Astronomy 2021A/B Lecture 4: week 4 notes

• School: Western University
• Department: Astronomy
• Course: Astronomy 2021A/B
• Professor: Alyssa Gilbert

Document Summary

Our cosmic address, scales of the universe. Tour of the solar system, and its formation. The history of earth, from rocks and fossils. Geology = the study of earth, but we mean study of processes and features that shape worlds. 3 things to focus on: volcanism helps create and sustain the atmosphere, plate tectonics how does this effect life on earth, relation to long term climate change, magnetic field. Contain info about when they were formed. Types of rock: igneous (molten rock that has been solidified) , metamorphic (goes through some sort of transformation that alters it appearance), sedimentary (rocks that have layers) Any type of rock is made from different minerals (crystals of certain elements0, like silicates or carbonates. Rock type tells us how it as made, teaches us the history of earth. Most fossils found in sedimentary rocks can figure out through layers the age of each layer and thus the age of the fossil in each layer.