Chapter 8:
Earth as a
Planet
Phases of Evolution
The terrestrial planets undergo five distinct phases of evolution.
1. Differentiation- in a molten planet, heavier elements sink to the
center
2. Cooling - internal heat flows up to the surface and escapes
3. Cratering- a planet is bombarded by asteroids/comet
4. Magma flooding – water, lava, and gasses come to the surface
and cover the terrain.
5. Weathering- the flow of atmospheric gas, condensation, and
evaporation shape the planet’s surface.
• Only occurs on planets with an atmosphere
Phases of Evolution
1. Differentiation
2. Surface cooling
3. Cratering
5. Weathering
4. Magma Flooding
Earth
• The only planet in our solar system that’s not too hot nor too cold
“just right” for the development of life.
• Medium size Planet
• Composed largely of metals and silicate
• Most of the material is in solid state
• Some are hot enough to be molten
• The material structure has been probed by
measuring the seismic waves- waves that
spread through the interior of Earth from
earthquakes or explosion sites.
Earth’s Interior Structure
Earth’s interior consists of several distinct
layers with different elemental compositions.
Crust: top, visible, layer (0.3% of total mass)
Oceanic Crust covers 55 % of the total Continental Crust covers 45%
Earth’s surface • Some still beneath the oceans
• Lies mostly submerged under oceans • 20 to 70 km thick
• Six kilometers thick • Composed of rocks called
• Composed of volcanic rocks granite
Earth’s Interior Structure
Mantle: the largest part of the solid earth
• More or less solid, rocks can deform and
flow slowly
• Density increases from 𝟑. 𝟓 𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑 to
more than 𝟓 𝒈/𝒄𝒎𝟑
• Samples are ejected from volcanos
Core: dense metallic
• The core is larger than the entire planet
Mercury
• The outer core is liquid
• The inner core is solid
• High in density
• Composed of Iron, Nickle, and Sulfur
Earth - A Giant Magnet
Earth acts like a giant magnet due to the moving material in its
core.
Magnetosphere: the zone within which Earth’s magnetic field
dominates over the weak interplanetary magnetic field that extends
outward from the Sun
Plate Tectonics
The idea explains how slow motions within the mantle of Earth
move large crust segments, resulting in a gradual “drifting” of the
continents and the formation of mountains and other large-scale
geological features.
Mechanism for Earth’s to transport heat efficiently from the
interior to the outer surface
Four basic interactions between crustal plates:
Plate Tectonics 1. They can pull apart
2. One plate can burrow under another
3. Slide along each other
4. Jam together
Rift and Subduction Zones
• A new surface is created when plates pull apart
• Occurs in the area known as the rift zone
• Molten rock rises from below to fill the space between the plates
• Subduction Zones- an area where one plate sinks into the mantle
underneath the other plate.
• Subducted plates are forced down into the region of high pressure and
temperature, eventually melting
Crust Destroyed At Subduction Zones = Amount Formed At Rift Zones
Fault Zone and Mountain Building
• Crustal plates slide parallel to
each other.
• Cracks or faults mark these
plates.
• Overtime build-up of stress
results in earthquakes
• Mountain Ranges are formed
when two continental masses
collide and push against each
other.
• Sharp peaks are formed by
erosion by water and ice
Volcanoes
Scientists get a look at the makeup of the Earth by studying volcanic
eruptions.
Volcanoes mark where melted mantle rises to the surface
• Occurs at the subduction zones
• At rift zones where lava raising from Earth’s mantle
Earth’s Atmosphere
Earth’s Atmosphere represents only a small
fraction of the Earth’s mass.
• Troposphere - layer closest to the Earth’s
surface
• Most of the atmosphere mass is
concentrated in this layer
• Stratosphere - extends to about 50 km
above the surface.
• The ozone (O3) layer is near the top of
the Stratosphere. Protects the surface
from ultraviolet radiation.
• Mesosphere – Where meteoroids burn up
• Ionosphere – contains a high concentration
of ions and free electrons
Discussion Questions
• Is there evidence of climate change in your area over the
past century?
• How would you distinguish a true climate change from the
random variations in weather that take place from one
year to the next?
Weather vs Climate
Weather: circulation of the atmospheric gasses
• Represents the response to chaining input of
energy from the Sun.
• Atmosphere and ocean redistribute the heat
from warmer to cooler areas
Climate: effect of the atmosphere that lasts
through decades or centuries.
• Changes over time can accumulate to have a
devastating effect.
• Example: Ice ages
The Green House Effect
Carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere plays a key role in retaining
heat from the sun in our atmosphere, a process called the greenhouse
effect.
1. Sunlight is absorbed by the ground
2. The energy is reemitted as infrared
radiation
3. CO2 acts like a blanket, trapping heat
near the surface
4. In response, the temperature of the
surface and lower atmosphere rises
The more CO2 in our atmosphere, the higher the temperature at which
Earth’s surface reaches a new balance.
Global Warming
Heating due to the greenhouse effect is increasing.
Burning coal and oil releases large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Cutting down forests has exacerbated the process.
In the past century, CO2 in the atmosphere has increased by 30%
Climate change is widely apparent:
• Temperature records are broken
• Glaciers are melting
• Rising sea levels
Craters on Earth
Small cosmic debris burns up as it travels toward
the Earth’s surface.
• The activity of plate tectonics has destroyed
Earth’s craters.
Recent Impacts:
• June 30, 1908 near Tunguska River Siberia
• Large explosion in the atmosphere about 8
km above the surface.
• February 15, 2013: a small asteroid collided
with the Earth over the Russian city of
Chelyabinsk
• It exploded at a heigh of 21 km
Craters on Earth
Recent Impacts:
• Crater formed on Earth about 50,000 years
ago in Arizona
• Made of iron about 40 m in diameter
• Energy released was equivalent to a 10-
ton mega nuclear bomb
• Chicxulub Crater: 65 million years ago in the
Yucatan peninsula of Mexico
• Half of the species on Earth Died
• Released energy of about 5 billion
Hiroshima-size nuclear bombs
• Excavated a crater 200 km across and
deep enough to penetrate through Earth’s
crust
Discussion Questions
Do you think scientists should make plans to defend Earth from
future asteroid impacts? Is it right to intervene in the same
evolutionary process that made the development of mammals
(including us) possible after the big impact 65 million years ago?
DART
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) crashed a spacecraft
into Dimorphos, a smaller asteroid orbiting a large one called Didymos.
The impact slowed down Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos.
The last complete image of asteroid moonlet
Dimorphos, taken by the DRACO imager on
NASA’s DART mission from ~7 miles (12
kilometers) from the asteroid and 2 seconds before
impact.
