• Although called a gas giant, Jupiter is believed

Earth Science Reviewer for my bb :>> to be an ocean of liquid hydrogen. Jupiter has a
ring system, large storms, and 63 moons. The
The Solar System Size is the most obvious
difference between the terrestrial and the
Jovian planets. most prominent feature of Saturn is its system
of rings.
• The terrestrial planets—Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars—are relatively small and rocky. Touring Our Solar System

• The Jovian planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, • Saturn’s atmosphere is very active with winds
and Neptune—are huge gas giants. Density, of 1500 kilometers per hour. It has 56 moons,
chemical makeup, and rate of rotation are other the largest of which, Titan, has its own
ways in which the two groups of planets differ. atmosphere.
According to the nebular theory, the sun and Instead of being generally perpendicular to the
planets formed from a rotating disk of dust and plane of its orbit like the other planets, Uranus’s
gases. axis of rotation lies nearly parallel with the
• A cloud of dust and gas in space is called a plane of its orbit.
nebula. Winds exceeding 1000 kilometers per hour
encircle Neptune, making it one of the windiest
• As solid bits of matter began to clump places in the solar system. Pluto is considered a
together, they formed small, irregularly shaped dwarf planet because it has not cleared the
bodies called planetesimals. 23.2 The Terrestrial neighborhood around its orbit.
Planets Mercury has the greatest temperature
extremes of any planet. • A dwarf planet is a round object that orbits
the sun but has not cleared the neighborhood
• Mercury is only slightly larger than our moon, around its orbit. 23.4 Minor Members of the
has cratered highlands and smooth terrains like Solar System Most asteroids lie in the asteroid
maria. It’s very dense, with a large iron core. belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Data have confirmed that basaltic volcanism They have orbital periods of three to six years.
and tectonic activity shape Venus’s surface.
• Asteroids are small rocky bodies that orbit
• Venus is similar to Earth in size, mass, and the sun.
density. It is covered by thick clouds, and has a • Comets are pieces of rocky and metallic
surface temperature of 475° C. Although the materials held together by frozen water,
atmosphere of Mars is very thin, extensive dust ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide, and carbon
storms occur and may cause the color changes monoxide.
observed from Earth.
• The glowing head of a comet, called a coma, is
• The surface features on Mars, including caused by vaporized frozen gases. A small
volcanoes and canyons, are 1–4.5 billion years glowing nucleus with a diameter of only a few
old. Recent evidence points to the possibility kilometers can sometimes be detected within a
that liquid water once existed on the surface. coma. As comets approach the sun, some, but
23.3 The Outer Planets (and Pluto) Jupiter has a not all, develop a tail that extends for millions
mass that is 2 times greater than the mass of all of kilometers.
the other planets and moons combined.
• Comets originate in two regions of the outer
solar system. Those with short orbital periods
come from the Kuiper belt, and those with long
orbital periods come from the Oort cloud. Most
meteoroids originate from any one of the • According to the big bang theory, the universe
following three sources: (1) interplanetary began as a violent explosion from which the
debris that was not gravitationally swept up by universe continues to expand, evolve, and cool.
the planets during the formation of the solar
system, (2) material from the asteroid belt, or Astronomy
(3) the solid remains of comets that once the study of the sun, moon, stars, planets,
traveled near Earth’s orbit. comets, gas, galaxies, gas, dust and other non-
Earthly bodies and phenomena.
• A meteoroid is a small solid particle that
travels through space. Cosmology
the branch of astronomy involving the origin
• Meteoroids that enter Earth’s atmosphere and evolution of the universe, from the Big
and burn up are called meteors. Bang to today and on into the future.

• A meteoroid that actually reaches Earth’s Planetary astronomers

surface is called a meteorite. focus on the growth, evolution, and death of
planets.
• Scientists used evidence from meteorites,
moon rocks, and Earth rocks to determine the Solar astronomers
age of the solar system. spend their time analyzing the sun
The Universe The Milky Way is a large spiral
galaxy whose disk is about 100,000 light-years Galactic astronomers
wide and about 10,000 light-years thick at the study our galaxy, the Milky Way
nucleus.
• Galaxies are large groups of stars, dust, and Extragalactic astronomers-
gases held together by gravity. peer outside of it to determine how these
collections of stars form, change, and die
• There are three types of galaxies. Spiral
galaxies are disk shaped with arms extending Cosmologists
from the center. Most galaxies are elliptical focus on the universe in its entirety, from its
galaxies, which range in shape from round to violent birth in the Big Bang to its present
oval. A small percent of galaxies have irregular evolution, all the way to its eventual death.
shapes, and are called irregular galaxies. In
addition to shape and size, one of the major Eratosthenes (276 BCE- 195 BCE)
differences among different types of galaxies is used the sun to measure the size of the round
the age of their stars. Earth.
Claudius Ptolemy (AD 90- 168)
• A galaxy cluster is a group of galaxies. The red set up a model of the solar system in which the
shifts of distant galaxies indicate that the sun, stars, and other planets revolved around
universe is expanding. Earth, known as the Ptolemaic system.
• Hubble’s law states that galaxies are
retreating from us at a speed that is Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
proportional to their distance. The big bang proposed a model of the solar system that
theory states that at one time, the entire involved the Earth revolving around the sun.
universe was confined to a dense, hot,
supermassive ball. Then, about 13.7 billion Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
years ago, a violent explosion occurred, hurling determined that planets traveled around the
this material in all directions. sun not in circles but in ellipses.
 made important scientific studies in the fields of
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) planetary science. He also managed to
is often credited with the creation of the optical popularized astronomy more than any other
telescope, though in truth he improved on individual. His charismatic teaching and
existing models. The astronomer (also boundless energy impacted people around the
mathematician, physicist and philosopher) world as he broke down complicated subjects in
turned the new observational tool toward the a way that interested television viewers even as
heavens, where he discovered the four primary he educated them.
moons of Jupiter (now known as the Galilean
moons), as well as the rings of Saturn. Though a STANDARD MODEL
model of the Earth circling the sun was first Everything in the universe is found to be made
proposed by Copernicus, it took some time from a few basic building blocks called
before it became widely accepted. Galileo is fundamental particles, governed by four
most widely known for defending the idea fundamental forces.
several years after Kepler had already
calculated the path of planets, and Galileo Fundamental Particles
wound up under house arrest at the end of his Made up of elementary particles known as
lifetime because of it.. QUARKS and LEPTONS

