EARTH SCI

Universe and the solar system

Baryonic matter - "ordinary" matter consisting of protons, electrons, and neutrons that comprises atoms, planets, stars,
galaxies, and other bodies
Dark matter - matter that has gravity but does not emit light.
Dark Energy - a source of anti-gravity; a force that counteracts gravity and causes the universe to expand.
Protostar- an early stage in the formation of a star resulting from the gravitational collapse of gases.
Thermonuclear reaction - a nuclear fusion reaction responsible for the energy produced by stars.
Main Sequence Stars - stars that fuse hydrogen atoms to form helium atoms in their cores;
outward pressure resulting from nuclear fusion is balanced by gravitational forces
Light years - the distance light can travel in a year; a unit of length used to measure astronomical
Distance

Structure, Composition, and Age

• The universe as we currently know it comprises all space and time, and all matter & energy in it.
• It is made of 4.6% baryonic matter (“ordinary” matter consisting of protons, electrons, and
neutrons: atoms, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and other bodies), 24% cold dark matter
(matter that has gravity but does not emit light), and 71.4% dark energy (a source of anti-
gravity)
• Dark matter can explain what may be holding galaxies together for the reason that the low total
mass is insufficient for gravity alone to do so while dark energy can explain the observed
accelerating expansion of the universe.
• Hydrogen, helium, and lithium are the three most abundant elements.
• Stars - the building block of galaxies born out of clouds of gas and dust in galaxies (fig. 4).
Instabilities within the clouds eventually results into gravitational collapse, rotation, heating up,
and transformation to a protostar-the core of a future star as thermonuclear reactions set in.
• Stellar interiors are like furnaces where elements are synthesized or combined/fused together.
Most stars such as the Sun belong to the so-called “main sequence stars.” In the cores of such
stars, hydrogen atoms are fused through thermonuclear reactions to make helium atoms (fig.
 Massive main sequence stars burn up their hydrogen faster than smaller stars. Stars like our
Sun burnup hydrogen in about 10 billion years.

Hydrogen and Helium is the most abundant

elements in the universe. Having the lowest
mass, these are the first elements to be
formed in the Big Bang Model of the Origin
of the Universe.

TIPS:
• A star's energy comes from
combining light elements into
heavier elements by fusion, or
“nuclear burning” (nucleosynthesis).
• In small stars like the sun, H
burning is the fusion of 4 H nuclei
(protons) into a He nucleus (2
protons + 2 neutrons).
• Forming He from H gives off lots
of energy (i.e. a natural hydrogen
bomb).
• Nucleosynthesis requires very high
T. The minimum T for H fusion is
5x10 6o C.

• The remaining dust and gas may end up as they are or as planets, asteroids, or other bodies in
the accompanying planetary system.
• A galaxy is a cluster of billions of stars and clusters of galaxies form superclusters. In between
the clusters is practically an empty space. This organization of matter in the universe suggests
that it is indeed clumpy at a certain scale. But at a large scale, it appears homogeneous and
isotropic.
• Based on recent data, the universe is 13.8 billion years old. The diameter of the universe is
possibly infinite but should be at least 91 billion light-years (1 light-year = 9.4607 × 10 12 km). Its
density is 4.5 x 10 -31 g/cm 3 .

Expanding Universe
• In 1929, Edwin Hubble announced his significant discovery of the “redshift” and its
interpretation that galaxies are moving away from each other, hence as evidence for an
expanding universe, just as predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
• He observed that spectral lines of starlight made to pass through a prism are shifted toward the
red part of the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e., toward the band of lower frequency; thus, the
inference that the star or galaxy must be moving away from us.

This is similar to the Doppler effect for

sound waves: to a stationary observer, the
frequency or pitch of a receding source
decreases as it moves away.

Cosmic Microwave Background

• There is a pervasive cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation in the universe. Its
accidental discovery in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson earned them the
physics Nobel Prize in 1978.
• It can be observed as a strikingly uniform faint glow in the microwave band coming from all
directions-blackbody radiation.

