HNRS 353 Astrobiology Chapter 4 - Earth - Bennett & Shostak

1. HNRS 353 AstrobiologyChapter 4 - Earth - Bennett & Shostak Lecture Notes for Chapter 4 FALL 2018 Dr. H. Geller

2. The Habitability of Earth • Geology and Life (4.1) • Reconstructing the History of Earth and Life (4.2) • Rocks, radiometric dating, geological record, fossils, geological time scale, Earth’s age • The Hadean Earth and the Dawn of Life (4.3) • Atmosphere, oceans, heavy bombardments • Geology and Habitability (4.4) • Earth’s interior, plate tectonics, magnetosphere

3. The Habitability of Earth • Climate Regulation and Change (4.5) • Greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, ice ages, Snowball Earth, long term habitability • The Process of Science in Action: Formation of the Moon (4.6) • Sister model, capture model, spinoff model

4. Some Guiding Questions • What is the greenhouse effect? How does it affect the average temperature of the Earth? • Is the Earth completely solid inside? How can scientists tell? • How is it possible for entire continents to move across the face of the Earth? • How does our planet’s magnetic field protect life on Earth? • Why is Earth the only planet with an oxygen-rich atmosphere? • Why are prevailing winds generally from the west over most of North America but generally from the east in Hawaii? • What are global warming and the “ozone hole”? Why should they concern us?

5. Telling Rocks Apart • How geologists tell apart different minerals and rocks • color, luster, texture • hardness test • scratching one against another • diamond is hardest • acid test • using weak hydrochloric acid to • streak test • form a streak across a ceramic tile

6. Plate tectonics is involved in the formation of the three major categories of rocks • Igneous Rock • cooled from molten material • Sedimentary Rock • Layered eroded material formed by the action of wind, water, or ice • Metamorphic Rock • Rock that has been altered in the solid state by extreme heat and pressure

7. The Rock Cycle

8. iClicker Question Rocks formed from other rocks that are heated and placed under great pressures are called A igneous rocks B sedimentary rocks C metamorphic rocks D fault rocks E scarp rocks

9. iClicker Question Rocks formed from layers of fine material that have been compressed under water are called A igneous rocks B sedimentary rocks C metamorphic rocks D fault rocks E scarp rocks

10. iClicker Question Rocks formed when molten material cools and solidifies are called A igneous rocks B sedimentary rocks C metamorphic rocks D fault rocks E scarp rocks

11. iClicker Question Which of the following are not used to identify rocks: A crystalline shape B acid test C streak test D hardness test E all of the above can be used to identify a rock

12. Surface Building Processes • Stress • “stress is a force that tends to compress, pull apart, or deform” • different types of stress • compressive stress • tensional stress • shear stress • Strain • “the adjustment to stress”

13. Stress and Strain

14. Surface Building Processes • Folds • bends in layered bedrock • Anticline /\ • Syncline \/

15. Surface Building Processes • Faulting • formation of a crack caused by relative movement of rock on either side of a fracture

16. Mountains • “elevated parts of the Earth’s crust that rise abruptly above the surrounding surface” • Causes • folding, faulting, volcanic activity

17. Volcanoes • “hill or mountain formed by the extrusion of lava or rock fragments from magma below” • Different types • shield, cinder cone, composite (composite shown)

18. Tear-Down Processes • Weathering • mechanical weathering • chemical weathering • Erosion • mass movement (mass wasting) • running water (floodplain, delta) • glacier • wind (deflation and abrasion) • impact cratering

19. Earthquakes • Defined as “quaking, shaking, vibrating, or upheaval of the ground” • Earthquake causes • elastic rebound theory • Intensity measure • Richter Magnitude • not linear scale

20. iClicker Question What is the term used to specifically define a downward fold of rock material? A scarp B eroda C fold D syncline E anticline

21. Earth’s Interior andHow We Know It

22. Earth’s Inside Story Energy transfer in the mantle similar to that of a pot of boiling water.

23. Earth’s Interior, Then and Now

24. What We Learn from Seismometers • The Earth’s inner and outer cores are composed of iron with some nickel and other metals mixed in • The mantle is composed of iron-rich minerals • Both temperature and pressure steadily increase with depth inside the Earth

25. Crustal Rumblings

26. iClicker Question Which of the diagram represents the MANTLE of the Earth? A B C D E None of the above.