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) Fundamental Forces

is most famous for his work on forces, - Strong Force
specifically gravity. He calculated three laws - Weak Force
describing the motion of forces between - Electromagnetic Force
objects, known today as Newton's laws. - Gravity/ Gravitational Force

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) BIG BANG THEORY

became of the most famous scientists ever after Talks about the universe as starting with a small
proposing a new way of looking at the universe singularity, and then inflating over the next 13.8
that went beyond current understanding. billion years to the cosmos that we know today.
Einstein suggested that the laws of physics are
the same throughout the universe, that the EXPANDING UNIVERSE THEORY
speed of light in a vacuum is constant, and that - The universe was born with the Big Bang as an
space and time are linked in an entity known as unimaginably hot, dense point.
space-time, which is distorted by gravity. - When the universe was just 10-34 of a second
or so old — that is, a hundredth of a billionth of
Edwin Hubble (1899-1953) a trillionth of a trillionth of a second in age — it
calculated that a small blob in the sky existed experienced an incredible burst of expansion
outside of the Milky Way. Prior to his known as inflation, in which space itself
observations, the discussion over the size of the expanded faster than the speed of light.
universe was divided as to whether or not only - During this period, the universe doubled in size
a single galaxy existed. Hubble went on to at least 90 times, going from subatomic-sized to
determine that the universe itself was golf-ball-sized almost instantaneously.
expanding, a calculation which later came to be
known as Hubble's law. Hubble's observations NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS
of the various galaxies allowed him to create a suggests that bodies in our solar system evolved
standard system of classification still used from an enormous rotating cloud called the
today. solar nebula, which is composed of mostly
hydrogen and helium, with some heavier
Carl Sagan (1934-1996) elements.
 angles, while those of distant stars are too small
MULTIVERSE THEORY to measure.
The universe could be just one of an infinite • Parallax is the slight shifting in the apparent
number of universes making up a "multiverse.” position of a nearby star due to the orbital
motion of Earth. Parallax is the most basic way
Infinite universes to measure star distance.
The shape of space-time is flat (as opposed to • The light-year is the distance light travels in
spherical or even donut-shape) and stretches one year—about 9.5 trillion kilometers. Three
out infinitely. factors control the apparent brightness of a star
as seen from Earth: how big it is, how hot it is,
Bubble universes and how far away it is.
Suggests that some pockets of space stop • A star’s brightness as it appears form Earth is
inflating, while other regions continue to inflate, called its apparent magnitude.
thus giving rise to many isolated "bubble • Astronomers are also interested in how bright
universes.” a star actually is, or its absolute magnitude. A
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram shows the
Parallel universes relationship between the absolute magnitude
Our universe may live on one membrane, or and temperature of stars.
"brane" that is parallel to many others • A main sequence star is a star that falls into
containing their own universes, all floating in a the main sequence category on the
higher-dimensional space. Hertzsprung-Russel diagram. This category
contains 90 percent of stars.
Mathematical Universes
In physics and cosmology, the mathematical • Red giants are very bright stars that lie above
universe hypothesis, also known as the Ultimate and to the right of the main sequence in the H-R
Ensemble, is a speculative "theory of diagram.
everything". • Supergiants are very large, very bright red
giants.
Steady state theory • Cepheid variables are stars that get brighter
A cosmological theory stating that the universe and fainter in a regular pattern.
has always expanded at a uniform rate with no
beginning or end, that it will continue to expand • A nova is a sudden brightening of a star.
and have constant density, and that the • Nebulae are clouds of dust and gases found in
distribution of old and new objects in the “the vacuum of space.” 25.2 Stellar Evolution
universe is basically even. • A medium-mass star like the sun goes
through several stages of development. It starts
Beyond Our Solar System Summary as a nebula, which contracts into a protostar—a
1 Properties of Stars Color is a clue to a star’s developing star not yet hots enough for nuclear
temperature. fusion to occur.
Binary stars are used to determine the star
property most difficult to calculate—its mass. When the core of a protostar has reached about
10 million K, pressure within is so great that
• The word constellation is used to designate nuclear fusion of hydrogen begins, and a star is
an area of the sky that contains a specific born.
pattern of stars. • At some point after fusion begins, a star
becomes a balanced, mainsequence star. For an
• Two stars that orbit each other, pulled toward average star, this stage lasts 90 percent of the
each other by gravity, are called binary stars. star’s life.
The nearest stars have the largest parallax
• Once all of the hydrogen in a star’s core is rotating cloud called the solar nebula. It was
consumed, the star expands and cools, made up mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a
becoming a red giant. All stars, regardless of small percentage of heavier elements.
their size, eventually run out of fuel and • Shortly after the Earth formed, melting
collapse due to gravity. occurred in the Earth’s interior. Gravity caused
• The final stage of a star’s life cycle depends on denser elements to sink to Earth’s center.
the star’s mass. Lowmass stars go from being a
main-sequence star to becoming a white dwarf. Less dense elements floated toward the
Medium-mass stars become planetary nebulae. surface. As a result, Earth is made up of layers
Massive stars end in a supernova. of materials that have different properties.