Origin of the Universe

Non-scientific Thought
• Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and myths which narrate that the world arose from
an infinite sea at the first rising of the sun.
• The Kuba people of Central Africa tell the story of a creator god Mbombo (or Bumba) who,
alone in a dark and water-covered Earth, felt an intense stomach pain and then vomited the
stars, sun, and moon.
• In India, there is the narrative that gods sacrificed Purusha, the primal man whose head, feet,
eyes, and mind became the sky, earth, sun, and moon respectively.
• The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam claim that a supreme being
created the universe, including man and other living organisms.

Steady State Model

• The now discredited steady state model of the universe was proposed in 1948 by Bondi and
Gould and by Hoyle. It maintains that new matter is created as the universe expands thereby
maintaining its density.
• Its predictions led to tests and its eventual rejection with the discovery of the cosmic
microwave background.

Big Bang Theory

• As the currently accepted theory of the origin and evolution of the universe, the Big Bang
Theory postulates that 13.8 billion years ago, the universe expanded from a tiny, dense and
hot mass to its present size and much cooler state.
• The theory rests on two ideas: General Relativity and the Cosmological Principle. In Einstein’s
General Theory of Relativity, gravity is thought of as a distortion of space-time and no longer
described by a gravitational field in contrast to the Law of Gravity of Isaac Newton. General
Relativity explains the peculiarities of the orbit of Mercury and the bending of light by the
Sun and has passed rigorous tests. The Cosmological Principle assumes that the universe is
homogeneous and isotropic when averaged over large scales. This is consistent with our
current large-scale image of the universe. But keep in mind that it is clumpy at smaller scales.
• The Big Bang Theory has withstood the tests for expansion: 1) the redshift 2) abundance of
hydrogen, helium, and lithium, and 3) the uniformly pervasive cosmic microwave background
radiation-the remnant heat from the bang.

Misconception:
The “bang” should not be taken as an
explosion; it is better thought of a
simultaneous appearance of space
everywhere. The theory does not identify
the cause of the “bang.”

Evolution of the Universe according to the Big Bang Theory

• From time zero (13.8 billion years ago) until 10 -43 second later, all matter and energy in the
universe existed as a hot, dense, tiny state (fig. 7). It then underwent extremely rapid,
exponential inflation until 10 -32 second later after which and until 10 seconds from time zero,
conditions allowed the existence of only quarks, hadrons, and leptons.
• Then, Big Bang nucleosynthesis took place and produced protons, neutrons, atomic nuclei, and
then hydrogen, helium, and lithium until 20 minutes after time zero when sufficient cooling did
not allow further nucleosynthesis.
• From then on until 380,000 years, the cooling universe entered a matter-dominated period
when photons decoupled from matter and light could travel freely as still observed today in the
form of cosmic microwave background radiation.

• As the universe continued to cool down, matter collected into clouds giving rise to only stars
after 380,000 years and eventually galaxies would form after 100 million years from time zero
during which, through nucleosynthesis in stars, carbon and elements heavier than carbon were
produced.
• From 9.8 billion years until the present, the universe became dark-energy dominated and
underwent accelerating expansion. At about 9.8 billion years after the big bang, the solar
system was formed.

universe and the solar system

• The solar system comprises the Sun,

eight planets, dwarf planets such as
Pluto, satellites, asteroids, comets,
other minor bodies such as those in the
Kuiper belt and interplanetary dust.
• The asteroid belt lies between Mars
and Jupiter. Meteoroids are smaller
asteroids. They are thought of as
remnants of a “failed planet”—one that
did not form due to disturbance from
Jupiter’s gravity.
• The Kuiper belt lies beyond Neptune
And comprise numerous rocky or icy bodies
a few meters to hundreds of kilometers
in size.
• The Oort cloud marks the outer
boundary of the solar system and is
composed mostly of icy objects.

Overview
• The solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy, a huge disc- and spiral-shaped
aggregation of about at least 100 billion stars and other bodies
• Its spiral arms rotate around a globular cluster or bulge of many, many stars, at the center of
which lies a supermassive blackhole;
• This galaxy is about 100 million light years across (1 light year = 9.4607 × 10 12 km)
• The solar system revolves around the galactic center once in about 240 million years;
• The Milky Way is part of the so-called Local Group of galaxies, which in turn is part of the Virgo supercluster of galaxies;
• Based on the assumption that they are remnants of the materials from which they were
formed, radioactive dating of meteorites, suggests that the Earth and solar system are 4.6
billion years old.

