Introduction to Earth Sciences

Lecture Series-1

Dr A S Maurya
Earth Sciences
IIT Roorkee
It has two major disciplines

Geology: Dr A S Maurya
Geophysics : Dr A Chamoli
 Introduction

THE SPECTACULAR ERUPTION OF A

VOLCANO, THE TERROR brought by an earthquake, the
magnificent scenery of a mountain valley, and the destruction
created
by a landslide all are subjects for the geologist.

The study of geology deals with many

fascinating and practical questions about our
physical environment. Will there soon be another
great earthquake in Bhuj, Assam or in Himalaya?
What was the Ice Age like? Will there be another?
Will oil be found if a well is drilled at this location?
Will Thar Dessert become lush green ? many
more…………..
 The Science of Geology
The subject of this text is geology, from
the Greek geo, “Earth,” and logos,
“discourse.” It is the science that
pursues an understanding of planet
Earth. Geology is traditionally divided
into two broad areas—physical and
historical. Physical geology examines
the materials composing Earth and
seeks to understand the many processes
that operate beneath and upon its
The aim of historical geology, on the other hand,
surface
is to understand the origin of Earth and its
development through time. Thus, it strives to
establish a chronological arrangement of the
multitude of physical and biological changes that
have occurred in the geologic past. The study of
physical geology logically precedes the study of
Earth history because we must first understand
how Earth works before we attempt to unravel its
past. It should also be pointed out that physical
and historical geology are divided into many areas
of specialization.
To assist you in learning the important concepts in this course, focus on the
following questions:

How does physical geology differ from historical geology?

What is the fundamental difference between uniformitarianism and catastrophism?

What is relative dating? What are some principles of relative dating?

How does a scientific hypothesis differ from a scientific theory?

What are Earth’s four major “spheres”?

Why can Earth be regarded as a system?

What is the rock cycle? Which geologic interrelationships are illustrated by the cycle?

How did Earth and the other planets in our solar system originate?

What criteria were used to establish Earth’s layered structure?

What are the major features of the continents and ocean basins?

What is the theory of plate tectonics?

How do the three types of plate boundaries differ?

Some Unique Aspects of Geology
Importance of Relationships
Sequential
Spatial
Importance of Time
Distinctive Problems of Evidence
Slow Rates
Rare Events
Destruction of Evidence
Inaccessibility
Rocks contain information about the processes that
produce them. This large exposure of Ladakh molases and
Glaciers of Zanskar Range and Wasatch Mountains, Utah
Geologists study the processes that create and modified
these features.
Geology, People, and the Environment
To understand Earth is challenging because our planet is a dynamic body
with many interacting parts……….. and a complex history. Throughout its
long existence, Earth has been changes are rapid and violent, as when
landslides or volcanic eruptions occur. Just as often, change takes place
so slowly that it goes unnoticed during a lifetime. Scales of size and space
also vary greatly among the phenomena that geologists study. Sometimes
they must focus on phenomena that are submicroscopic, and at other
times they must deal with features that are continental or global in scale.

Scale
Microscopic changes
Catastrophic
Continental or Global
Gradualism/ Uniformatrianism
changes
Each year an average American requires huge quantities of Earth
materials. Imagine receiving your annual share in a single delivery. A
large truck would pull up to your home and unload 12,965 lbs. of stone,
8945 lbs. of sand and gravel, 895 lbs. of cement, 395 lbs. of salt, 361 lbs.
of phosphate, and 974 lbs. of other nonmetals. In addition, there would
be 709 lbs. of metals, including iron, aluminum, and copper.
Uniformitarianism
Continuity of Cause and Effect
Apply Cause and Effect to Future - Prediction
Apply Cause and Effect to Present -
Technology
Apply Cause and Effect to Past -
Uniformitarianism
Historical Notes about Geology
Modern Geology
Against this backdrop of Aristotle’s views
and an Earth created in 4004 BC, a
Scottish physician and gentleman farmer
named James Hutton published Theory of
the Earth in 1795. In this work Hutton
put forth a fundamental principle that is
a pillar of geology today:
uniformitarianism. It states that the
physical, chemical, and biological laws
that operate today also operated in the
geologic past. In other words, the forces
and processes that we observe shaping
our planet today have been at work for a
very long time. Thus, to understand
ancient rocks, we must first understand
present-day processes and their results.
This idea is commonly stated as the
present is the key to the past.
 Geology Today