• A supernova is a brilliant explosion that causes 1.2 A View of Earth Earth can be thought of as
a star to become millions of times brighter than consisting of four major spheres/ Subsystem:
its prenova stage.
• The process that produces chemical elements The hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and
inside stars is called nucleosynthesis. The sun biosphere.
began as a nebula, will spend much of its life as • The hydrosphere is the water portion of
a mainsequence star, and then will become a Earth.
red giant, planetary nebula, white dwarf, and • The atmosphere is an envelope of gases that
finally, a black dwarf. surrounds Earth.
• White dwarfs are the remains of low-mass • The geosphere is the layer of Earth under
and medium-mass stars. both the atmosphere and the oceans. It
• Neutron stars, which are smaller and more includes the core, the mantle, and the crust.
massive than white dwarfs, are thought to be • The biosphere is made up of all life on Earth.
the remnants of supernova events. Because the geosphere is not uniform,
• A spinning neutron star that appears to give
off pulses of radio waves is called a pulsar. it is divided into three main parts based on
• Dense objects with gravity so strong that not differences in composition—the core, the
even light can escape their surface are called mantle, and the crust.
black holes.
• The core, Earth’s innermost layer, is located
Chapter 1 Introduction to Earth Science just below the mantle.
Summary • The mantle is 2890 kilometers thick. It is
1.1 What Is Earth Science? located below the Earth’s crust and above the
Earth science is the name for the group of Earth’s core.
sciences that deals with Earth and its neighbors • The crust is the thin, rocky, outer layer of
in space. Earth. The theory of plate tectonics provided
• Geology means “study of Earth.” Geology is geologists with a model to explain how
divided into physical geology and historical earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur and
geology. how continents move.
• Oceanography is the study of the Earth’s • Destructive forces wear away Earth’s surface.
oceans, as well as coastal processes, seafloor • Constructive forces build up the Earth’s
topography, and marine life. surface.
• Meteorology is the study of atmosphere and • Tectonic plates move constantly over the
the processes that produce weather and Earth’s mantle.
climate.
• Astronomy is the study of the universe. The Chapter 1 Introduction to Earth Science
nebular hypothesis suggests that the bodies of
our solar system evolved from an enormous
1.3 Representing Earth’s Surface Latitude is the
distance north or south of the equator, Minerals A mineral is a naturally occurring,
measured in degrees. Longitude is the distance inorganic solid with an orderly crystalline
east or west of the prime meridian, measured in structure and a definite chemical composition.
degrees. • Minerals form by natural processes.
• The equator divides Earth into two
hemispheres—the northern and the southern. • Minerals are solids in normal temperature
• The prime meridian and the 180º meridian ranges on Earth.
divide Earth into eastern and western • Minerals are crystalline. Their atoms or ions
hemispheres. No matter what kind of map is are arranged in an orderly and repetitive way.
made, some portion of the surface will always • Minerals have definite chemical composition.
look either too small, too big, or out of place. They usually are compounds formed of two or
Mapmakers have, however, found ways to limit more elements.
the distortion of shape, size, distance, and • Most minerals are inorganic chemical
direction. compounds. There are four major processes by
Topographic maps show elevation using which minerals form: crystallization from
contour lines. magma, precipitation, changes in pressure and
•A topographic map represents Earth’s three- temperature, and formation from hydrothermal
dimensional surface in two dimensions. solutions.
•A contour line indicates the elevation of the • Magma is molten rock from deep in the Earth.
land. As it cools, it forms minerals.
•A contour interval tells the difference in • Substances dissolved in water may react to
elevation between adjacent contour lines. form minerals.
• A scale helps to determine distances on a • Changes in temperature and pressure can
map. A geologic map shows the type and age of make new minerals form.
exposed rocks. • When hot solutions touch exisiting minerals,
Today’s technology provides us with the ability chemical reactions take place and form new
to more precisely analyze Earth’s physical minerals. Common minerals, together with the
properties. thousands of others that form on Earth, can be
• Satellites and computers provide more classified into groups based on their
accurate maps. composition. Silicon and oxygen combine to
form a structure called the siliconoxygen
1.4 Earth System Science Earth system science tetrahedron.
aims to understand Earth as a system made up • Silicates are made of silicon and oxygen. They
of interacting parts, or subsystems. are the most common group of minerals on
A system can be any size group of interacting Earth.
parts that form a complex whole. • Most silicate minerals crystallize from cooling
• In a closed system, matter does not enter or magma. Carbonates are minerals that contain
leave the system. the elements carbon, oxygen, and one or more
• In an open system, energy and matter flow other metallic elements. Oxides are minerals
into and out of the system. that contain oxygen and one or more other
• Most natural systems are open systems. elements, which are usually metals. Sulfates
• The Earth system is powered by energy from and sulfides are minerals that contain the
two sources. One source of energy for Earth element sulfur. Halides are minerals that
systems is the sun, which drives external contain a halogen ion plus one or more other
processes that occur in the atmosphere, elements. Native elements are minerals that
hydrosphere, and at Earth’s surface. only contain one element or type of atom.
• The sun’s energy drives weather, climate,
ocean circulation, and erosion. Properties of Minerals
 • Weathering is a process in which rocks are
Small amounts of different elements can give physically and chemically broken down by
the same mineral different colors. Streak is the water, air, and living things.
color of a mineral in its powdered form. Luster • Sediment is made up of weathered pieces of
is used to describe how light is reflected from earth materials. Eventually, sediment is
the surface of a mineral. Crystal form is the compacted and cemented to form sedimentary
visible expression of a mineral’s internal rock.
arrangement of atoms. The Mohs scale consists • Sedimentary rocks buried deep within Earth’s
of 10 minerals arranged from 10 (hardest) to 1 surface are subjected to great pressure and high
(softest). temperatures. Under extreme pressure and
temperature conditions, sedimentary rock will
• Hardness is a measure of the resistance of a change in metamorphic rock.
mineral to being scratched. Diamond is the
hardest mineral and talc is a softest mineral Processes driven by heat from Earth’s interior
are responsible for forming both igneous and
• You can test hardness by rubbing a mineral metamorphic rocks.
against another mineral of known hardness. Weathering and the movement of weathered
One will scratch the other, unless they have the materials are external processes powered by
same hardness. Cleavage is the tendency of a energy from the sun and by gravity.
mineral to cleave, or break, along flat, even
surfaces. Processes on and near Earth’s surface produce
• Minerals may have cleavage in one or more sedimentary rocks. 3.2 Igneous Rocks Rocks that
directions. Minerals that do not show cleavage form when magma hardens beneath Earth’s
when broken are said to fracture. surface are called intrusive igneous rocks.