Large Scale Features of the Solar System

• Much of the mass of the Solar System is concentrated at the center (Sun) while angular
momentum is held by the outer planets.
• Orbits of the planets elliptical and are on the same plane.
• All planets revolve around the sun.
• The periods of revolution of the planets increase with increasing distance from the Sun; the
innermost planet moves fastest, the outermost, the slowest;
• All planets are located at regular intervals from the Sun.

Small scale features of the Solar System

• Most planets rotate prograde
• Inner terrestrial planets are made of materials with high melting points such as silicates, iron ,
and nickel. They rotate slower, have thin or no atmosphere, higher densities, and lower contents
of volatiles - hydrogen, helium, and noble gases.
• The outer four planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called "gas giants" because of
the dominance of gases and their larger size. They rotate faster, have thick atmosphere, lower
densities, and fluid interiors rich in hydrogen, helium and ices (water, ammonia, methane).

Element Abundance on Earth, Meteorites, and Universe

• Except for hydrogen, helium, inert gases, and volatiles, the universe and Earth have similar
abundance especially for rock and metal elements.
• The sun and the large planets have enough gravity to retain hydrogen and helium. Rare inert
gases are too light for the Earth’s gravity to retain, thus the low abundance.
• Retention of volatile elements by the Earth is consistent with the idea that some materials that
formed the Earth and the solar system were “cold” and solid; otherwise, the volatiles would
have been lost. These suggest that the Earth and the solar system could be derived from
materials with composition similar to that of the universe.

Origin of the System

• Any acceptable scientific thought on the origin of the solar system has to be consistent with and
supported by information about it (e.g. large and small scale features, composition). There will
be a need to revise currently accepted ideas should data no longer support them.

Rival Theories
• Many theories have been proposed since about four centuries ago. Each has weaknesses in
explaining all characteristics of the solar system. A few are discussed below.

Nebular Hypothesis
• In the 1700s Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant, and Pierre-Simon Laplace
independently thought of a rotating gaseous cloud that cools and contracts in the middle
to form the sun and the rest into a disc that become the planets.
• This nebular theory failed to account for the distribution of angular momentum in the solar
system.

Encounter Hypotheses:
• Buffon’s (1749) Sun-comet encounter that sent matter to form planet;
• James Jeans’ (1917) sun-star encounter that would have drawn from the sun matter that
would condense to planets,
• T.C. Chamberlain and F. R. Moulton’s (1904) planetesimal hypothesis involving a star much
bigger than the Sun passing by the Sun and draws gaseous filaments from both out which
planetisimals were formed;
• Ray Lyttleton’s (1940) sun’s companion star colliding with another to form a proto-planet
that breaks up to form Jupiter and Saturn.
• Otto Schmidt’s accretion theory proposed that the Sun passed through a dense interstellar cloud
and emerged with a dusty, gaseous envelope that eventually became the planets. However, it
cannot explain how the planets and satellites were formed. The time required to form the planets
exceeds the age of the solar system.
• M.M. Woolfson’s capture theory is a variation of James Jeans’ near-collision
hypothesis. In this scenario, the Sun drags from a near proto-star a filament of material which
becomes the planets. Collisions between proto-planets close to the Sun produced the
terrestrial planets; condensations in the filament produced the giant planets and their
satellites. Different ages for the Sun and planets is predicted by this theory.
• Nobel Prize winner Harold Urey’s compositional studies on meteorites in the 1950s and
other scientists’ work on these objects led to the conclusion that meteorite constituents
have changed very little since the solar system’s early history and can give clues about
their formation. The currently accepted theory on the origin of the solar system relies much
on information from meteorites.

