Class 2: Chapter 1
Ideas needed to understand the
point of the class
Earth Systems
• Helps organize a set of processes as a
distinct entity
• Isolated: no interaction with other systems
• Closed: exchange of energy only
• Open: exchange of energy and matter
Complete worksheet #1
• What is Earth system
science?
• Examining how
different groupings of
matter and energy
operate and how
changes in one
system impacts other
systems.
•
•
•
•
Geosphere
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Biosphere
These systems are open
because there is a transfer of
energy and matter between
systems.
Explain each of these cycles or
subsystems
The hydrologic cycle
The rock cycle
Today’s class
• Earth systems
• Earth’s surface features
– Features on the map, exercise
• The scientific method
• Geology as a science and evolution of
ideas: uniformitarianism and
catastrophism
• Time and space
Why are these concepts
important to the class?
Earth Systems
• Understand when
there is a change in
one system, this
impacts other
systems
• If there is a reduction
of precipitation, this
reduces the amount
of erosion and
sediment deposition.
Earth’s surface
features
• Trends and patterns
of topographic
features are indicative
of what processes are
occurring within the
Earth
• Geographical features
such as mountains
and volcanoes
adjacent to trenches
Use either the physical map at the front of the room or map on
pages 20 and 21 of the book.
COMPLETE WORKSHEET
Earth’s energy sources
Internal heat
• Remaining from the
Earth’s formation
• Decay of radioactive
particles
• Influences movement of
tectonic plates
• Provides energy for
volcanic eruptions and
earthquakes
Sun
• Drives the atmosphere,
hydrosphere, weather
and climate
The Scientific Method
• How new ideas are developed
• The natural world behaves in a consistent
and predictable manner.
• A hypothesis or multi hypotheses are
proposed, observations or data prove or
disprove
• Ideas evolve with new information
• Most every overview or concept presented in
this class is the result of many scientist’s
work using the scientific method.
History of geology as a science
• New hypothesis and theories alter the
evaluation of data
– Theory of plate tectonics
– Uniformitariansim versus catastrophism
Ideas evolve with new
information
James Hutton: father of geology
• Scottish
engineer/farmer
• 1785
• Observed that Earth’s
processes are slow
• Uniformitarianism:
geologic processes
that occur today also
occurred in the past
• The present is the key
to the past
Who cares? Why the big
deal???
His observations, descriptions,
hypotheses, and theories went
against the accepted philosophies
of the time.
th
18
century Europe was strongly
influenced by the Christian Church
• Bishop Usher
• Calculated the Earth’s
age by adding the ages in
the Bible
• Irish Archbishop
• 1654
• 4004 CE
• Catastrophism: Earth
formed by biblical type
events
William Whewell
• Earth history also
contains catastrophic
events
• 1850
• Catastrophism
Geological ideas were based
on the concept of
uniformitarianism.
Walter and Luis Alvarez
•
•
•
•
Extinction of the dinosaurs
1980
Asteroid impact
Catastrophism
Today, uniformitarinism and
catastrophism are accepted ideas
Mississippi River Delta:
slow deposition
Volcanic eruption: Mt. Pinatubo,
large event that lowers global
temperatures by .7 degree
Fahrenheit for two years.
Time
• Understand the enormous amount of time
since the creation of the Universe, solar
system, and Earth
• Humans have not lived on this planet for a
long time compared to the age of the Earth
• Understand that mostly, Earth’s processes
are very slow with an occasional large
event
Time
Creation of matter: 14 billion
years
Tsunami: hours
Change through time
Geologic time: the most
important contribution to the
world
Complete the 2nd page of the
worksheet
Space
• Features presented in the class vary from
microscopic to enormous
Fossil diatom
Orion
nebula
100 light years in diameter
Scale: 1 x 10-6 meters
1 light year = 6 trillion miles
These concepts will be applied
to most topics discussed in this
class
• Earth systems
• Earth’s surface features
– Features on the map, exercise
• The scientific method
• Uniformitarianism and catastrophism
• Time and space