EESA06H3 Lecture 1: Scope of Course
EESA06
LECTURE 1
LECTURE NOTES
● Focus on how our planet works and how it’s changed through earth history
● Processes that occur on the surface of planet, affects everybody
Why do EESA06?
● knowing how the earth “works” is significant to managing environmental challenges
○ Urban sprawl and impact of supercities
○ managing/protecting water resources, natural ecosystems
○ Managing wastes
○ Remediation of polluted/contaminated sites in cities
○ Public safety from threat of natural hazards
○ Mitigation of climate warming effects
Reassembling Past Continents
● Stratigraphy
○ Study of layers (rock)
○ Creating order of events in earth’s history
●Paradigm
: Revolution in thinking
○ Ex: in science, DNA and radiography were a paradigm
* see figure 2.2 in textbook
● Supercontinents and supercontinent cycles
● Earth’s surface is always moving
○ Nowhere that’s stable on earth’s surface
○ It can be on the move horizontally or vertically
○ North America is moving about 3.7cm a year towards southwest
■ Small changes over long periods of time result in massive alteration of the earth’s surface
● Oceans are widening→ pushes continents apart
● Supercontinent
○ “Pangea” → all the land
○ Most well-known
○ 250 million years ago, all continents were clustered together
● Modern situation
EESA06
LECTURE 1
○ Some oceans are on verge of closing
○ We’re going to see the reversal of what’s happened over course of time
■ Continents come together again
■ Supercontinent cycle
● outcrops :
when you can actually see the rocks out in the field
○ What do those rocks say about the history of the earth
● Core → when you can just see sediments of what’s left over
○ Industrial sites
○ Fine copper
●Vector
→ shows rate and direction of movement of an object
● Rate of movement measured by high resolution GPS
○ Moved by about the thickness of about piece of paper everyday (moving West)
● This part of the world is “rising” (Toronto)
○ We’re uplifting because NA was sat on by very large ice sheet
■ A lot of weight → depresses the land
■ Then as ice sheet melts, the crust slowly rises again and we’re still in that phase
● Post-glacial Rebound
● Rocks behave as elastic material
● Centre of the next continent
○ Predict the location of it with certainty from this diagram
○ Southeast Asia (China)
Document Summary
Focus on how our planet works and how it"s changed through earth history. Processes that occur on the surface of planet, affects everybody. Why do eesa06? knowing how the earth works is significant to managing environmental challenges. Creating order of events in earth"s history. Ex: in science, dna and radiography were a paradigm. North america is moving about 3. 7cm a year towards southwest. It can be on the move horizontally or vertically. Small changes over long periods of time result in massive alteration of the earth"s surface. 250 million years ago, all continents were clustered together. We"re going to see the reversal of what"s happened over course of time. Supercontinent cycle outcrops : when you can actually see the rocks out in the field. What do those rocks say about the history of the earth. Core when you can just see sediments of what"s left over. Vector shows rate and direction of movement of an object.