• Fracture is the uneven breakage of a mineral. • The root word of igneous means “fire.” When
Density is a property of all matter that is the lava hardens, the rocks that form are called
ratio of an object’s mass to its volume. Some extrusive igneous rocks. Texture and
minerals can be recognized by other distinctive composition are two characteristics used to
properties. classify igneous rocks.

The Rock Cycle A rock is any solid mass of • Texture is determined by the size, shape, and
mineral or mineral-like matter that occurs the arrangement of crystals.
naturally as part of our planet. The three major
types of rocks are igneous rocks, sedimentary • Composition is determined by the proportions
rocks, and metamorphic rocks. Interactions of light and dark minerals. Slow cooling results
among Earth’s water, air, and land can cause in the formation of large crystals. Rapid cooling
rocks to change from one type to another. The of magma or lava results in rocks with small,
continuous processes that cause rocks to interconnected mineral grains.
change make up the rock cycle. When magma
cools and hardens beneath the surface or as the • Porphyritic texture occurs in rocks with
result of a volcanic eruption, igneous rock different-size minerals that cool at different
forms. rates.
• Magma is molten material that forms deep • Granitic composition occurs when igneous
beneath Earth’s surface. rocks contain mostly quartz and feldspar.
• Lava is magma that reaches the surface. • Basaltic composition occurs when rocks
contain many dark silicate materials.
• Andesitic composition occurs in rocks with a
combination of granitic and basaltic rocks.
 • Ultramafic rocks are composed almost • This usually results in intense changes such as
entirely of dark silicate minerals. 3.3 mountain building. The agents of
Sedimentary Rocks Erosion involves weathering metamorphism are heat, pressure, and
and the removal of rock. When an agent of hydrothermal solutions.
erosion—water, wind, ice, or gravity—loses
energy, it drops the sediments. This process is • Hydrothermal solutions occur when hot,
called deposition. water-based solutions escape from a mass of
• Sediments form when solids settle out of a magma. The texture of metamorphic rocks can
fluid, such as water or air. be foliated or nonfoliated.
• Compaction and cementation change
sediments into sedimentary rock. Compaction is • Foliated metamorphic rocks have a layered or
a process that squeezes, or compacts, banded appearance.
sediments. Cementation takes place when
dissolved minerals are deposited in the tiny • Nonfoliated metamorphic rocks do not have a
spaces among the sediments. Just like igneous banded texture and usually contain only one
rocks, sedimentary rocks can be classified into mineral.
two main groups according to the way they
form. RESOURCES
• Clastic sedimentary rocks are made of
weathered bits of rocks and minerals. Earth’s Resources Summary
• The size of the sediments in clastic
sedimentary rocks determines their grouping. Energy and Mineral Resources
• Chemical sedimentary rocks form when A renewable resource can be replenished over
dissolved minerals separate from water fairly short time spans such as months, years, or
solutions. The many unique features of decades. By contrast,
sedimentary rocks are clues to how, when, and a nonrenewable resource takes millions of years
where the rocks formed. to form and accumulate.
• The oldest layers in sedimentary rock
formations are at the bottom. • Population growth and a higher standard of
• Fossils are found in sedimentary rocks and can living are depleting existing resources. Fossil
provide much information about the rocks that fuels include coal, oil, and natural gas.
contain them • A fossil fuel is any hydrocarbon used as a
source of energy. Some energy experts believe
Metamorphic Rocks Most metamorphic that fuels derived from tar sands and oil shales
changes occur at elevated temperatures and could become good substitutes for dwindling
pressures. These conditions are found a few petroleum supplies.
kilometers below Earth’s surface and extend • Mining tar sand has significant environmental
into the upper mantle. drawbacks.
• Oil shale has less heat energy than crude oil
• Metamorphism refers to the changes in and is costly to process. Some of the most
mineral composition and texture of a rock important mineral deposits form through
subjected to high temperature and pressure igneous processes and from hydrothermal
within Earth. During contact metamorphism, solutions.
hot magma moves into rock. • Ore is a useful metallic mineral that can be
• This usually results in minor changes in rocks. mined at a profit.
Regional metamorphism results in large-scale • Gold, silver, copper, mercury, lead, platinum,
deformation and highgrade metamorphism. and nickel are examples of metallic minerals
produced by igneous processes.
• Most hydrothermal deposits are formed by • Limited usable sites and the finite lifetime of
hot, metal-rich fluids left by magma. hydroelectric dams are both obstacles to
• Placer deposits are formed when eroded further expansion. Hot water is used directly for
heavy minerals settle quickly from moving heating and to turn turbines to generate electric
water. Nonmetallic mineral resources are power.
extracted and processed either for the • Geothermal energy is harnessed by tapping
nonmetallic elements they contain or for their natural underground reservoirs of steam and
physical and chemical properties. hot water.
• Geothermal power is nonpolluting but
• Nonmetallic mineral resources are useful for reservoirs are easily depleted. Tidal power is
building materials, industrial minerals, and harnessed by constructing a dam across the
manufacturing chemicals and fertilizers. 4.2 mouth of a bay or an estuary in coastal areas
Alternate Energy Sources Solar energy has two with a large tidal range. The strong inand-out
advantages: the “fuel” is free, and it’s flow that results drives turbines and electric
nonpolluting. In nuclear fission, the nuclei of generators. 4.3 Water, Air, and Land Resources
heavy atoms such as uranium-235 are Each day, people use fresh water for drinking,
bombarded with neutrons. The uranium nuclei cooking, bathing, and growing food.
then split into smaller nuclei and emit neutrons
and heat energy. • Less than one percent of Earth’s water is
usable fresh water.
• About 7% of U.S. energy needs are met by • Point source pollution is pollution that comes
nuclear power. from a known and specific location.

