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8/9/2019 GEO-151 Assignment 1
1/4
Valo S. Gonzalez
GEO-151
Assignment 1
1. What are the relationships among Earths mantle, crust, asthenosphere, and lithosphere?
The theory of Plate Tectonics been demonstrated to reliably indicate that the surface of the Earth,
the crust, and its immediate sublayer the uppermost portion of the mantle (the lithosphere) are fractal
portions of one whole. Though the sum of these pieces (plates) are the constituents of a unified layer on the
surface (Earths crust), their behavior is far from harmonious. The plates that form the lithosphere are in a
constant state of motion which is measured from the perspective of geologic time that is spans of time that
are contextually appropriate for the pace at which geological events occur. Underneath the lithosphere lies a
deeper layer of mantle known as the asthenosphere where weaker mantle rocks in a partially melted, crystal
and-liquid state are transferred through the region easily by ductile flow. An important concept relative to all
geological events is the process of earths internal and external heat engines, devices that convert heat
energy into mechanical energy. These engines are governed by a process known as convection, movement
due to density differences caused by heating and cooling. Internal forces are classified as convection that
occurs within the asthenosphere forcing areas of higher heat, and less density upward toward the lithosphere.
This upward exertion of mass from the asthenosphere generates a force known as tectonic force, which
causes the deformation of rock by bending and breaking it as well as vertical and horizontal movement of
portions of the Earths crust evidenced by the raising of mountain ranges an example of mechanical energy
which comprise the majority of tectonic forces. Mechanical movement of Earths crust may be continuous and
gradual, or else stored and suddenly released as when an earthquake occurs. Otherwise tectonic forces are
converted to heat energy at which time such events as volcanic activity is the result. Surficial processes the
Earths external heat engine which is driven by solar power, pertain to portions of the Earths surface that are
exposed to the atmosphere. Convection at the surface occurs when the sun heats the ground and creates
areas of lower atmospheric pressure which causes cooler adjacent areas of greater atmospheric pressure to
move toward the area of displaced atmosphere. The movement of cooler, denser, surface based
atmospheric mass converging on an area of displaced upward moving warmer air, illustrated how winds are
generated. The upward moving warm parcel of air begins to cool and condense forming clouds, which when
saturated with moisture from evaporated bodies of water, will produce precipitation. Wind and precipitation
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Valo S. Gonzalez
GEO-151
Assignment 1
cause erosion to occur at exposed portions of the Earths crust above sea level. As weather driven by Earths
external heat engine forces the breakdown of rock, what is left is known as sediment loose material.
Sediment may be transported by an agent of erosion, such as running water in a stream or river into the sea.
When such an agent slows down as it meets the sea, the sediment being transported as, for example sand, is
deposited as a layer of sediment on the ocean floor. Over time the layer of sediment becomes cemented or
otherwise consolidated (lithified) into a sedimentary layer of rock. Sedimentary rock that becomes deeply
buried in the Earth may later be transformed by heat and pressure into metamorphic rock.
Since the theory of plate tectonics regards the lithosphere as broken into plates that are in motion up the
underlying asthenosphere, much of what is observed and recorded is explained by the type of motion that
occurs along the plate boundaries. These boundaries are classified into three types based on the type of
motion they exert upon each other. They are Convergent, Divergent, or Transform boundaries. Convergent
boundaries involve two plates that are moving toward each other which are the sites of the largest
earthquakes. Divergent boundaries involve plates that are moving away from each other, the majority of
which coincide with the crests of submarine mountain ranges, called mid-oceanic ridges. Transform
boundaries are areas where two plates slide horizontally past each other. Although most transform faults are
found along mid oceanic ridges, occasionally a transform fault cuts through a continental plate. Transform
boundaries between plates (transform faults) are the segments of the fractures between offset ridge crests.
Earthquakes resulting from motion along transform faults vary in intensity depending on whether the fault cuts
through oceanic or continental crust and on the length of the fault.
2. By what processes did the planets form from the clouds of gas and dust? What are some of the main
differences between the Earth-like planets and the giant outer planets such as Jupiter and Saturn?
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Valo S. Gonzalez
GEO-151
Assignment 1
The planets formed from the clouds of gas and dust through a process known as the Nebular Hypothesis.
This hypothesis was first postulated in the 18th
century by German philosopher Immanuel Kant, and also
by the French mathematician Pierre Simon Laplace. The original framework of this hypothesis has
remained largely intact and is well supported by evidence available today. The Nebular Hypothesis
proposes that our solar system was born about 4.6 billion years ago from an interstellar cloud which
consisted of gas and dust which was probably a few light-years across and was made mostly of
hydrogen, and helium gas, with tiny traces of other chemical elements. The dust particles were a mixture
of silicates, iron compounds, carbon compounds, and water frozen into ice. Gravitational forces caused
the elements of the interstellar cloud to collapse inward while rotating. Dust particles in the disk began to
stick together and grow in size and eventually become small planet like bodies (planetesimals). The
central mass of the cloud eventually became the sun while the planetesimals formed into the respective
planets of our solar system.
The main differences between the Earth-like planets and the gas giant outer planets has to do with the
composition of the of the particles that formed them, which was dependant upon where in the disk they
formed. In the inner part of the disk, it was too warm for water-ice to condense. Solid particles there
were thus composed almost entirely of silicate and iron-rich material. At about Jupiters distance from the
Sun was the disk cold enough for water-ice to condense on the particles. Thus, particles in those outer
regions consisted of silicate and iron-rich material in addition to frozen water. For this reason the disk
became divided into two regions that contained either silicate and iron planetesimals near the sun, and an
outer zone of silicate and iron particles onto which ice also condensed. Atmosphere formation was the
last part of the planet-forming process. The outer planets captured most of their atmospheres directly
from the solar nebula as it was rich in hydrogen and helium, just as the atmospheres of the outer planets
are today. The inner planets were not massive enough and were too hot to capture gas directly from the
solar nebula and are therefore deficient in hydrogen and helium. The atmospheres of the inner, rocky
planets formed from a combination of processes such as volcanic eruptions releasing gases from their
interiors, vaporization of comets and icy panetesimals that have struck them.
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Valo S. Gonzalez
GEO-151
Assignment 1
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