Protoplanet Hypotheses - Current Hypothesis

• About 4.6 billion years ago, in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy, a slowly-rotating gas
and dust cloud dominated by hydrogen and helium starts to contract due to gravity
• As most of the mass move to the center to eventually become a proto-Sun, the remaining
materials form a disc that will eventually become the planets and momentum is transferred
outwards.
• Due to collisions, fragments of dust and solid matter begin sticking to each other to form
larger and larger bodies from meter to kilometer in size. These proto-planets are accretions
of frozen water, ammonia, methane, silicon, aluminum, iron, and other metals in rock and
mineral grains enveloped in hydrogen and helium.
• High-speed collisions with large objects destroy much of the mantle of Mercury, puts Venus
in retrograde rotation.
• Collision of the Earth with large object produces the moon. This is supported by the
composition of the moon very similar to the Earth's Mantle
• When the proto-Sun is established as a star, its solar wind blasts hydrogen, helium, and
volatiles from the inner planets to beyond Mars to form the gas giants leaving behind a
system we know today.
Earth systems

The Earth system is essentially a closed system. It receives energy from the sun and
returns some of this energy to space.

• The atmosphere is the thin gaseous layer that envelopes the lithosphere.
• The present atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen (N), 21% oxygen (O2), 0.9%
argon, and trace amount of other gases.
• One of the most important processes by which the heat on the Earth's surface is
redistributed is through atmospheric circulation.
• There is also a constant exchange of heat and moisture between the atmosphere and the
hydrosphere through the hydrologic cycle.

• The lithosphere includes the rocks of the crust and mantle, the metallic liquid outer core,
and the solid metallic inner core.

• The Plate Tectonics is an important process shaping the surface of the Earth.
The primary driving mechanism is the Earth's internal heat, such as that in mantle convection.

• The biosphere is the set of all life forms on Earth.

• It covers all ecosystems—from the soil to the rainforest, from mangroves to coral reefs,
and from the plankton-rich ocean surface to the deep sea.
• For the majority of life on Earth, the base of the food chain comprises photosynthetic
organisms. During photosynthesis, CO 2 is sequestered from the atmosphere, while
oxygen is released as a byproduct. The biosphere is a CO 2 sink, and therefore, an
important part of the carbon cycle.

• About 70% of the Earth is covered with liquid water (hydrosphere) and much of it is in the
form of ocean water
• Only 3% of Earth's water is fresh: two-thirds are in the form of ice, and the remaining
one-third is present in streams, lakes, and groundwater.
• The oceans are important sinks for CO 2 through direct exchange with the atmosphere and
• indirectly through the weathering of rocks.
• Heat is absorbed and redistributed on the surface of the Earth through ocean circulation.
• The hypsographic curve is a graphical
representation of the proportion of land at
various elevations (meters above or below
sea level)

the universe and the solar system

Venus, Earth, Mars

The rows are color coded according to

their relationship with respect to each
other.
• Escape velocity is the minimum speed
an object needs to escape a planet's
pull of gravity.
• Surface pressure is the atmospheric
pressure at a location on the surface of
the planet. It is proportional to the
mass of air above the location.
• Temperature if no greenhouse gases
are present’ indicates the temperature
of the planet without the warming
effect of greenhouse gases. Note that
the temperature of the Earth would be
around 18
o C lower without
greenhouse warming.
• Length of day is a function of
rotational speed.
• The ability of a planet to retain its
internal heat is proportional to its size.
Mars may have lost much of its internal
heat very early in its evolution.
• A planet's temperature is a function of
its distance from the Sun. However, this
factor can be modified by the intensity
of greenhouse warming.
• Water in liquid form is one of the most
important prerequisites for life. There is
recent evidence that liquid water, in the
form of brine (salty water) flows
intermittently on the surface of Mars.

minerals and rocks

1. Luster – it is the quality and intensity of reflected light exhibited by the mineral
a. Metallic – generally opaque and exhibit a resplendent shine similar to a polished metal
b. Non-metallic – vitreous (glassy), adamantine (brilliant/diamond-like), resinous, silky, pearly, dull
(earthy), greasy, etc.

