Planet Earth

Earth Facts
Distance from Sun: 150 million kilometers (1 AU)
Orbital period: 365.25 days
Rotational period: 23.9 hours
Tilt of axis: 23.5 degrees
Diameter: 12,756 kilometers (7,973 miles)
Average density: 5.515 g/cm3
Average temperature: 15°C
Atmospheric pressure: 1 atm
Atmosphere composition: 77% N, 21% O and 2% other.
Crustal rocks: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
Magnetic field yes
Plate tectonics yes
Hydrosphere (liquid water) yes
Biosphere (life) YES
 Age of the Earth
• Estimated age for the Earth and the rest of the solar system is about
4.6 billion years
• comes from radiometric dating (Lead isotope measurements.)
• The oldest Earth rocks: 3.8 to 3.9 billion years
• Oldest Earth minerals (zircons): 4.2 billion years
• Oldest Moon rocks: 4.44 billion years
 Early Earth Timeline
5.5-6 billion years ago (BYA): the solar nebula begins to
collapse
4.6 BYA: Sun begins fusion
4.5-4.6 BYA: Proto-Earth formed from planetesimals (dust and
debris coming together due to gravity) .
4.44 BYA: Earth-Moon formed by giant impact. Earth melts,
water vapor is released from rock into atmosphere.
4.2 BYA: Earth layers separate, crust cools, RAIN
4 BYA: RAIN, earliest oceans formed, thick atmosphere
3.8 BYA: first life forms develop (blue-green algae)
2.5-3 BYA: photosynthesis leads to O2 in ocean
2 BYA: O2 accumulates in atmosphere
 Formation of Our System
• Nebular hypothesis – all bodies in the solar system formed
from the same nebula at the same time
• Nebula = cloud of gases and space dust
• Mainly hydrogen and helium
 Early evolution of Earth
Origin of Earth
• Most researchers believe that Earth and the
other planets formed at essentially the same
time
• Nebular hypothesis
• Solar system evolved from an enormous rotating
cloud called the solar nebula
• Nebula was composed mostly of hydrogen and
helium with smaller amounts of dust
 Early evolution of Earth
Origin of Earth
• Nebular hypothesis continued
• About 5 billion years ago the nebula began to
contract
• Took on a flat, disk shape with the protosun (pre-
Sun) at the center
• Inner planets began to form from metallic and rocky
clumps
• Larger outer planets began forming from gases and
ices of varying composition (hydrogen, methane,
ammonia, CO2)
• The early solar system was cluttered with
planetesimals.
 Nebular Hypothesis
• Material in the nebula cloud moved towards the
nebula’s center of gravity
• When the material at the center became large and
dense enough, nuclear fusion began and the sun
was born
• Protoplanets formed from smaller concentrations of
matter
 Earth as a Protoplanet
• Rock, dust, and debris in space pulled together because of gravity
• As the earth grew, its gravitational pull became stronger, which
attracted more massive objects in space
• Bombarded by meteorites
– Moon formed from collision with large asteroid
• Early earth was larger than today’s Earth
• Homogeneous composition
Giant Impact Formation of Earth-Moon
System
• Planet Theia, a Mars-sized
planet, collided with early
Earth
• Formed the moon and caused
the earth’s tilt
 Protoearth
• Earth’s internal heat was (and still is) generated through
radioactivity
• Heat was also generated from contraction (protoplanet
shrinks due to gravity)
• Protoearth melted, allowing for denser fluids to sink
towards the center, forming Earth’s layers and iron-nickel
core.
• Water was released from the rock to form a dense cloud of
water vapor that blanketed the planet.
 Earth’s
Geologic
Time Scale
 Earth’s Magnetic Field

• Earth’s magnetic field acts

like a giant magnet
• Magnetic North is not the
same as True North
• True North is the earth’s
northern axis point
• Compasses point to
Magnetic North
• Our magnetic poles move
and occasionally reverse
• Magnetic north is currently
about 10o away from True
North
Plate Tectonics on Earth
Four Types of Plate Boundaries

Convergent
Boundaries
Earth’s Topography (elevations)
Without Water
Age of the Oceanic Crust
Earthquake Epicenters
Recent Volcanism
 Imaging the Earth’s Interior

• We know the location and

composition of the earth’s
layers through the
behavior of seismic
waves.
• We know the depths of
layers from reflected
waves
• We know the density (and
composition) of layers by
how other waves are
refracted (bent).
 Types of Seismic Waves

