Earth Sciences 1023A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Gobstopper, Stromatolite, Apollo 14
16 Apr 2018
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Document Summary
Earth, only known planet to have all 3 states of water present on its surface. Only planet to have an outer rocky shell (lithosphere) that show clear evidence of relative movements (plate tectonics) Can be viewed as complex system of interconnected natural processes. Energy & matter are freely exchanged among these subsystems. Earth system itself is a closed system. Energy exchanged between system and its surroundings. Matter not exchanged (at least significantly) between system and its surroundings (outer space) Humans can go outer space, meteorites can come into the earth, etc. What goes on in the earth system stays in the earth system. Creation of the earth from the beginning: Universe originated from a singularity (infinitely small with infinite mass and infinite density) Big bang splattered radiation in all directions. Expansion and cooling;atomic particles formed through conversion of energy to mass. E = mc^2 (energy = mass x speed of light^2) Energy can produce matter, and vice versa.
