Notes

ESSE Notes


Lecture 2
- There are 5 different spheres
Atmosphere (air, weather)
Hydrosphere(water, ice)
Biosphere(plants, animals)
Geosphere(lands, rocks)
Exosphere(sun, meteors)
- All of the spheres interact with each other in some way and surround us constantly

Lecture 3
Meteor - The streak of light seen when a meteoroid heats up in the atmosphere
Comet - A icy body that releases gases while it orbits the sun
Asteroid - Rocky body that floats within outer space that is smaller than a planet and orbits the sun
Meteoroid- Rocky or metallic fragment/piece broken off from an asteroid, comet or planet
Meteorite - When the rocky or metallic meteor hits the ground

How far is the earth from the sun?
1 AU = 150 million km (we rounded)
1 LY = 63 240 AU

Formation of the solar system

Key evidence of existence: all planets are moving in the same direction surrounding the sun which suggests that they all broke apart of a larger rotating disk or were apart of one
Contraction - the cloud starts collapsing under its own gravity to create a spherical shape
The collision of particles combined with gravity and mass begins to spin. the collapsing spinning nebula begins to flatten into a rotating pancake
A proto-star forms in the center when the core becomes dense enough and later becomes the sun
Accretion - Dust grains stick to each other and sweep their paths, forming larger particles (Planetesimals)
Orbital paths are cleared
The suns and its planets all spin in the same directions
The Sun and its planets all spin in the same direction
Most atmospheric gas in the inner planets burn off due to the intense heat

Now what makes earth distinct from the other planets in the solar system?
- Presence of atmosphere
- Presence of liquid water
- Presence of magnetic field
- Plate tectonics
- Greenhouse gases

Lecture 4
The solar zenith angle is the angle of solar radiation it makes vertically since earths axis is tilted the angle differs across the globe depending on the earths positioning
A lower obliquity will give u a shorter summer -> more ice
The temperature is hotter when the sun is overhead
This also explains why when we're having summer in the northern hemisphere it would be the opposite season for the southern
Latitude is upward and downward (vertical)
Longitude is left to right ( horizontal)

Lecture 5
We just continue to talk about how longitude and latitude work
and the equations we can use to find the distance between two points
arc length = radius of arc x angle of arc ( in radians)

Lecture 6
Now when it comes to calculating its a bit trickier due to the longitude or latitude differing there are 2 equations you can use
delta latitude = r (radius of earth) x difference in latitude
and
delta longitude = r(radius of earth) cos(latitude) x difference in longitude


Lecture 7
There are different layers to the earth
Continental crust - Which is made up of silicate + aluminum ( granite or sial)
Oceanic crust - mostly silicate + magnesium and is denser than the continental crust
Conrad discontinuity - a jump in density between Continental and Oceanic crust
Lithosphere - The crust and rocky part of the upper mantle

The earth goes Crust -> Mantle -> Core
The mantle below lithosphere is what causes and makes the plate tectonics

A P wave is a longitudinal wave
A S wave is a transverse wave

Evidence for internal earth structure and composition
- Composition
- Density
- Phase (solid or liquid)
- Packing structure
- Temperature
- Pressure

Lecture 8

As we brought up S and P waves
there is a major difference between the two
A S wave can only move through solids meaning it can only go halfway through the earth
A S wave is slower than a P wave
A P wave can move through any materials meaning it will go through the earth if an earthquake occurs
This explains the shadow zones so for an S it will start going to the sides not going through the core making the shadow waves anyplace it does not pass through ( the entire bottom half of the earth)
Whereas for the P wave it will be to the sides and go through the core and come out the other end making the shadow waves to the area it does not pass through ( area on the sides between above the core and bottom half of earth)


S waves are slow but destructive they usually create Love waves ( sideways motion) and Rayleigh waves (rolling motion)

There are 3 types of rocks
Igneous - Molten materials in deep crust and upper mantle
Sedimentary - Weathering and erosion of rocks exposed at the surface
Metamorphic - Rocks under high pressure and temperature in deep crust

Lecture 9
Again as we mentioned in the last lecture
There are 3 types of rocks
Igneous - Molten materials in deep crust and upper mantle
Sedimentary - Weathering and erosion of rocks exposed at the surface
Metamorphic - Rocks under high pressure and temperature in deep crust

They are made up by
Igneous - Crystallization
Sedimentary - Sedimentation (separating particles and sediment water ), burial and lithiation
Metamorphic - Recrystallization due to heat, pressure or chemically active fluids

Silicate is any type of mineral containing oxygen and silicon

We can identify features of minerals by these traits
Crystal form - shape of the mineral
Cleavage - amount of breakage along one or more planes
Hardness - resistance to scratches
Color - the color of the mineral
Lustre - how light is reflected
Streak - the mark it makes when mineral scratches against unglazed porcelin

Lecture 10

Deformation - its the change in volume or shape of the rock

Plate tectonics
The evidence that they exist are that
➢ Similar fossils on opposite sides of ocean
➢ Similar rock sequences on opposite coastlines
➢ Puzzle-like match between opposing coastlines
➢ Glacial deposits in tropical regions
➢ “Ring of fire” of earthquake activity at convergent plate boundaries
➢ Satellite evidence of plate motion
➢ Magnetic field anomalies in rocks
➢ Hot spots & Seamounts

Hotspots
- Active volcanos basically or somewhat similar to them


Lecture 11
It goes from hotspot to inactive volcano and we use division


Lecture 12

Lecture 13

Lecture 14

Lecture 15

Lecture 16

Lecture 17

Lecture 18