2. Hardness – it is a measure of the resistance of a mineral (not specifically surface) to abrasion.

a. Introduce students to the use of a hardness scale designed by German geologist/mineralogist
Friedrich Mohs in 1812 (Mohs Scale of Hardness). The test compares the resistance of a mineral
relative to the 10 reference minerals with known hardness. It is simply determining the hardness of a
mineral by scratching them with common objects of known hardness (e.g. copper coin -3.0-3.5).

Moh’s scale of Hardness

3. Color and streak – Color maybe a unique identifying property of certain minerals (e.g. malachite –
green, azurite – blue). There are also lots of minerals that share similar or the same color/s. In
addition, some minerals can exhibit a range of colors. The mineral quartz for example, can be pink
(rose quartz), purple (amethyst), orange (citrine), white (colorless quartz) etc. Streak on the other
hand is the color of a mineral in powdered form. Note that the color of a mineral could be different
from the streak. For example, pyrite (FeS 2 ) exhibits golden color (hence the other term of pyrite
which is Fool’s Gold) but has a black or dark gray streak. Streak is a better diagnostic property as
compared to color. Streak is inherent to almost every mineral. Color maybe unreliable for
identification as impurities within the minerals may give the minerals a different color.

The different colors and varieties

of Quartz is the result of
impurities within the crystal
structure. The color of some
minerals can also be modified by
weathering.

4. Crystal Form/Habit –The external shape of a crystal or groups of crystals is displayed / observed as
these crystals grow in open spaces. The form reflects the supposedly internal structure (of atoms
and ions) of the crystal (mineral). It is the natural shape of the mineral before the development of
any cleavage or fracture. Examples include prismatic, tabular, bladed, platy, reniform and equant. A
mineral that do not have a crystal structure is described as amorphous.
The crystal form also defines the relative growth of the crystal in 3 dimension which are its length,
width and height

5. Cleavage – It is the property of some minerals to break along parallel repetitive planes of weakness
to form smooth, flat surfaces. These planes of weakness are inherent in the bonding of atoms that
makes up the mineral. These planes of weakness are parallel to the atomic planes and appear to
be repeating within the mineral. When minerals break evenly in more than one direction, cleavage
is described by the number of cleavage directions and the angle(s) between planes (e.g. cleavage
in 2 directions at 90 degrees to each other).

Mineral cleavage. Left photo shows one cleavage direction (biotite). Middle photo has cleavage in 2
directions at 90° (orthoclase). Right photo has 3 cleavage directions at 74° (calcite).

6. Fracture – Some minerals may not have cleavages but exhibit broken surfaces that are irregular
and non-planar. Quartz for example has an inherent weakness in the crystal structure that is not
planar. Examples of fracture are conchoidal, fibrous, hackly, and uneven among others.

7. Specific Gravity – It is the ratio of the weight of a mineral to the weight of an equal volume of
water. A bucket of silver (SG 10) would weigh 10 times more than a bucket of water (SG 1). It is a
measure to express the density (mass per unit volume) of a mineral. The specific gravity of a
mineral is numerically equal to density.
8. Others – There are certain unique properties of minerals that actually help in their identification
(e.g. magnetism, odor, taste, tenacity, reaction to acid, etc.). Magnetite is strongly magnetic;
sulfur has distinctive smell; halite is salty; calcite fizzes with acid as with dolomite but in powdered
form.

Mineral Groups

A more stable and less ambiguous basis for classification of minerals is by chemical composition.

1. Silicates – minerals containing 2 of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, namely, silicon
and oxygen. When linked together, these two elements form the silicon oxygen tetrahedron - the
fundamental building block of silicate minerals. Over 90% of the rock-forming minerals belong to
this group. Aside from Si (46.6 % by wt.) and O (27.7%), the other most common elements that
make the earth’s crust are Al (8.1), Fe (5.0), Ca (3.6), Mg (3.1), Na (2.8) and K 2.6).
2. Oxides – minerals containing Oxygen anion (O 2 - ) combined with one or more metal ions
3. Sulfates – minerals containing Sulfur and Oxygen anion (SO 4 ) - combined with other ions
4. Sulfides – minerals containing sulfur anion (S 2 ) - combined with one or more ions. Some sulfides are
sources of economically important metals such as copper, lead and zinc.
5. Carbonates – minerals containing the carbonate anion (CO 3 ) 2- combined with other elements
6. Native Elements – minerals that form as individual elementsa.
a. Metals and Inter-metals – minerals with high thermal and electrical conductivity, typically with
metallic luster, low hardness (gold, lead)
b. Semi-metals – minerals that are more fragile than metals and have lower conductivity (arsenic,
bismuth)c.
c. Nonmetals – nonconductive (sulfur, diamond)
7. Halides – minerals containing halogen elements combined with one or more elements

