstruction are the locations of the interval's subduction zones. Adapted from: C.R.
Scotese, The University of Texas at Arlington
Mountains by subduction. Mountain building by subduction is classically
demonstrated in the Andes Mountains of South America. Subduction results in voluminous
magmatism in the mantle and crust overlying the subduction zone, and, therefore, the rocks in
this region are warm and weak. Although subduction is a long-term process, the uplift that
results in mountains tends to occur in discrete episodes and may reflect intervals of stronger
plate convergence that squeezes the thermally weakened crust upward. For example, rapid
uplift of the Andes approximately 25 million years ago is evidenced by a reversal in the flow
of the Amazon River from its ancestral path toward the Pacific Ocean to its modern path,
which empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
In addition, models have indicated that the episodic opening and closing of back-arc
basins have been the major factors in mountain-building processes, which have influenced
the plate-tectonic evolution of the western Pacific for at least the past 500 million years.
Mountains by terrane accretion. As the ocean contracts by subduction, elevated
regions within the ocean basin—terranes—are transported toward the subduction zone, where
they are scraped off the descending plate and added—accreted—to the continental margin.
Since the late Devonian and early Carboniferous periods, some 360 million years ago,
subduction beneath the western margin of North America has resulted in several collisions
with terranes. The piecemeal addition of these accreted terranes has added an average of 600
km (400 miles) in width along the western margin of the North American continent, and the
collisions have resulted in important pulses of mountain building.

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continental margin. The broad, gentle pitch of the continental shelf gives way to the
relatively steep continental slope. The more gradual transition to the abyssal plain is a
sediment-filled region called the continental rise. The continental shelf, slope, and rise are
collectively called the continental margin. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
During these accretionary events, small sections of the oceanic crust may break away
from the subducting slab as it descends. Instead of being subducted, these slices are thrust
over the overriding plate and are said to be abducted. Where this occurs, rare slices of ocean
crust, known as ophiolites, are preserved on land. They provide a valuable natural laboratory
for studying the composition and character of the oceanic crust and the mechanisms of their
emplacement and preservation on land. A classic example is the Coast Range ophiolite
of California, which is one of the most extensive ophiolite terranes in North America. These
ophiolite deposits run from the Klamath Mountains in northern California southward to
the Diablo Range in central California. This oceanic crust likely formed during the middle of
the Jurassic Period, roughly 170 million years ago, in an extensional regime within either a
back-arc or a forearc basin. In the late Mesozoic, it was accreted to the western North
American continental margin.
Because preservation of oceanic crust is rare, the recognition of ophiolite complexes
is very important in tectonic analyses. Until the mid-1980s, ophiolites were thought to
represent vestiges of the main oceanic tract, but geochemical analyses have clearly indicated
that most ophiolites form near volcanic arcs, such as in back-arc basins characterized by
subduction roll-back (the collapse of the subducting plate that causes the extension of the
overlying plate). The recognition of ophiolite complexes is very important in tectonic
analysis, because they provide insights into the generation of magmatism in oceanic domains,
as well as their complex relationships with subduction processes. (See above back-arc
basins.)
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Mountains by continental collision. Continental collision involves the forced


convergence of two buoyant plate margins that results in neither continent being subducted to
any appreciable extent. A complex sequence of events ensues that compels one continent to
override the other. These processes result in crustal thickening and intense deformation that
forces the crust skyward to form huge mountains with crustal roots that extend as deep as 80
km (about 50 miles) relative to Earth’s surface, in accordance with the principles of isostasy.
The subducted slab still has a tendency to sink and may become detached and founder
(submerge) into the mantle. The crustal root undergoes metamorphic reactions that result in a
significant increase in density and may cause the root to also founder into the mantle. Both
processes result in a significant injection of heat from the compensatory upwelling of
asthenosphere, which is an important contribution to the rise of the mountains.
Continental collisions produce lofty landlocked mountain ranges such as
the Himalayas. Much later, after these ranges have been largely leveled by erosion, it is
possible that the original contact, or suture, may be exposed.
The balance between creation and destruction on a global scale is demonstrated by the
expansion of the Atlantic Ocean by seafloor spreading over the past 200 million years,
compensated by the contraction of the Pacific Ocean, and the consumption of an entire ocean
between India and Asia (the Tethys Sea). The northward migration of India led to collision
with Asia some 40 million years ago. Since that time India has advanced a further 2,000 km
(1,250 miles) beneath Asia, pushing up the Himalayas and forming the Plateau of Tibet.
Pinned against stable Siberia, China and Indochina were pushed sideways, resulting in strong
seismic activity thousands of kilometers from the site of the continental collision.
Transform faults. Along the third type of plate boundary, two plates move laterally
and pass each other along giant fractures in Earth’s crust. Transform faults are so named
because they are linked to other types of plate boundaries. The majority of
transform faults link the offset segments of oceanic ridges. However, transform faults also
occur between plate margins with continental crust—for example, the San Andreas
Fault in California and the North Anatolian fault system in Turkey. These boundaries
are conservative because plate interaction occurs without creating or destroying crust.
Because the only motion along these faults is the sliding of plates past each other, the
horizontal direction along the fault surface must parallel the direction of plate motion. The
fault surfaces are rarely smooth, and pressure may build up when the plates on either side
temporarily lock. This buildup of stress may be suddenly released in the form of
an earthquake.
Many transform faults in the Atlantic Ocean are the continuation of major faults in
adjacent continents, which suggests that the orientation of these faults might be inherited
from preexisting weaknesses in continental crust during the earliest stages of the development
of oceanic crust. On the other hand, transform faults may themselves be reactivated, and
recent geodynamic models suggest that they are favorable environments for the initiation of
subduction zones.

