Earth Sciences 1022A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Geosphere, Pacific Plate, Mesosaurus
17 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Geology (study of earth) is important for energy and natural resources, solving environmental problems, building cities and highways, predicting and protecting against natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods. The present is the key to the past . Nebular theory about 5 billion years ago. Nebula (cloud) of the hydrogen and helium contracted under gravity into the flat disc of our solar system. Centripetal force, lighter stuff will migrate to the outside, and the heavy stuff went into the interior. Plate tectonics: crust and uppermost mantle formed rigid plates of Lithosphere (solid sphere): rigid made of uppermost mantle and the crust. Asthenosphere (liquid and hot soft sphere): which moves by convection. Alfred wegener (1920) continental drift: breakup of the supercontinent. Pangea: all the continents were connected (supercontinent) Fit of the continents; good at 900m (eg. south. Fossils match across the oceans (eg. mesosaurus only swam in swaps, not in oceans. But fossils found in south america and africa)