Today the basic tenets of uniformitarianism are just as viable as in

Hutton’s day. We realize more strongly than ever that the present
gives us insight into the past and that the physical, chemical, and
biological laws that govern geological processes remain unchanged
through time. However, we also understand that the doctrine should
not be taken too literally. To say that geological processes in the past
were the same as those occurring today is not to suggest that they
always had the same relative importance or operated at precisely the
same rate. Moreover, some important geologic processes are not
currently observable, but evidence that they occur is well established.
For example, we know that Earth has experienced impacts from large
meteorites even though we have no human witnesses. Such events
altered
Earth’s crust, modified its climate, and strongly influenced life on the
planet. The acceptance of uniformitarianism meant the acceptance of
a very long history for Earth. Although processes vary in their
intensity, they still take a very long time to create or destroy major
landscape features. For example, geologists have established that
mountains once existed in portions of present-day Peninsular India.
Today the region consists of low hills and plains like Vindhayan Basin.
Erosion (processes that wear land away) gradually destroyed these
Academic Refreshment………………..

Describe Aristotle’s influence on geology.

Contrast catastrophism and
uniformitarianism.
How did each view the age of Earth?
Time Concept
Age and Date of Birth
Age of the Earth
Mythological
Scientific

How long is 4.6 billion years? If

you were to begin counting at
the rate of one number per
second and continued 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week and never
stopped, it would take about two
lifetimes (150 years) to reach 4.6
billion!
 Geologic Time

Although Hutton and others recognized that geologic time is

exceedingly long, they had no methods to accurately determine the age
of Earth. However, in 1896 radioactivity was discovered. Using
radioactivity for dating was first attempted in 1905 and has been
refined ever since. Geologists are now able to assign fairly accurate
dates to events in Earth history.* For example, we know that the
dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago. Today the age of Earth is
put at about 4.6 billion years.
 The Magnitude of Geologic Time
Individual’s perception::::::::::
Lay Men’s View
People are accustomed to dealing with increments of time that are
measured in hours, days, weeks, and years. Our history books often
examine events over spans of centuries, but even a century is difficult
to appreciate fully. For most of us, someone or something that is 90
years old is very old, and a 1000-yearold artifact is ancient.

Geologist View
By contrast, those who study geology must routinely deal with vast time
periods—
millions or billions (thousands of millions) of years. When viewed in the
context of Earth’s 4.6-billion-year history, a geologic event that
occurred 100 million years ago may be characterized as “recent” by a
geologist, and a rock sample that has been dated at 10 million years
may be called “young.” An appreciation for the magnitude of geologic
time is important in the study of geology because many processes are
so gradual that vast spans of time are needed before significant
changes occur.
 Geologic Time Scale

Silent Features of GTS……………..

?
?
.
.
.
Relative Dating and the Geologic Time Scale

Relative
Dating
Absolute
Dating
 Law of Superposition
 Law horizontality
 Law of Fossil succession
The Nature of Scientific Inquiry

Objective/Need
Hypothesis
Theory
Data accusation
Interpretation

As individuals of a modern society, we are constantly towards the

benefits derived from science. But what exactly is the nature of scientific
inquiry? Developing an understanding of how science is done and how
scientists work is an important theme that appears throughout this course.
You will explore the difficulties in gathering data and some of the ingenious
methods that have been developed to overcome these difficulties.
You will also see many examples of how hypotheses are formulated
and tested, as well as learn about the evolution and development of some
major scientific theories. All science is based on the assumption that the
natural world behaves in a consistent and predictable manner that is
comprehensible through careful, systematic study.
The overall goal of science is to discover the underlying patterns in
nature and then to use this knowledge to make predictions about what
should or should not be expected, given certain facts or circumstances. For
example, by knowing how oil/coal/metals deposits form, geologists are able
to predict the most favorable sites for exploration and, perhaps as important,
to avoid regions having little or no potential.
The development of new scientific knowledge involves some basic
logical processes that are universally accepted. To determine what is
occurring in the natural world, scientists collect scientific “facts” through
observation and measurement. Because some error is inevitable, the
accuracy of a particular measurement or observation is always open to
question. Nevertheless, these data are essential to science and serve as the
springboard for the development of scientific theories
 Earth as a System
Our planet is a dynamic body with many
separate but interacting parts or spheres. The
hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and
geosphere and all of their components can be
studied separately. However, the parts are not
isolated. Each is related in some way to the
others to produce a complex and continuously
interacting whole that we call the Earth
system.

a system can be any size

group of interacting parts
that form a complex whole.

