ENVIRON 102 Lecture 1: 1.13.15 (L) Our Physical World, The Lithosphere
4 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
January 13, 2015 Lecture Notes
North Carolina trivia
- Chapel Hill, Hillsborough = different type of rock
- Natural gas found a little south of Durham
o Formation of natural gas – decay of carbon based material (process analogous to formation
of fossil fuels)
▪ You would find places where organisms are buried
o Bedrock has to be impermeable in order to capture the natural gas
- Fossils
I. Earth compared to other planets:
- Solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago
o Universe is about 13 billion years old
- 98% of matter formed sun
- MERCURY
o Closest to sun
o Rotates very slowly relatively to sun
o Almost no atmosphere
▪ Solar winds (charged ionized gas) that tear atmosphere away
▪ Less gravity – cannot maintain atmosphere
▪ No magnetic field – cannot push away solar winds
o Extremes of hot and cold (-200 ~ 450 degrees Celsius)
▪ No atmosphere can insulate temperature
▪ Slow rotation (side facing Sun has a lot of time to become really hot)
o Extensive evidence of craters (early bombardment)
▪ No tectonic plates that can erase craters
o Why does volcanism and geologic activity matter?
▪ No magnetic field if there is no liquid, conducting core that moves
▪ Such activity releases gas which can create an atmosphere
- Solar storms
- VENUS
o Apparent cloud cover was assumed to imply eternal wetness
o Hotter than hot side of Mercury (~480 degrees Celsius)
▪ Atmosphere traps the heat (even though it’s farther away from the sun than
Mercury)
o Isothermal despite slow rotation
▪ Atmosphere traps the heat and also presence of strong winds that circulate the
atmosphere
o Evidence of both volcanism and craters
o No surface water; likely present in the past
o Weak ionosphere
▪ Ionosphere: the layer of the earth's atmosphere that contains a high concentration
of ions and free electrons and is able to reflect radio waves
▪ Above the mesosphere and extends from about 50 to 600 miles (80 to 1,000 km)
above the earth's surface
- MARS
o Thin atmosphere with some water
o No oxygen, mostly carbon dioxide
o No magnetic field
o Cold
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapel (cid:498)hill(cid:499), (cid:498)hills(cid:499)borough = different type of rock. Fossils: earth compared to other planets: Solar system formed about 4. 6 billion years ago: universe is about 13 billion years old. Venus: apparent cloud cover was assumed to imply eternal wetness, hotter than hot side of mercury (~480 degrees celsius, atmosphere traps the heat (even though it"s farther away from the sun than, isothermal despite slow rotation. Mercury: atmosphere traps the heat and also presence of strong winds that circulate the atmosphere, evidence of both volcanism and craters, no surface water; likely present in the past, weak ionosphere. Gas giants: jupiter, saturn, uranus, and neptune: extensive and noxious gaseous atmospheres, interest in possibility of life on gas giants" moons. Outer molten core: generates magnetic field, poles. Lithosphere: crust and uppermost layer of mantle; region of interaction with biosphere. Land is 1/3 of surface; highly varied topography. Divided into continental crust and ocean crust.