27. iClicker Question Which of the diagrammed sections of the Earth's interior represents the Outer Core? A B C D E None of the above.

28. iClicker Question Which of the diagrammed sections of the Earth represents the CRUST? A B C D E None of the above.

29. iClicker Question Energy transport from one region to another by the movement of material as in the mantle of the Earth is known as A chaos. B radiance. C conduction. D differentiation. E convection.

30. iClicker Question The existence of earthquake shadow zones indicates that there is an abrupt change between the properties of the mantle and those of the core. Specifically, the transverse wave shadow zone shows that the outer core must be A solid. B liquid or semi-liquid. C gaseous. D similar to crustal material. E impossible to determine.

31. Plate Tectonics • “The theory that the Earth’s crust is made of rigid plates that float on the asthenosphere.” • Consider the scientific evidence for plate tectonics and what forced scientists to accept the theory as fact

32. Plate tectonics, or movement of the plates, is driven by convection within the asthenosphere • Molten material wells up at oceanic rifts, producing seafloor spreading, and is returned to the asthenosphere in subduction zones • As one end of a plate is subducted back into the asthenosphere, it helps to pull the rest of the plate along

33. Plate Tectonics • The Earth’s crust and a small part of its upper mantle form a rigid layer called the lithosphere. • The lithosphere is divided into huge plates that move about over the plastic layer called the asthenosphere in the upper mantle

34. Fossils across an ocean

35. The continents appear to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle

36. Development of Geologic Time • Fossilization • “Reading the Rocks” • principle of uniformity • principle of original horizontality • principle of superposition • principle of crosscutting relationships • principle of faunal succession • radiometric dating • Geologic Time Scale

37. Geologic Time Scale

38. Earth’s Atmosphere • Composition • Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), Argon, Water Vapor, CO2, Methane, other • Atmospheric Pressure • pressure exerted by atmosphere • Warming • Sun - solar constant is not really constant • greenhouse effect • warming due to the transparency of a substance to radiation at visible wavelengths and opacity to infrared radiation

39. The Earth’s atmosphere has changed substantially over time • The Earth’s atmosphere differs from those of the other terrestrial planets in its chemical composition, circulation pattern, and temperature profile • The Earth’s atmosphere changed from being mostly water vapor to being rich in carbon dioxide • A strong greenhouse effect kept the Earth warm enough for water to remain liquid and to permit the evolution of life

40. The appearance of photosynthetic living organisms led to our present atmospheric composition, about four- fifths nitrogen and one-fifth oxygen

41. Structure of the Atmosphere

42. Circulation in our atmosphere results from convection and the Earth’s rotation Because of the Earth’s rapid rotation, the circulation in its atmosphere is complex, with three circulation cells in each hemisphere

43. Winds • Local winds • wind chill factor • Global wind patterns

44. Weather Producers • Air Masses • Evaporation • Absolute humidity • Relative humidity • Fronts • Waves and cyclones • Storms • thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes

45. An idealized cold front

46. An idealized warm front

47. Weather Forecasting • Predictions based upon • “characteristics, location, and rate of movement of air masses and associated fronts and pressure systems” • Complex computer models • Led to science of “chaos” • chaotic dynamic systems

48. Climate • “general pattern of the weather that occurs for a region over a number of years” • Major climate regions • tropical • temperate • polar

49. The principal climate zones

50. iClicker Question Which of the following layers of the atmosphere is highest above the surface of the Earth? A troposphere. B stratosphere. C thermosphere. D mesosphere. E ozone layer.