What is Earth Science? A. EARTH SCIENCE: the study of Earth and its natural history B. Earth science is divided into 4 main branches:

1. GEOLOGY: study of the of the Earth’s geosphere 2. OCEANOGRAPHY: study of oceans 3. METEOROLOGY: study of weather and climate 4. ASTRONOMY: study of space

What is Earth Science? C. Earth scientists focus on the four

spheres of Earth:

2. HYDROSPHERE: all parts of the Earth that are water; solid, liquid, and gas

1. GEOSPHERE: the solid and inner parts of Earth; including the crust, mantle, & core

3. ATMOSPHERE: the envelope of gases surrounding the Earth

4. BIOSPHERE: all areas of Earth where life exists

D. Earth’s geography and regions are important in its study:

What is Geology? A.  GEOLOGY: the study of Earth’s geosphere B.  Geology is a science that can be broken into a number of

specialties: 1.  PETROLOGY: the study of rocks and the rock cycle 2.  PEDOLOGY: the study of soil 3.  SEISMOLOGY: the study of faults, earthquakes, and

seismic waves 4.  VULCANOLOGY: the study of form and function of

volcanoes

What is the Geosphere? A. GEOSPHERE: the solid and inner parts of Earth;

including the crust, mantle, & core

a.  It is 5 to 70 km thick and is the coolest b.  There are 2 types of crust

i.  Oceanic Crust ii.  Continental Crust

1. CRUST: the thin, solid outer layer of the Earth’s surface

2. MANTLE: a layer of liquid rock beneath the crust a.  It is 2,900 km and is the second hottest b.  There are 2 parts of the mantle

i.  Upper Mantle: thicker ii.  Lower Mantle: thinner

What is the Geosphere?

a. hottest layer b. There are 2 parts

i.  Outer Core: a liquid that is 2,250 km thick

ii.  Inner Core: a solid that is 1,300 km thick

3. CORE: the inner most layer of the Earth

B. LITHOSPHERE: the parts of the geosphere that include the crust and upper mantle

How does Earth’s crust change? A. The crust of earth is made of many

different rock layers. B. The crust is always changing due to

forces pushing and pulling it. 1.  COMPRESSION: crust is pushed

together or squeezed 2.  TENSION: crust is pulled apart or

stretched 3.  SHEAR: crust is pulled from side to

side

How does Earth’s crust change? C. These forces can lead to changes in the crust that include:

1.  FOLDING: the vertical bending of rock layers 2.  SHEARING: the horizontal bending of rock layers 3.  STRETCHING: the thinning of rock layers 4.  FRACTURING: the breaking of rock layers

What is Continental Drift? A. CONTINENTAL DRIFT:

the theory that the continents were once a giant landmass that broke apart and moved to the positions they are in today 1. PANGEA: the

supercontinent that later broke apart

What is Continental Drift?

2.  Evidences include: a.  The continents fit together

like a puzzle b.  Fossil evidence of

coastlines match c.  SEAFLOOR SPREADING:

the process that forms new seafloor