Minerals and rocks

The 8 elements comprising almost 99% of the minerals

making up the Earth’s crust.

Igneous rocks –rocks that are formed

from the solidification of molten rock
material. The process of solidification
involves the formation of crystalline
solids called minerals. Molten rock
material can solidify below the surface
of the earth (plutonic igneous rocks) or
solidify at the surface of the Earth
(volcanic igneous rocks)
• Sedimentary rocks – rocks that form
through the accumulation, compaction,
and cementation of sediments.
Sedimentary rocks form at surface or
near surface conditions.
• Metamorphic rocks – are rocks that
form through the transformation of pre-
existing rocks (igneous, sedimentary, or
metamorphic rocks) through the
processofmetamorphism.
Metamorphism can involve changes in
the physical and chemical properties of
rocks in response to heat, pressure,
and/or chemically active fluids.

• Approximately 85% of the Earth's crust is composed of oxygen and silicon. Together they form the
silicon oxygen tetrahedron, which is the basic building block of silicate minerals. Silicates are also
termed as (common) rock forming minerals.
- Rocks are an aggregate of minerals. A rock can be composed of a single mineral (e.g.
Quartzite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of Quartz) or more commonly
composed of an aggregate of two or more minerals.

A. Rock Classifications

minerals: inorganic, naturally occurring solid with definite internal structure and
chemical composition. These are the building blocks of rocks.

three rock types.

1. igneous Rocks.
- these are rocks that are derived from the cooling and solidification of magma or lava
- from solidified molten rock materials, usually hard and crystalline
- rate of cooling as one of the most important factors that control crystal size
- solidification can occur along the surface of the earth or beneath the surface of the earth
• Differentiating magma and lava. Magma is a molten rock material beneath the surface of the
earth. Lava is molten rock material extruded to the surface of the earth through a central vent
(volcano) or as fissure eruption.

• plutonic or intrusive rocks

- from solidified magma underneath the earth
- gradual lowering of temperature is indicated by the movement of magma from depth to surface
causing slow cooling /crystallization
- Phaneritic textures
- Examples: granite, diorite, gabbro

• volcanic or extrusive rocks

- from solidified lava at or near the surface of the earth
- fast rate of cooling/crystallization due to huge variance in the temperature between Earth’s
surface and underneath
- common textures: aphanitic, porphyritic (define groundmass vs phenocrysts), vesicular
- examples: rhyolite, andesite, basalt

- pyroclastic rocks: fragmental rocks usually associated with violent or explosive type of eruption.
Examples tuff and pyroclastic flow deposits (ignimbrite)

• Igneous rocks are also classified according to silica content and relative amounts of K, Na, Fe,
Mg and Ca. They can be classified as felsic, intermediate, mafic and ultramafic, practically
based on presence of light and dark colored minerals. The relatively dark minerals are olivine,
pyroxene, hornblende and biotite. The relatively light-colored minerals are plagioclases, K-
feldspars, quartz and muscovite.
- felsic: granitic: >65% silica, generally light-colored
- intermediate: andesitic: 55-65% silica, generally medium colored (medium gray)
- mafic: basaltic: 45-55% silica, usually dark colored
- ultramafic: <45% silica, generally very dark colored

Porphyritic texture: formed through two

stages of crystallization where in magma
partly cooled below the surface of the
earth providing time for the large
crystals to grow (phenocrysts) before it is
extruded to the surface forming the fine-
grained matrix (groundmass).
• Aphanitic texture: fine-grained texture;
minerals not visible to the naked eye;
relatively fast rates of cooling/
solidification prevent the formation of
large crystals.
• Special textures would include:
vesicular, glassy and porphyry
• Vesicular texture: voids created by rapid
cooling which causes air bubbles to be
trapped inside.