Figures showing interactions of Earth’s spheres

System
Close system
Open system

FEEDBACK MECHANISMS: Most

natural
systems have mechanisms that tend
to enhance change, as well as other
mechanisms that tend to resist
change and thus stabilize the system.
For example, when we get too hot,
we perspire to cool down. This
cooling phenomenon works to
stabilize our body temperature and is
referred to as a
negative feedback mechanism.
Negative
feedback mechanisms work to
maintain the system as it is or, in
other words, to maintain the status
quo. By contrast, mechanisms that
Earth System Science
 Our solar system and Position of Earth

(a) The relative sizes of the planets of our Solar System. Pluto no longer qualifies as a planet, as of
2006, so it does not
appear here. (b) A diagram of the Solar System indicates that all of the classical planets have orbits
that lie in the same plane. A belt of asteroids, rocky and metallic planetesimals that never coalesced
into a planet, lies between Mars and Jupiter. The Kuiper Belt of icy objects(not shown) lies outside the
orbit of Neptune. Pluto, a planet until its reclassification in 2006, has an orbit that lies oblique to the
plane of the Solar System. Pluto is probably a Kuiper Belt object whose orbit has been changed in
response to the gravitational pull of the planets.
The Earth System
The Earth system has a nearly CYCLES IN THE EARTH SYSTEM
endless array of subsystems in which # Hydrological Cycle
matter is recycled over and over # Rock Cycle
again. One example that you will
learn about in previous slide traces
the movements of carbon among
Earth’s four spheres. It shows us, for INTERFACE
example, that the carbon dioxide in
the air and the carbon in living
things and in certain sedimentary
rocks are all part of a subsystem
described by the carbon cycle.
*Is Earth Realy Rotating around an axis?
EARTH SYSTEM: Driving Force
* 1. Internal
2. External
Earth’s Sphere

Geosphere
Hydrosphere
Atmosphere
Biosphere

A. View, called “Earthrise,” that greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as their spacecraft
emerged from behind the Moon. (NASA Headquarters) B. Africa and Arabia are
prominent in this classic image, called “The Blue Marble” taken from Apollo 17. The
tan cloud-free zones over the land coincide with major desert regions. The band of
clouds across central Africa is associated with a much wetter climate that in places
sustains tropical rain forests. The dark blue of the oceans and the swirling cloud
patterns remind us of the importance of the oceans and the atmosphere. Antarctica, a
continent covered by glacial ice, is visible at the South Pole. (NASA
The Earth Systems

External Effects (Astronomical)

Atmospheric Circulation
Oceanic Circulation
Hydrologic Cycle
Rock Cycle
Plate Tectonics
The Solid Earth
Earth and the Universe
(external effects)
Earths’ Rotation (Day-Night)
Lunar Effects (Tides)
Annual Variation (Seasons)
Precession and Orbit Variations (Ice
Ages?)
Galactic Rotation (250 m.y. period)
Unpredictable Events
Nearby Supernovae
Meteor Impacts
Long-Term Evolution of Sun
Geosphe
re
 Hydrosphere

Distribution of Earth’s water. The oceans clearly dominate. When we consider only the
non ocean component, ice sheets and glaciers represent nearly 85 percent of Earth’s
fresh water. Groundwater accounts for just over 14 percent. When only liquid freshwater
is considered, the significance of groundwater is obvious. (Glacier photo by Bernhard
Edmaier/Photo Researchers, Inc.; stream photo by E. J. Tarbuck; and groundwater photo
by Michael Collier)
The Hydrologic Cycle
 Atmospheric Mixture & Charge

Additional layers
include:

a) the homosphere
with 78% nitrogen
and 21% oxygen

b) the poorly mixed

heterosphere

c) the electrically
charged ionosphere