NEM 10V Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Nematology, Plate Tectonics, Geothermal Power
Nematology
Part 3: Orig. of Earth
1. Big Bang Theory-idea universe beg. 13.7 to 13.8 billion years ago.
• Space and time came into existence in silent explosion creating all matter in
universe
• Universe has been expanding since and now billions of miles across
2. Plate Tectonics -theory Earth’s outermost solid layer is cracked into plates that are in
constant motion
• Motion during earthquakes
• Continents today were part single land mass- Pangea.
• Below plates is super hot semi-solid magma rises to the surface, begins to cool,
then sinks back down where it is reheated and rises again in a convection cell.
-the magma is heated from uranium and other radioactive elements that release
heat as they decay
-There are ridges in places like Iceland where magma rises up and pushes the
plates and continents apart. At other end of the plates is a collision zone where
plates are pushed together. Heavier plates are forced under the lighter ones and
are pulled down by gravity back into the mantle.
3. Yellowstone National Park-on top of a 40-mile wide caldera or magma chamber that is
essentially an underground volcano.
• Caldera has erupted 3 times spewing ash for hundreds of miles.
• Molten rock lies just beneath the surface.
• Reservoirs of hot water power geysers like old faithful and heat hot springs that
are home to some of the most primitive microbes on the planet.
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