photos of common intrusive rocks with their extrusive counterparts

Granite and Rhyolite have the same

chemical composition however Granite
on left exhibits phaneritic texture and
rhyolite on the right has aphanitic and
porphyritic textures.
• Diorite and Andesite have the same
chemical composition but different
textures. Diorite (left) is coarse grained
(phaneritic) and andesite (right) is fine
grained (aphanitic and porphyritic).
• Gabbro and Basalt are of the same
chemical composition but differ in
texture. Gabbro (left) has larger
crystals than basalt (right) which has
finer crystals.

sedimentary rocks
- these are rocks that are formed at or near the surface of the Earth
- sedimentary processes include: weathering of rocks, erosion, sediment transport and deposition
(compaction and cementation)
- common sedimentary features: fossil assemblages and stratification
- fossil assemblages: remains and traces of plants and animals that are preserved in rocks
- stratification or layering (strata which is >1cm is called bedding and < 1cm is called lamination):
layering is the result of a change in grain size and composition; each layer represents a distinct
period of deposition

Photo of the Kapurpurawan Formation located at the coastal town of Burgos, Ilocos Norte

• Clastic sedimentary rocks

- grains, matrix and cement are the components of clastic rocks
- clastic rocks are commonly classified based on particle size
- clastic rocks with volcanic origin (e.g. pyroclastics) and may have undergone some stages in
the sedimentary processes could be classified as sedimentary rock (e.g. volcanoclastic
rocks).
- the presence of variable grain sizes (including matrix and cement) is indicative of
sedimentary differentiation which is actually a function of processes happening in different
sedimentary environments.

• Grains: greater than sand-sized

minerals and/or rock fragments.
• Matrix: fine-grained (clay to silt sized)
minerals.
• Cement: minerals precipitated from
solution that binds the grains and
matrix together

Table below shows the different clastic rocks

• Rudaceous Rocks: (rudites) >50% clasts
diameter >2mm made up of primarily
rock fragments
• Arenaceous Rocks: (arenites) >50%
sediments diameter between
0.063-2mm can contain high quartz %.
• Argillaceous Rocks: (argillites) >50%
sediments diameter <0.063mm and
made up mainly of clay minerals and
quartz grains to a much lesser extent

• Non-clastic sedimentary rocks

- evaporation and precipitation from solution or lithification of organic matter
- classified as evaporites (halite, gypsum and dolostone), precipitates (limestone) and
bioclastics (coal, coquina)
- chart below summarizes the features of the non-clastic rocks

• Evaporites: rocks formed from the

evaporation of water leaving the
dissolved minerals to crystallize
• Precipitates: rocks formed when
minerals from a mineral supersaturated
waters start to crystallize at the bottom
of the solution
• Bioclastic: rock formed from
compacted organic matter
 several photos of sedimentary rocks

• Conglomerate (left) relatively large and

rounded clasts as compared to the
angular clasts of the breccia on the
right
• Sandstone (left) with visible grains and
prominent layering or; claystone (right)
with several embedded fossils
• Non-clastic sedimentary rocks
limestone (left) and coquina (right)

3. metamorphic rocks
- formed below the surface of the earth through the process of metamorphism with the
recrystallization of minerals in rocks due to changes in pressure and temperature conditions
- contact and regional metamorphism

• Contact metamorphism
- heat and reactive fluids as main factors: occur when a pre-existing rock gets in contact with
magma which is the source of heat and magmatic fluids where metamorphic alterations and
transformations occur around the contact / metamorphic aureole of the intruding magma and
the rock layers. The aureole occurs on different scales depending on the sizes of the intruding
magma and the amount of water in the intruded rocks and the reactive fluids coming from the
magma.
- creates non-foliated metamorphic rocks
- example: hornfels

