Download Geo rev 1 (intro)

Climate Change
and CO2
Sequestration
Fundamentals of
Geology
Importance of Geology to
Climate & CCS
 Earth’s climate record is stored in rocks
 Subsurface sequestration sites require geologic
knowledge:
 Reservoir
 Seal
 Trap geometry
 Reaction of CO2-rich solutions with minerals may impact
long-term carbon storage
What is geology?
 The study of the planet Earth –– the materials of
which it is made, the processes [series of actions
that produce change] that act on these materials, the
products formed, and the history of the planet and
its life forms since its origin (AGI Glossary of
Geology).
Scientific method
 Every physical event has a physical explanation
 Hypotheses (tentative explanations) are proposed
 Theories are hypotheses that are confirmed by others
and widely accepted
 No explanation is immune to question
Principle of uniformitarianism
 Geologic processes in operation today have worked
in much the same way over geologic time.
 The present is the key to the past
Origin of the Earth
 Nebular hypothesis: Solar system originated from a
rotating cloud of gases and dust. (Immanuel Kant,
1755)
Nebular Hypothesis
• Contraction of rotating cloud
• Most matter concentrated at center
• Accretion of planets
Origin of the Earth
 Differentiation: Heat of impacts and radioactive decay
causes melting and differentiation of Earth
Plate tectonics
 The Earth science revolution of the 1960s
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)
 German meteorologist and geophysicist
 Proposed continental drift hypothesis in 1915
Alfred Wegener (1880-1930)

Hypothesized that continent arranged in
super continent 200 my ago
Plate tectonics
 The Earth science revolution of the 1960s
 Crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere
 Driving force for plate motion
Plate tectonics
 The Earth science revolution of the 1960s
 Crust, lithosphere, asthenosphere
 Driving force for plate motion
 Plate margins (where all the action is)
Divergent Margin
Divergent Margin
Divergent Margin,
Iceland
Divergent and Convergent Margins
Convergent Margin
Convergent Margin
Convergent Margin
Continental Collision
Continental Collision
Transform Margin
Transform Margins
Transform Margins
Transform Margins
Continental drift
Continental configurations for past 750 my