Earth’s Resources • Nonpoint source pollution is pollution that

does not have a specific point of origin.
• Although it was once believed that nuclear
power would be a safe and clean energy source, • Runoff is the water that flows over the land
cost and safety are obstacles to expanded rather than seeping into the ground. It often
nuclear power. carries nonpoint pollution.

• Fears about radioactive materials were • Water pollution can have serious health
realized in 1986, when a reactor at Chernobyl effects for humans. The chemical composition
caused two explosions. Some experts estimate of the atmosphere helps maintain life on Earth.
that in the next 50 to 60 years, wind power
could meet between 5 to 10 percent of the • Pollution can change the chemical
country’s demand for electricity. composition of the atmosphere and disrupt its
natural cycles and functions.
• Wind energy is a promising source of energy,
but technological advances are needed to fully • Global warming, caused by increased carbon
realize its potential. The water held in a dioxide in the atmosphere, is the unnatural
reservoir behind a dam is a form of stored warming of the lower atmosphere. Earth’s land
energy that can be released through the dam to provides soil and forests, as well as mineral and
produce electric power. energy resources.

• Hydroelectric power, which is generated by • Removing and using resources from Earth’s
falling water, drives turbines that produce crust can damage the environment. 4.4
electricity. Protecting Resources Starting in the 1970s, the
• About 5% of the country’s electricity comes federal government passed several laws to
from hydroelectric power.
prevent or decrease pollution and protect • Soil texture is the proportions of different
resources. particle sizes in soil. Texture strongly affects a
soil’s ability to support plant life.
• Although they comprise only 6% of the
world’s population, Americans use about one • Plant cultivation, erosion, and water solubility
third of the world’s resources. are all affected by soil structure. The most
important factors in soil formation are parent
• Conservation is the careful use of resources. material, time, climate, organisms, and slope.
In 1970, Congress passed the Clean Air Act, the
nation’s most important air pollution law. • Parent material is the source of the mineral
matter in soil.
• The Clean Air Act limited the amount of • Temperature and precipitation, or climate,
pollutants allowed in the air, resulting in has the greatest effect on soil formation.
improved air quality. Protecting land resources • In the nitrogen cycle, bacteria convert
involves preventing pollution and managing nitrogen gas into nitrogen compounds that
land resources wisely. plants can use. Soil varies in composition,
texture, structure, and color at different depths.
• Farmers are using new soil conservation
practices to prevent the loss of topsoil. • These variations divide the soil into zones
known as soil horizons.
• Some farmers and gardeners use fewer
pesticides and inorganic fertilizers. • A vertical section through all of the soil
horizons is called a soil profile.
• Compost is partly decomposed organic
material that is used as fertilizer. • Mature soils often have three distinct soil
horizons—the A horizon or topsoil, the B
• Better landfill management and disposal horizon or subsoil, and the C horizon, which
techniques prevent waste seepage. contains partially weathered parent material.
Three common types of soil are pedalfer,
• Recycling is the collecting and processing of pedocal, and laterite.
used items so they can be made into new
products. • Pedalfers usually form in temperate areas that
receive more than 63 cm of rain each year. They
Soil Soil is the part of the regolith that supports contain large amounts of iron oxide and
the growth of plants. aluminum-rich clay.
• Regolith is the layer of rocks and mineral
fragments that covers nearly all of Earth’s land • Pedocals are found in the drier western
surface. United States in areas that have grasses and
• Composition, texture, and structure are three brush vegetation. They contain abundant calcite
important characteristics of soil. and are a light gray-brown.