38
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San Andreas Fault. At the San Andreas Fault in California, the North American Plate and
the Pacific Plate slide past each other along a giant fracture in Earth's crust. U.S. Geological
Survey
Alfred Wegener and the concept of continental drift
In 1912 German meteorologist Alfred Wegener, impressed by the similarity of
the geography of the Atlantic coastlines, explicitly presented the concept of continental drift.
Though plate tectonics is by no means synonymous with continental drift, the
term encompasses this idea and derives much of its impact from it.
Wegener came to consider the existence of a single supercontinent from about 350
million to 245 million years ago, during the late Paleozoic Era and early Mesozoic Era, and
named it Pangea, meaning “all lands.” He searched the geologic and paleontological literature
for evidence supporting the continuity of geologic features across the Indian and Atlantic
oceans during that time period, which he assumed had formed during the Mesozoic Era
(about 252 million to 66 million years ago). He presented the idea of continental drift and
some of the supporting evidence in a lecture in 1912, followed by his major published work,
The Origin of Continents and Oceans (1915).

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Telefax # (084) 628-6437

Alfred Wegener. He is a German geophysicist and meteorologist. Photos.com/Jupiterimages

continental drift. The location of Earth's continents at various times between 225 million
years ago and the present.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Isostasy
Wegener pointed out that the concept of isostasy (the ideal theoretical balance of all
large portions of Earth’s lithosphere as though they were floating on the denser underlying
layer) rendered the existence of large sunken continental blocks, as envisaged by Suess,
geophysical impossible. He concluded that if the continents had been once joined together,
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the consequence would have been drift of their fragments and not their foundering. The
assumption of a former single continent could be tested geologically, and Wegener displayed
a large array of data that supported his hypothesis, ranging from the continuity of fold belts
across oceans, the presence of identical rocks and fossils on continents now separated by
oceans, and the paleobiogeographic and palaeoclimatological record that indicated otherwise
unaccountable shifts in Earth’s major climate belts. He further argued that if continents could
move up and down in the mantle as a result of buoyancy changes produced
by erosion or deposition, they should be able to move horizontally as well.

continental drift. In this map depicting a portion of Gondwana (an ancient supercontinent
that once contained South America, Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica), the discovery of
fossil plants and animals whose geographic home ranges cut across the greater landmass is
supporting evidence for continental drift. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Driving forces
The main stumbling block to the acceptance of Wegener’s hypothesis was the driving
forces he proposed. Wegener described the drift of continents as a flight from the poles due to
Earth’s equatorial bulge. Although these forces do exist, Wegener’s nemesis, British
geophysicist Sir Harold Jeffreys, demonstrated that these forces are much too weak for the
task. Another mechanism proposed by Wegener, tidal forces on Earth’s crust produced by
gravitational pull of the Moon, were also shown to be entirely inadequate.
Wegener’s proposition was attentively received by many European geologists, and in
England Arthur Holmes pointed out that the lack of a driving force was insufficient grounds
for rejecting the entire concept. In 1929 Holmes proposed an alternative mechanism—
convection of the mantle—which remains today a serious candidate for the force driving the
plates. Wegener’s ideas also were well received by geologists in the Southern Hemisphere.
41
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One of them, the South African Alexander Du Toit, remained an ardent believer. After
Wegener’s death, Du Toit continued to amass further evidence in support of continental drift.
Evidence supporting the hypothesis. The strikingly similar Paleozoic sedimentary
sequences on all southern continents and also in India are an example of evidence that
supports continental drift. This diagnostic sequence consists of glacial deposits called tillites,
followed by sandstones and finally coal measures, typical of warm moist climates. An
attempt to explain this sequence in a world of fixed continents presents insurmountable
problems. Placed on a reconstruction of Gondwana, however, the tillites mark two ice ages
that occurred during the drift of this continent across the South Pole from its initial position
north of Libya about 500 million years ago and its final departure from southern Australia
250 million years later. About this time, Gondwana collided with Laurentia (the precursor to
the North American continent), which was one of the major collisional events that produced
Pangea.
Both ice ages resulted in glacial deposits—in the southern Sahara during the Silurian
Period (443.8 million to 419.2 million years ago) and in southern South America, South
Africa, India, and Australia from 382.7 million to 251.9 million years ago, spanning the latter
part of the Devonian, as well as the Carboniferous and the Permian. At each location, the
tillites were subsequently covered by desert sands of the subtropics and these in turn by coal
measures, indicating that the region had arrived near the paleoequator.
During the 1950s and 1960s, isotopic dating of rocks showed that the crystalline
massifs of Precambrian age (from about 4.6 billion to 541 million years ago) found on
opposite sides of the South Atlantic did indeed closely correspond in age and composition, as
Wegener had surmised. It is now evident that they originated as a single assemblage of
Precambrian continental nuclei later torn apart by the fragmentation of Pangea.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further
understand the lesson:

*Dela Peña, A. (2016). Earth Science. Pasay City: JFS Publishing Services. 1st edition.
*San Felipe, B. (2015). Earth Science: A Modular Approach. Peteros M.M., Philippines:
Grandbooks Publishing, Inc.
*Shipman, J., Wilson, J., Higgins, C., & Torres, O. (2016). An Introduction to Physical
Science. 14th edition. ISBN: 978-1-305-07912-0
*Tillery, B., Slater, S., & Slater, T. (2020). Physical Science. New York: McGraw-Hill
Education. 12th education.
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UM Panabo College
Department of Teacher Education
P.N. Arguelles St., San Francisco, Panabo City
Telefax # (084) 628-6437

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