2-3
4-6 km/s
km/s

• P (primary) and S (secondary) waves travel through Earth’s

interior
• Provide info about the mantle and core (density,
composition)
• Surfaces waves (Love, Rayleigh) travel through the crust
• Provide info about the crust
 Reflection and
Refraction
Refraction

Reflectio
n

This is what happens to

seismic waves in the
Earth.
Waves BEND or REFRACT
when they move through
different mediums.
 Seismic Wave Reflection
• Used to find depth to boundaries (density differences)
Earthquake

Seismic Station

• P-Wave Reflections and refractions: P waves can travel

through solids or liquids but are bent at each layer
• S-Wave Reflections and Refractions: S waves can travel only
through solids but are bent at each layer
Shadow Zones

Shadow Zone -
No P or S waves
P-Wave Shadow S-Wave Shadow
Zone
Indicates depth to Zone
Indicates that the
the core-mantle outer core is liquid
Earth’s Layers (two ways of classifying)
Earth’s Most
Abundant
Elements
Earth’s Atmosphere
5 layers:

• Troposphere: 0km to 10km in altitude,

temperature decreases with increasing
elevation, WEATHER
• Stratosphere: 10km-50km altitude, contains
ozone layer, temperature increases with
elevation
• Mesosphere: 5km-90km altitude,
temperature drops with elevation
• Thermosphere: 90km-500 km. Temperature
increases rapidly with height
• Exosphere: Up to about 1000km.
Temperature is hot and stable
• More than 99% of the total atmospheric
mass is in the troposphere and
stratosphere
 Earth’s Early Atmosphere
• Earth’s current atmosphere is very different than its primordial
(first) atmosphere. It’s a secondary atmosphere.
• Earth’s primordial atmosphere contained mainly hydrogen (H 2)
and helium (He)
• The primordial atmospheres of the inner planets were probably
eroded away by the heavy bombardment of small objects
around the same time as the moon formed.
• Bombardment would have energized the gases, and Earth’s
gravity was not strong enough to prevent their escape.
Earth’s Secondary Atmosphere

• New gases were introduced and

separated through various
processes.
• These new gases were produced
by volcanic out-gassing
• Gases were probably similar to
those created by modern
volcanoes, containing water
vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur
dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur,
chlorine, nitrogen, hydrogen,
ammonia, and methane.
• No free oxygen at this time (not
found in volcanic gases).
 Oceans and the Atmosphere
Ocean Formation –
• Water that was trapped in rock was released to form water vapor
when the earth was separating into layers
• Water vapor was (and still is) a component of volcanic gases
• As the earth cooled, water vapor in the atmosphere condensed
to a liquid and it began to RAIN. A LOT!
• Water filled the ocean basins.
 Addition of O2 to Atmosphere
2 Ways that Oxygen was Produced
1. Ultraviolet Light from the Sun:
• Water molecules were broken down into hydrogen and oxygen
gas (H2 and O2)
• Ozone O3 was also able to form, shielding Earth’s surface from
most of the Sun’s UV radiation.
2. Photosynthesis
• first produced by Precambrian bacteria, and eventually higher
plants
• supplied the rest of O2 to atmosphere.
 Removal of CO2 from Atmosphere
Three Methods:
1. Became locked up as rock:
• CO2 from atmosphere diffused into the ocean water
• It chemically combined with calcium from dissolved
rock to form inorganic limestone
2. Became locked up in growing plants
3. Used by ancient corals, sponges, and the shells of sea
organisms which were eventually buried and became
organic sedimentary rocks.
 Removal of CO2 from Atmosphere -
Shells, coral, sea sponges
• Once the water vapor in the atmosphere condensed to
form an ocean, it became a “sink” for dissolved CO2.
• Coral, sponges, and shelled organisms used dissolved
calcium and CO2 to make their structures and shells of
calcium carbonate
• Organisms would eventually die, accumulate, and
eventually lock up the CO2 in fossil rich limestone
• There is 60 times more CO2 dissolved in sea water than
in the atmosphere, and 3000 times more CO2 buried in
sedimentary rocks than in the oceans.
 The Rock Cycle
• Rock can be classified as igneous, sedimentary, or
metamorphic
– Igneous rock is formed when magma cools and
hardens
– Sedimentary rock forms when other rocks are
weathered, eroded, and buried
– Metamorphic rock forms when rock is exposed to
intense heat and/or pressure
• All three types of rock can be found on Earth’s surface
because of forces within the earth’s crust and weather.
• The primary force that drives the rock cycle on earth is
weather
• Earth is the only planet in our solar system that has an
active rock cycle