EARTH and LIFE SCIENCE

CHAPTER 1

Origin and Structure of the Earth

 The universe as we currently know it comprises all space and time, and all
matter and in it.

 It is made of 4.6 baryonic matter(“ordinary” matter consisting of protons,

electrons, and neutron: atoms, planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, and other
bodies), 24% cold dark 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 most abundant elements.
 STARS – the building block of galaxies are born out of clouds of gas and
dust in galaxies. Instabilities within the clouds eventually results into
gravitational collapse, rotation, heating up, and transformation into
PROTOSTAR – the hot core of a future stars 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. Massive
main sequences stars burn up their hydrogen faster than smaller stars. Stars
like our Sun burn up hydrogen in about 10 billion years.

Birth, evolution, death and rebirth of stars

 The remaining dust and gas may end up as they are or as planets, asteroids,
or other bodies it the accompanying planetary system.
 A GALAXY is a cluster of billions of stars and cluster of galaxies from
super clusters. In between the cluster is practically an empty space. This
organization of matter in the universe suggests that it is indeed clumpy at a
certain scale. But a large scale, it appears homogeneous and isotropic.
 Based on recent data, the universe is 13.8 billion years old.
Expanding Universe

 In 1929, Edwin Hubble announce his significant discovery of the “redshift”

and its interpretation that galaxies are moving away from each other, hence
as a evidence for 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 interference that the star or galaxy must
be moving away from us.
 Red shift as evidence for an expanding universe. The positions of the absorptions lines for
Helium for light coming from the Sun are shifted towards the red end as compared with those for a distant
star. This evidence for expansion contradicted the previously held view of a static and unchanging
universe.

Source: The Red Shift (www.google.com.ph)

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 earn 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 with an average temperature of
about 2.7 degrees above absolute zero.
Source: Cosmic Microwave Background radiation map showing small variation from WMAP –
(Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe)

www.google.com.ph

ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Non-scientific Thought
 Ancient Egyptians believed in many Gods and Myths which narrate the world arose from
an infinite sea at the first rising sun.
 The Kuba people of Central Africa tell the story of 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 head, feet,
eyes, and mind became the sky, earth, sun, and moon respectively.
 The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam claim that the supreme
being created the universe, including man and other living organism
 RIGVEDA – an ancient Indians believed that the universe had an origin and pondered
about how and where the world, and everything else, began.

BIG BANG THEORY

 As the currently accepted theory of the origin of the universe 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 rest on two ideas: General Relativity and Cosmological Principle, In
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, gravity is thought of as a distortion of space-time
and no longer describe by 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 test for expansion;
 The Red Shift
 Abundance of Hydrogen, Helium and Lithium
 The uniformly pervasive Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation – the
remnant heat from the bang

Lesson 2:
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Understanding the Origin and evolution of the Solar System

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 x10 km;
  The Solar System revolves around the galactic center once in about 240 million years;
 The Milky Way is a 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, radiocactive dating meteorites suggests that the Earth and Solar System are 4.6
billion years old.
 Any acceptable scientific thought on the origin of the Solar System has to be consistent
with supported information about it (e.g. large and small features, composition)

Source: Layout of the Solar System comprising mainly the Sun, planets and their satellites,
asteroids and icy bodies as Dwarf planets and comets. www.google.com.ph
Large Scale Features of the Solar System

 Much of the mass of the Solar System is concentrated at the center of the (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 planets 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 (4) 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 fluids interiors rich in Hydrogen, Helium and Ices
(Water, Ammonia, and Methane).

RIVAL THEORIES

 Many theories have been proposed since about four centuries ago. Each has weaknesses
in explaining all the characteristics of the Solar System. A few are discussed below.

NEBULAR HYPHOTHESIS

 In the 1700s Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant and Pierre-Simon Laplace

independently though 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.

Source: Nebular Hypothesis (http:www.google.com.ph)

Lesson 4:
EARTH SUBSYSTEMS

Definition of a System
A set of interconnected components that are interacting to form a unified whole

 GEOSPHERE/LITHOSPHERE
 HYDROSPHERE
 ATMOSPHERE
 BIOSPHERE

The Earth System (Source: www.eartonlinemedia.com)

www.google.com.ph

DEFINITION OF THE TERM:

ATMOSPHERE
 The atmosphere is the thin gaseous layer that envelops the lithosphere
 The present atmosphere is compose of of 78% nitrogen (N), 21% oxygen (O2), 0.9%
argon and trace amount of 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 the hydrologic cycle.

www.googgle.com.ph
LITHOSPHERE/GEOSPHERE

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

 Briefly discuss the Plate Tectonics as 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.

www.google.com.ph

BIOSPHERE
  The biosphere is the set of all 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 PHOTOSYNTESIS, CO2 is sequestered from the atmosphere, while
oxygen is released as a byproduct. The Biosphere is a CO2 sink, and therefore, an
important part of the carbon cycle
 Sunlight is not necessary for life.

HYDROSPHERE
  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 water is fresh: two-thirds are in the form of ice, and the remaining one-
third is present in streams, lakes, and underground water.
 The oceans are important sinks for CO2 through direct exchange with the atmosphere and
indirectly through the weathering of rocks.
 Heat absorbed and redistributed on the surface of the Earth through ocean circulation.

Lesson 5:
The Internal Structure of the Earth

Layers of the Earth

 Crust – thin, outermost layer of the earth

Two different types – continental crust and oceanic crust

 Mantle – middle layer of the earth between the crust and the core;
makes up 83% of earth’s interior

 Core – innermost layer of the earth; outer core is in a liquid state

whereas inner core is solid state.

 Lithosphere – rigid outer layer of the layer which is made up of the

brittle crust and upper mantle.

 Asthenosphere – layer of weak, ductile rock in the mantle; situated

below the lithosphere

 Moho – boundary separating the crust and the mantle

 Seismic Wave – an elastic shock wave that travels outward in all

directions from an earthquake source

 Convection – transfer of heat by mass movement or circulation of

a substance

 Plate Tectonics – theory which purpose that the earth’s crust and
upper mantle to be composed of several large thin, and relatively
rigid plates that move relative to one another.
CUTAWAY VIEWS SHOWING THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE
OF THE EARTH

LAYERS OF THE EARTH