Soil has four major components: mineral • Laterites form in hot, wet tropical areas where
matter, or broken-down rock; organic matter, or chemical weathering is intense. These are rich
humus, which is the decayed remains of in iron oxide and aluminum oxide. Laterites
organisms; water; and air. contains almost no organic matter and few
nutrients. Human activities that remove natural
• The amount of these components in soil vegetation, such as farming, logging, and
varies depending on the type of soil. construction, have greatly accelerated soil
erosion.
• Soils are one of the most abused resources on The Work of Streams Streams generally erode
Earth. their channels lifting loose particles by abrasion,
grinding, and by dissolving soluble material.
• Water, wind, and other forces such as climate,
soil characteristics, and slope all affect the rate • Increased turbulence equals greater erosion.
of erosion. Streams transport sediment in three ways.
1. in solution (dissolved load)
• Erosion can be controlled through planting 2. in suspension (suspended load)
windbreaks, terracing hillsides, plowing in 3. scooting or rolling along the bottom (bed
contours, and rotating crops. load)

Running Water Water constantly moves among Running Water and Groundwater
the oceans, the atmosphere, the solid Earth,
and the biosphere. This unending circulation of • Bed load is the sediment that is carried by a
Earth’s water supply is the water cycle. stream along the bottom of its channel.
• The capacity of a stream is the maximum load
• Energy from the sun and gravity power the it can carry. Deposition occurs as streamflow
water cycle. drops below the critical settling velocity of a
• Infiltration is the movement of surface water certain particle size. The sediment in that
into rock or soil through cracks and pore spaces. category begins to settle out.
• The sorted material deposited by a stream is
• Plants also absorb water and release it into called alluvium.
the atmosphere through transpiration. Balance • A delta is an accumulation of sediment
in the water cycle means the average annual formed where a stream enters a lake or ocean.
precipitation over Earth equals the amount of • A natural levee is a ridge made up mostly of
water that evaporates. The ability of a stream to coarse sediments that parallels some streams. A
erode and transport materials depends largely narrow V-shaped valley shows that the stream’s
on its velocity. primary work has been downcutting toward
• Gradient is the slope or steepness of a stream base level.
channel.
• A stream channel is the course the water in a • A floodplain is the flat, low-lying portion of a
stream follows. stream valley subject to periodic flooding. It is
• The discharge of a stream is the volume of caused by the side-to-side cutting of a stream
water flowing past a certain point in a given unit close to base level. Most floods are caused by
of time. While gradient decreases between a rapid spring snow melt or storms that bring
stream’s headwaters and mouth, discharge heavy rains over a large region.
increases.
• A tributary is a stream that empties into • A flood occurs when the discharge of a
another stream. Base level is the lowest point to stream becomes so great that it exceeds the
which a stream can erode its channel. capacity of its channel and overflows its banks.
• There are two types of base level—ultimate Measures to control flooding include artificial
base level and temporary base level. Sea level is levees, flood control dams, and placing limits on
the ultimate base level. Temporary base levels floodplain development. A drainage basin is the
include lakes and main streams that act as base land area that contributes water to a stream.
level for their tributaries.
• A stream in a broad, flat-bottomed valley that • An imaginary line called a divide separates the
is near its base level often develops a course drainage basins of one stream from another.
with many bends called meanders.
Water Beneath the Surface Much of the water • Travertine is a type of limestone formed over
in soil seeps downward until it reaches the zone great spans of time from dripping water
of saturation. The zone of saturation is the area containing calcium carbonate. The resulting
where water fills all of the open spaces in cave deposits are known as dripstone. Karst
sediment and rock. Groundwater is the water areas typically have irregular terrain, with many
within this zone. depressions called sinkholes.

