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AP Environmental Science

Mr. GrantLesson 24

Earth’s Physical Systems: Matter,

Energy, and GeologyGeology: The

Physical Basis For Environmental

Science

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Reading and Objectives:

• Read: Withgott & Laposata, Chapter 2... Matter, Chemistry, Energy and the Environment (pgs. 33 - 40)

• Define the terms lithosphere and rock cycle.• Objectives:

1. Reading Mastery Check2. Explain how plate tectonics and the rock cycle shape the

landscape around us and the earth beneath our feet.3. TED – In the deepest, darkest parts of the oceans are

ecosystems with more diversity than a tropical rainforest. Taking us on a voyage into the ocean -- from the deepest trenches to the remains of Titanic -- marine biologist David Gallo explores the wonder and beauty of marine life.

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Mastery CheckDescribe what occurs at a divergent plate boundary. What happens at a transform plate boundary. Compare and contrast the types of processes that can occur at a convergent plate boundary.

Tectonic plates push apart at a divergent plate boundary allowing magma to rise upward creating new crust. At a transform plate boundary, two plates slip and grind alongside one another. Convergent plate boundaries can exhibit either subduction, where one plate slides beneath the other, or a continental collision where both plates are uplifted. Both cases can cause earthquakes and create mountains, but the former is the source of most volcanism.

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Lithosphere: The outer layer of earth, consisting of curst and uppermost mantle. More generally the solid part of the Earth, including rocks, sediment, and soil at the surface and extending down many miles underground.

Rock Cycle: The very slow process in which rocks and the minerals that make them up are heated, melted, cooled, broken, and reassembled, forming igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.

Define the terms lithosphere and rock cycle.

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Geology: The Physical Basis for Environmental Science Physical processes at and below the Earth:

Shape the landscape Lay the foundation for environmental systems and life Provide raw materials for industry such as iron,

copper, and steel Provide energy from fossil fuels and geothermal

sources Geology = the study of Earth’s physical features,

processes, and history A human lifetime is just the blink of an eye in geologic

time

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Explain how plate tectonics and the rock cycle shape the landscape around us and the earth beneath our feet.

• Earth consists of layers.• Plate tectonics shape Earth’s geography.• There are three types of plate boundaries.• Tectonics produces Earth’s landforms.• The rock cycle alters rock.• Igneous rock• Sedimentary rock• Metamorphic rock

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Core = solid iron in the center

Molten iron in the outer core

Mantle = less dense, elastic rock

Asthenosphere = very soft or melted rock

Area of geothermal energy

Crust = the thin, brittle, low-density layer of rock

Lithosphere = the uppermost mantle and the crust

Earth consists of layers

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Plate Tectonics

Plate tectonics = movement of lithospheric plates

Continents have combined, separated, and recombined over millions of years

Pangaea = all landmasses were joined into this supercontinent 225 million years ago

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There are three types of plate boundaries

Divergent plate boundaries Magma rises to the surface Pushes plates apart Creates new crust Has volcanoes and

hydrothermal vents

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There are three types of plate boundaries

Transform plate boundaries Two plates meet, slipping

and grinding Friction spawns

earthquakes along strike-slip faults

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There are three types of plate boundaries Convergent plate

boundaries = where plates collide

Subduction = process in which the oceanic plate slides beneath continental crust (e.g., the Cascades, Andes Mountains) Magma erupts through

the surface in volcanoes Continental collision =

occurs when two plates of continental crust collide Built the Himalaya and

Appalachian Mountains

Have the impacts of human beings on Earth been so profound as to warrant creating a new time period in the geologic record? Geologists have divided the span of Earth’s history, 4.5 billion

years of it, into 3 eras and 11 periods. Periods are subdivided into epochs.

We live in the Holocene epoch, defined by the stable climate period commencing with the warming trend that ended the last ice age, about 11,500 years ago.

Some scientists have argued that human beings have ushered in a new phase of the geologic record by causing a sharp increase in soil erosion and by the emission of greenhouse gases causing rising temperatures and rising sea levels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is acidifying the oceans and causing changes in coral reefs and geological strata.

Called the Anthropocene.

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The rock cycle alters rock

Understanding the rock cycle helps us appreciate the formation and conservation of soils, minerals, fossil fuels, and other natural resources

Rock cycle = the heating, melting, cooling, breaking, and reassembling of rocks and minerals

Rocks help determine soil characteristics, which influences the region’s plants community

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Magma = molten, liquid rock

Lava = magma released from the lithosphere

Igneous rock = forms when magma cools

Intrusive igneous rock = magma that cools slowly below Earth’s surface (e.g., granite)

Extrusive igneous rock = magma ejected from a volcano (e.g., basalt)

Sediments = rock particles blown by wind or washed away by water

Sedimentary rock = formed when sediments are compacted or cemented (dissolved minerals crystallize and bind together)

Sandstone, limestone, shaleLithification = formation of rock (and fossils) through compaction and crystallization

Metamorphic rock = formed when great heat or pressure on a rock changes its form

High temperature reshapes crystals, changing rock’s appearance and physical properties

Marble = heated and pressurized limestone Slate = heated and pressurized shale

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TED Video

David Gallo- Deep Ocean Mysteries and Wonders (8:28)

A pioneer in ocean exploration, David Gallo is an enthusiastic ambassador between the sea and those of us on dry land.

In the deepest, darkest parts of the oceans are ecosystems with more diversity than a tropical rainforest. Taking us on a voyage into the ocean -- from the deepest trenches to the remains of Titanic -- marine biologist David Gallo explores the wonder and beauty of marine life.