Earth Science - Study Notes

I. ENDOGENIC PROCESSES: EARTH’S INTERNAL HEAT,

FOLDS & FAULTS

1. Earth’s Internal Heat

●​ Earth formed from a cloud of gas and dust (solar nebula).
●​ Planetesimals collided and combined, releasing heat → molten Earth.​

Sources of Earth’s Internal Heat:

1.​ Residual heat from Earth’s formation.
2.​ Frictional heating — movement of materials with different densities.
3.​ Heat from the core — inner core’s growth transfers heat to the mantle.
4.​ Radioactive decay (main source) — isotopes like K-40, U-238/235, Th-232.
○​ Generates ~90% of Earth’s heat.​

Temperature:
●​ Core = 5,000–7,000°C, nearly as hot as the Sun’s surface.
●​ Earth cools very slowly, maintaining a steady temperature.

2. Diastrophism
●​ The deformation or movement of the Earth’s crust.
●​ Responsible for mountain building, earthquakes, folds, and faults.
●​ Caused by tensional (stretching) and compressional (squeezing) forces.

Force Type(stress) Result

Compressional Folds

Tensional Faults

3. Folds
●​ Bending or warping of rock layers due to compressional stress.
●​ Cause shortening and thickening of the crust.​

Types of Folds:
1.​ Monocline – gentle bend in otherwise horizontal rock layers.
2.​ Anticline – upward arch (limbs dip away from center).
3.​ Syncline – downward fold (limbs dip toward center).
 4.​ Recumbent – fold pushed over on its side by strong compression/shear.

4. Faults

●​ Cracks in rocks where movement has occurred due to stress.

●​ When stress exceeds rock strength → fracture and displacement.

Fault Type Stress Type Movement Example/Feature

Normal Tension Hanging wall moves Rift valleys

down, footwall up

Reverse Compression Hanging wall moves Mountain ranges

up, footwall down

Graben Tension Block drops between Rift valleys

two faults

Horst Compression Block pushed upward Uplifted block

between faults

Strike Slip Shear Horizontal sliding San Andreas Fault

(Transform)

5. Vulcanicity (Volcanism)
●​ Involves magma movement from Earth’s interior to the surface.
●​ Occurs when the crust pulls apart, allowing mantle rock to melt.

Types:
1.​ Intrusive Vulcanicity – magma solidifies below the surface.
2.​ Extrusive Vulcanicity – magma erupts and solidifies on the surface.
II. CONTINENTAL DRIFT, SEAFLOOR SPREADING &
PLATE TECTONICS

1. Historical Theories
●​ Abraham Ortelius (1596) – first proposed continents were once joined.
●​ Nicolaus Steno (1636–1686) – developed the Law of Superposition.
●​ James Hutton (1726–1797) – introduced Uniformitarianism:​
“The present is the key to the past.”

2. Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory (1912)

●​ Continents were once part of a supercontinent (Pangaea) that drifted apart.
●​ Continents move slowly on the asthenosphere (1–18 cm/year).​

Evidence:
1.​ Jigsaw Fit – Africa and South America fit together.
2.​ Fossil Correlation – same fossils (e.g., Cynognathus) on different continents.
3.​ Glacial Deposits – same ancient glacial marks on distant continents.
4.​ Rock and Mountain Correlation – identical rocks on opposite sides of oceans.
5.​ Coal Deposits – tropical fossils in now-cold regions (e.g., Antarctica).

3. Seafloor Spreading (Harry Hess, 1962)

●​ New crust forms as magma rises at mid-ocean ridges and spreads outward.
●​ Rift valleys form where plates pull apart.
●​ Explains how continents drift.

4. Plate Tectonics Theory

●​ Earth’s lithosphere is divided into moving plates floating on the mantle.
●​ Movement causes earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and trenches.

Types Description Example

Divergent (Constructive) Plates move apart → new Mid-Atlantic Ridge

crust forms

Convergent (Destructive) Plates collide → crust Andes Mountains

destroyed or uplifted

Transform (Conservative) Plates slide past each other San Andreas Fault
Convergent Types:

●​ Oceanic–Continental: subduction → trenches + volcanoes.

●​ Oceanic–Oceanic: island arcs (Japan, Philippines).
●​ Continental–Continental: mountain building (Himalayas).

5. Ocean Basins
●​ Vast underwater regions covering 70% of Earth’s surface.
●​ Features:
○​ Abyssal Hill – small undersea elevations.
○​ Seamount – underwater volcanic mountain.
○​ Guyot – flat-topped submerged volcano.

III. FOSSILS & THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE

1. Fossils
●​ Remains or traces of ancient organisms preserved in sedimentary rocks.
●​ Provide evidence of evolution and past environments.

Types of Fossils:
Types Description

Mold Hollow impression left by organism

Cast Replica formed when sediments fill a

mold

Petrified Remains replaced by minerals

Carbon Film Outline from compressed organism

Trace Activity marks (footprints, burrows)

Index Found worldwide, used to date layers

(e.g., trilobites)
 2. Fossil Formation Process

1.​ Organism dies → buried by sediment.

2.​ Sediments harden → rock.
3.​ Minerals replace or fill remains.
4.​ Fossil exposed by erosion.

3. Geological Time Scale

●​ A timeline dividing Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history into Eons → Eras → Periods →
Epochs.

Division Example Description

Eon Phanerozoic Longest unit

Era Mesozoic Subdivision of eon

Period Jurassic Rock-based division

Epoch Pleistocene Shortest unit

4. Major Eons

Eon Years Ago Key Events

Hadean 4.6–4.0 BYA Earth forms, molten surface,

early atmosphere

Archean 4.0–2.5 BYA First life (bacteria, algae),

oceans form

Proterozoic 2.5 BYA–540 MYA Oxygenation, ozone,

multicellular life

Phanerozoic 540 MYA–Present Abundant complex life

5. Phanerozoic Eras
Paleozoic Era (544–245 MYA)
●​ Age of marine life, fishes, amphibians.
 ●​ “Cambrian Explosion” of life.
●​ Supercontinent Pangaea forms.
●​ Ends with largest mass extinction (Permian).​

Mesozoic Era (245–65 MYA)

●​ Age of Reptiles — dinosaurs dominate.
●​ Pangaea breaks apart; warmer climates.
●​ Ends with asteroid impact and mass extinction.​

Cenozoic Era (65 MYA–Present)

●​ Age of Mammals.
●​ Continents near modern positions.
●​ Ice Ages occur (Pleistocene).
●​ Humans evolved during the Holocene Epoch.

6. Key Scientists in Geological Time

Scientist Contribution

Nicholas Steno Father of Stratigraphy; Laws of rock layering.

James Hutton Uniformitarianism: processes now =

processes past.

William Smith Used fossils to identify rock layers.

Abraham Werner “Neptunism” — rocks formed from the ocean.

John Wesley Powell Compared rock layers to a “book of geology.”

7. Steno’s Stratigraphic Principles

1.​ Superposition – oldest rocks at bottom.

2.​ Original Horizontality – layers originally flat.
3.​ Lateral Continuity – layers extend until they thin out.
4.​ Cross-Cutting – a fault or intrusion is younger than what it cuts.