GEL 20 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Plate Tectonics, Metamorphic Rock, Space Debris
Document Summary
Rock cycle : igneous (form from cooling off of rock), sedimentary and metamorphic rocks (form from heat and pressure of preexisting rocks) Plate tectonic cycle : how the inside of the earth works. Biosphere, rock and water : biosphere becomes rock after animals die. Rocks, tectonic cycle, and water: dead organisms get sucked into the earth, and generates magma which erupts into volcanoes. These chunks started to stick together because matter is attracted to matter. Solar nebula : swirling cloud of space debris. Planetary accretion : pieces of debris gradually smashed together and stuck. Planetary differentiation : the melted earth ball separated into density layers. Lots of radioactive elements made during the supernova. Mantle : most of the earth- oxygen and silicon w/ magnesium/iron. Mineral : a naturally occurring , inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and an orderly arrangement of atoms . Polymorphs : minerals with the same chemical composition but different atomic arrangement.
