Download Lecture 1 - Big Bang to Solar System

Dr. Neil S. Suits
[email protected]
WF: 9:20-1130; 896-5931
Our spheres of study:
Lithosphere
lots
Hydrosphere
some
Pedosphere
little
Atmosphere
some
Biosphere
little
Noösphere
no
Credit where credit is due:
I’ve gotten most of this material from web
sources and textbooks resources, and from
other Earth Science courses available on
the Web. I will give the web addresses and
proper credit as the course moves along.
What is Physical Geology?
Erosion
Soils
Weathering
Fossils
Wind
Water Oceans
Glaciers
Underground Surface
Sedimentary
Earth History
Rocks
Volcanoes
Metamorphic
Earth’s Interior
Igneous
Plate Tectonics
Earthquakes
Mountains
Mineral Resources
Other Planets
Intrusions
But first…
If these rocks could
talk, what would they
tell us?
~14.9 GA
(GigaAnnum, i.e,
Billion Years)
today
~ 300,000 years after the Big Bang
The first map of the Universe. Not homogeneous.
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. First
detected by the COBE DMR instrument.
Typical spiral galaxy. Similar to ‘our’ Milk Way Galaxy’
http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/NebandStar.htm
Star Birth and Formation
Magnetic fields around a sunspot
SUN
Hydrogen (74%),
some helium (24%)
Rocky inner
planets
Silicates
with
Iron/Nickel
cores
The giant Gas planets of the outer solar system
Hydrogen, Helium, methane, water,
ammonia
Our moon: Luna
Current hypothesis: Luna was formed as a
result of an impact by a Mars-sized object in
the early stages of Solar System formation.
Lunar impact craters
Crater Tycho
Close up of Tycho
The lunar interior: crust, mantle core
Mostly rock, very small iron core; cooled and tectonically inactive
Mars
Craters on Mars
The Martian ice cap
Frozen water?
View of the surface of Mars from the Martian lander
Wind-formed dunes on Mars
Atmosphere: 0.7% of the Earth’s atmospheric pressure; 95% Carbon
Dioxide (CO2), 3% Nitrogen (N2); 1.7% Argon, 0.1% Oxygen (O2)
Olympus Mons
~ 625 km (324 miles) diameter
Scarp Height ~
6 km (4 miles)
The largest mountain in the Solar System
Why is it so big?
Olympus Mons on an overcast day
Evidence for water on mars