• The upper limit of the zone of saturation is the • Karst topography an area that has been
water table. Groundwater moves by twisting shaped largely by the dissolving power of
and turning through interconnected small groundwater, and has a land surface with
openings. The groundwater moves more slowly numerous depressions called sinkholes.
when the pore spaces are smaller.
• A sinkhole is a depression made in a region
• Porosity is the volume of open spaces in rock where groundwater has removed soluble rock.
or soil.
Glaciers, Deserts, and Wind Summary
• The permeability of a material is its ability to
release a fluid. Glaciers A valley glacier is a stream of ice that
flows between steep rock walls from a place
• Permeable rock layers or sediments that near the top of the mountain valley.
transmit groundwater freely are aquifers.
Aquifers are the source of well water. • An ice age is a period of time when much of
Earth’s land is covered in glaciers.
Running Water and Groundwater
• A glacier is a thick ice mass that moves slowly
A spring forms whenever the water table over the land surface. • The snowline is the
intersects the ground surface. lowest elevation in a particular area that
remains covered in snow all year.
• A spring is a flow of groundwater that
emerges naturally at the ground surface. • Valley glaciers are ice masses that slowly
advance down valleys that were originally
• A geyser is a hot spring in which a column of occupied by streams. Ice sheets are sometimes
water shoots up with great force at various called continental ice sheets because they cover
intervals. large regions where the climate is extremely
• A well is a hole bored into the zone of cold. They are huge compared to valley glaciers.
saturation.
• Ice sheets are enormous ice masses that flow
• In an artesian well, groundwater rises on its in all directions and cover everything but the
own under pressure. Overuse and highest land.
contamination threatens groundwater supplies
in some areas. • The Antarctic Ice Sheet holds nearly two-
thirds of Earth’s fresh water. The movement of
• Supplies of groundwater are finite. glaciers is referred to as flow. Glacial flow
Groundwater erosion forms most caverns at or happens two ways: plastic flow and basal slip.
below the water table in the zone of saturation.
• Plastic flow occurs when brittle ice begins to
• A cavern is a naturally formed underground distort and change shape.
chamber.
 • Gravity causes basal slip, where the ice mass 1. Management of Solid Waste:
slips and slides downhill. The glacial budget is
the balance or lack of balance between Solid wastes include solid portions of the
accumulation at the upper end of a glacier and discarded material such as glass bottles,
loss, or wastage, at the lower end. crockeries, plastic containers, metals and
radioactive wastes. The solid wastes may be
• When a glacier loses ice faster than it gains biodegradable or non-biodegradable. The
ice, it retreats. biodegradable solid wastes are agricultural
wastes, food wastes, paper, food processing by
• When a glacier gains ice faster than it loses products, manure, yard wastes etc. The non-
ice, it advances. Many landscapes were changed biodegradable wastes include plastics, metals,
by the widespread glaciers of the recent ice age. synthetic materials, polythene, radioactive
wastes etc.
• Glaciers erode the land by plucking and
abrasion. Glaciers are responsible for a variety The solid waste management involves disposal
of erosional landscape features, such as glacial of solid waste to land (or ocean) or recovering
troughs, hanging valleys, cirques, arêtes, and and reproducing useful substances from the
horns. waste through recycling.

• After glaciation, alpine valleys are no longer The entire methodology of solid waste
narrow. management is based on:
(A) Collection of Waste,
• As a glacier moves down a valley once
occupied by a stream, the glacier widens, (B) Disposal,
deepens, and straightens the valley. The once
narrow V-shaped valley is changed into a U- (C) Resource recovery.
shaped glacial trough.
(A) Collection of Waste:
• A glacier carves cirques, arêtes, and horns by The solid wastes are usually collected by a
plucking and removing rocks. covered truck.

The waste may be defined as material for which (B) Disposal of Waste:
no use or reuse is intended. The wastes After the collection of wastes, the wastes are
generated from the natural Processes and disposed of by any one of the methods
anthropogenic activities which pollute the described below
environment and make the earth an unhealthy
planet, is termed as environmental wastes, (i) Dumping:
depending upon the physical states of wastes, It is a process of controlled and final disposal of
these are of three types: waste at land fill sties which must be done using
(1) Solid waste, state of the art methods, {base sealing,
(2) Liquid waste treatment of percolated water, landfill gas
(3) Gaseous waste. disposal/utilisation etc.)
The accumulation of wastes in different forms
causes serious environmental hazards. So it’s
ADVERTISEMENTS:
high time for the present society to take
appropriate steps for the management of
(ii) Sanitary land fill:
waste, possibly through its recycling. The
It is a method of disposing of the waste without
management of waste is another way of
creating nuisances or hazards to public health
conservation of resources.
by using the principles of engineering. In the 2. Synthetic oil can be produced from plastic
process, the waste is confined to smallest wastes.
practical volume by covering it with a layer of
earth, at the conclusion of each day’s operation. 3. Waste papers and cardboards from sugar
cane bagasse can be used for the preparation of
(iii) Incineration: unbreakable dolls, packing cardboards etc.
It is a method of converting the volume of
waste to ashes by burning. This method is 4. Metals can be recycled from the industrial
adopted when the cost of land filling is very scrap.
high.
5. Ethyl alcohol can be produced from
(iv) Pyrolysis: agricultural wastes.
It is a method of burning waste in absence of
oxygen or air. The process reduces volume of 6. Heavy metals can be extracted by bioleaching
the waste and produces stable end products. technology.

(v) Composting: 7. Waste glasses can be used for the

This process involves preparation of refuse and preparation of new glass bottle.
degrading the organic matter in waste in to bio-
fertilizer by aerobic micro-organisms. After 8. Bricks and concretes can be prepared by
about 3 to 4 weeks of the operation, the using ash generated by power plants, slit from
composting product becomes ready for curing, water works and red mud from aluminum
blending with additives, bagging and marketing. industry.

