Earth Science 1.1

What is Earth Science?
Earth Science 1.1

What is Earth Science?
○ Earth Science is the name given to
group of sciences that deals with earth
and the neighboring bodies in our
solar system.
○ Earth Science includes, among others
Geology
Oceanography
Meteorology
Astronomy
Geology

Geology means “study of the Earth”

Geology is divided into two areas
 Physical geology
 Historical geology
Physical Geology

Physical geology includes the
examination of the materials that
makeup Earth and the possible
explanations for the many
processes that shape our planet

Understanding the origins of rocks
and minerals is an important part
of physical geology
Historical Geology
H i s t o r i c a l g e o l o g y ’s a i m i s t o
u n d e r s t a n d t h e E a r t h ’s l o n g h i s t o r y
of these processes.
 Historical geology is concerned
with establishing timelines of the
vast amount of changes, both
physical and biological, that have
occurred on the Earth over the
course of time.

Oceanography

Oceanography integrates the
s c i e n c e s o f c h e m i s t r y, p h y s i c s
geology and biology to study the
composition and movements of
s e a w a t e r, a s w e l l a s c o a s t a l
p r o c e s s e s , s e a f l o o r t o p o g r a p h y,
and marine life.
Meteorology

Meteorology is the scientific study
of the atmosphere and the
processes that produce weather
and climate

L i k e o c e a n o g r a p h y, m e t e o r o l o g y
also involves many other branches
of science
Astronomy

Astronomy is the study of the Universe
which includes earth’s position in relation
to the Universe.

The science of astronomy is useful in
probing the origins of our environment

All objects in space, including earth, are
bound by the laws of physics. Learning
about other objects in our solar system and
the universe helps us to understand the
Earth
Earth Science

Together these sci ences
i nteract to provi de us w i th
a cl earer snapshot of the
Earth
 Geology
 Oceanography
 Meteorology
 Astronomy
Formation of the Earth

Nebular hypothesis
 The nebular hypothesis
suggests that the bodies
of our solar system
evolved from an
enormous rotating cloud
called a solar nebula.

The Nebular
Hypothesis claims
that 5 billion years
ago, for reasons
unknown, a huge
nebular cloud began
to contract under its
own gravitational
influence. As it
contracted it also
had some rotational
motion.

The more it contracted the
faster the cloud rotated,
causing the nebular cloud
to take on a disk shape. As
the cloud collapsed, the
temperature of the central
mass continued to increase
and most of the material
was gravitationally pulled
t o w a r d t h e c e n t e r,
producing the Sun.

H o w e v e r, b e c a u s e o f t h e
rotational motion, some dust
and gases remained orbiting
the Sun. As these fragments
began to condense and
collide, they joined together
into larger objects which
eventually became the planets
which continued to orbit the
Sun.
Nebular Hypothesis

High temperatures and weak
gravity characterized the inner
planets. As a result, the inner
planets were not able to hold on
the lighter gases of the nebular
cloud.

The lighter gases were whisked
away toward the heavier planets
by the solar wind

E a r t h , M a r s , a n d Ve n u s w e r e
able to hold onto some of the
heavier gases including water
vapor and carbon dioxide
Nebular Hypothesis

Because of their large size, the outer
planets gravity was strong enough to
retain all of these gases.
Layers form on the Earth

Shortly after Earth formed, the
decay of radioactive elements,
combined with heat released by
colliding particles, producing some
m e l t i n g o f i t ’s i n t e r i o r

This allowed the denser
elements, mostly iron
and nickel, to sink to
Earth’s center because
of gravity. The less
dense rocky
components floated
outward toward the
surface.

This sinking and
floating is believed to
be still be going on,
but on a much
smaller scale.

As a result, the
Earth’s interior is not
made up of uniform
material. It consists
instead of layers of
differing materials .