• Imagine magma forcing its way up

through rock layers under the crust.
The magma will bake the surrounding
rocks due to the differences in
temperature (rock layers are cooler
than the magma) causing them to
metamorphose.
• Deformed rocks exhibit foliation/
lineation/ banding of mineral grains,
brought about by pressure and
recrystallization of minerals while
undergoing regional metamorphism

• Regional metamorphism
- pressure as main factor: occurs in areas that have undergone considerable amount of
mechanical deformation and chemical recrystallization during orogenic event which are
commonly associated with mountain belts
- occurs in a regional/large scale
- creates foliated metamorphic rocks
- examples: schist, gneiss
- non-foliated rocks like marble also form through regional metamorphism, where pressure is not
intense, far from the main geologic event
• Below is a table of the different common metamorphic rocks.

• Some photos of common metamorphic rocks:

• Non-foliated rocks: Hornfels (left), a

fine-grained rock that forms through
contact metamorphism of non-
carbonate rocks. Marble (right), a
recrystallized rock that forms from the
metamorphism of limestone or
dolostone
• Foliated rocks: Slate, phyllite, schist and
gneiss from shale as precursor rock.
The stages of transformation are
manifestations of increasing
metamorphic grade with increasing
pressure

The Rock Cycle

- constant recycling of minerals
- illustrates how geologic processes occurring both underneath and on the Earth’s surface can
change a rock from one type to another.

Earth Materials and

Resources - Soil

• Soil is especially vulnerable to erosion if it is bare or exposed. Plants therefore serve a tremendous
role in preventing soil erosion. If the soil is covered with plants, erosion is slowed down. But when
soil is bare, the rate of erosion speeds up tremendously. Here are some human activities that leave
the soil exposed and speed up erosion. We speed up erosion through the following actions.

1. Agricultural Depletion - Farming can degrade the topsoil and lead to an increase in erosion. To
plant a field, a farmer must first till the soil, breaking it up and loosening it so the new plants
can take root. Once the plants are harvested, the loose soil remains and wind or rain can easily
wash it away. In the 1930s, much of the American plains suffered greatly from erosion due to
non-sustainable farming practices, creating the Dust Bowl and leading to widespread poverty
and migration to the west coast. Planting cover crops in the fall can help maintain the soil
through the winter months, reducing the amount of erosion. In addition, rotating the crops
planted can help return nutrients to the soil to prevent its degradation.

2. Overgrazing Animals - Grazing animals are animals that live on large areas of grassland. They
wander over the area and eat grasses and shrubs. They can remove large amounts of the plant
cover for an area. If too many animals graze the same land area, once the tips of grasses and
shrubs have been eaten, they will use their hooves to pull plants out by their roots

3. Deforestation - Deforestation is another practice that can greatly increase the rate of erosion in
a region. One of the most important barriers to erosion is plant life, as long-lived trees and
other species put down roots that literally help hold the soil together. Logging kills these plants,
and even if the operation plants new trees to replace the old ones, the younger plants require
years to put down the kind of root system that once protected the soil. Timber companies utilize
a variety of different techniques, such as partial clearing and replanting, to prevent soil
degradation and erosion in their work zones.

4. Mining operations are major contributors to erosion, especially on a local level. Many mining
techniques involve shifting large amounts of earth, such as strip mining or mountaintop removal.
These operations leave large amounts of loose soil exposed to the elements, and they often
require large amounts of water, which can exacerbate the erosion process. Even once the
mining operation is completed and the company replaces the earth, it lacks the established
vegetation that helped it maintain its coherency before removal, and until plants can re-
establish themselves, erosion will continue to be a problem.

5. Development and Expansion - Urban and suburban development can also exacerbate erosion,
especially if the developers ignore the natural state of the land. Construction of a building often
begins by clearing the area of any plants or other natural defenses against soil erosion. In
addition, some landscapers replace natural ground cover with plant species unsuited to the
climate, and these plants may not be as effective at preventing erosion.
6. Recreational activities, like driving vehicles off-road or hiking - Humans also cause erosion
through recreational activities, like hiking and riding off-road vehicles. An even greater amount
of erosion occurs when people drive off-road vehicles over an area. The area eventually
develops bare spots where no plants can grow. Erosion becomes a serious problem in these
areas.