(vi) Biogas technology: 2. Management of Liquid Wastes:

The organic matter present in solid waste is

decomposed by putrefactive bacteria in Liquid wastes are the liquid part of the waste
absence of air (anaerobic condition) to biogases material. Liquid waste includes effluents of
in a biogas digestor. The approximate industries, fertiliser and pesticide solutions from
composition of biogas is 60% methane (CH4) and agricultural fields, leachate from landfills, urban
40% C02 For better yield of biogas, the organic runoff of untreated waste water and garbage,
solid waste may be mixed with poultry waste, mining wastes etc. The liquid waste may contain
nontoxic inorganic substances or toxic organic
grass, leaves, straw, kitchen waste etc.
substances.
(C) Resource recovery (Recycling):
Some important liquid waste management
By the process of recycling a number of useful methods are described below:
products can be obtained from the solid wastes. 1. Sewage treatment:
The process of sewage treatment involves the
Some important products obtainable from following methodology:
solid wastes are described below: (a) Dilution:
In this method, the sewage is subjected to
1. Electricity can be generated from incinerated perfect dilution so that the dissolved oxygen in
natural water decomposes the organic wastes
plastics.
completely, thereby reducing the turbidity. The
reduction of turbidity favours easier
penetration of sun light and natural ecosystem The sewage may be treated with calcium oxide
is restored. to precipitate up to 90% of phosphates and
suspended particles. The precipitate separates
(b) Mechanical treatments: and settles at the bottom.
The sewage is allowed to pass through different
screens, filters, grit chambers, sedimentation (ii) Adsorption:
basins etc. At first the sewage is filtered to The effluent is treated with activated charcoal
remove suspended Particles. Then the sewage is which adsorbs colour, odour and dissolved
subjected to grinding followed by some organic compounds.
chemical treatment.
(iii) Osmosis:
By this operation, the minute solid Particles The dissolved organic and inorganic substances
present within the sewage get coagulated and can also be separated by the process of
settle at the bottom. The precipitates are osmosis.
separated either by filtration or by gravity
settling. The sediments obtained above are then (iv) Chemical oxidation:
put in sludge digester where it is digested in The effluent may be subjected to oxidation in
absence of air to release biogas. presence of ozone or hydrogen peroxide to
remove dissolved organic compounds.
(c) Biological treatments:
In this method, the sewage is passed through (v) Removal of ammonia:
trickling filters where aerobic bacteria degrade After the first operation, the waste water is
the sewages as it seeps through large vat beds introduced into a metal tower from which it
filled with crossed stones covered with bacterial trickles down over a series of plastic baffles
growth. Alternatively, the sewage is pumped plates and air is forced upwards which removes
into a large tank, mixed with bacteria rich ammonia gas.
sludge and agitated heavily in presence of
sufficient amount of oxygen for several hours 2. Removal of ammonia:
which causes bacterial degradation of organic The treatment of industrial effluents in ‘Effluent
waste. Treatment involves chemical or primary
treatment (by methods of neutralization,
The waste is then pumped into sedimentation sedimentation, coagulation, precipitation etc.)
tank where the suspended solids settle as followed by biological or secondary treatment
sludge. The entire solution is filtered to (by activated sludge and trickling filter method)
separate sludge and effluent. The sludge is and tertiary treatment (by methods of ion
taken in an anaerobic digester and broken exchange, reverse osmosis, chemical oxidation).
down. After suitable treatment, the sludge can
be used as fetiliser. The effluent may be 3. Effluent water can be used to grow algae and
chlorinated to kill the pathogenic microbes and aquatic plants to produce biomass for biogas
discharged in to water -bodies. plants.
4. The effluents containing heavy metals like
(d) Chemical treatments: cadmium, mercury, lead etc. can be purified by
The sewage obtained after mechanical or growing water hyacinth plants.
biological treatments is subjected to specific 5. The sewage with organic nutrients is stored
chemical treatment followed by some physical in specially constructed shallow ponds called as
operation: oxidising or stabilizing pond. In the pond, green
(i) Precipitation: algae and bacteria grow in presence of sun light,
consuming organic nutrients. This water
contains enough nitrogen, phosphorous and cleaning of air before their discharge into
potassium and is highly helpful for the growth atmosphere.
of plants.
(ix) Public awareness should be created
3. Management of Gaseous Wastes: regarding hazards of air pollutant accumulation
in environment.

The gaseous wastes are generated in to (x) Adequate legislation (Air act) should compel
environment mainly due to anthropogenic to control air pollution. Severe punishment
activities. The gaseous wastes include carbon should be specified for the defaulters
dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4),
chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), oxides of nitrogen
(NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of sulphur
(SOx) etc. These gaseous wastes can cause
serious environmental hazards. Therefore, it is
highly essential to take appropriate steps for
the proper management and control of gaseous
wastes in the environment.

Some important control measures are

described below:
(i) The gaseous pollutant like SO 2, H2S, HC1, Cl2,
NH3, ec. can be removed by absorption in (using
appropriate liquid) wet scrubbers.
(ii) The use of smokeless chulhas, solar cookers
and biogas can reduce the production of smoke.

(iii) The industries should use precipitators,

scrubbers and filters to check production of
particulate matter.

(iv) The emission of hydrocarbons from vehicles

can be checked by the use of unleaded petrol.
(v) There should be large scale of plantation
which will reduce CO2 level and increase O2level
of atmosphere.
(vi) There should be large chimneys in
industries.
(vii) The automobile emission can be controlled
by:
(a) Control of exhaust emission,
(b) Control of evaporation emission,
(c) Control of crank case emission,
(d) Using engine alternative to gasoline engine,
(e) Use of CNG instead of diesel.
(viii) Air cleaning devices like gravity settlers,
cyclone separators, wet collectors, electrostatic
precipitators etc. should be used for the