Chapter 1 Exploring Geology
Chapter 1 Exploring Geology
Chapter 1 Exploring Geology
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CHAPTER
GEOLOGY HAS MANY EXPRESSIONS in our world. Geologic processes reshape Earths interior and sculpt
its surface. They determine the distribution of metals and petroleum and control which places are most
susceptible to natural disasters, such as volcanoes and floods. Geology impacts climate and the availability
of water, factors that are critical to ecosystems. In this book, we explore geology, the science of Earth, and
examine why an understanding of geology is important in our modern world.
North America and the surrounding ocean floor have a wealth of interesting features. The large image below (!) is a computer-generated
image that combines different types of data to show features on the land and on the bottom of the ocean. The shading and colors on land
are from elevation data and space-based satellite images, whereas colors and shading on the seafloor record depths below the surface of the
sea. Can you find the region where you live? What is there?
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Slip along
faults in Earths
crust causes earthquakes, which can
destroy poorly constructed
buildings and kill thousands of
people. Such movement can offset
the land surface, and in this case, raise
the mountains relative to the valley.
The types of soils that form on Earths surface depend
on the local rock types, the steepness of slope, the
climate, and other factors. Soils near rivers commonly
are fertile and capable of growing important crops.
Other soils are dangerous to build on because the
soil expands when wet, cracking foundations and
making structures unsafe.
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Great Plains
Columbia
Plateau
MONTANA
ck
Ro
y
M
ns
ai
nt
ou
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IDAHO
ke
na
e
Riv
rP
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lai
Yellowstone
National
Park
WYOMING
Dinosaur National
Park
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What Is the Evidence That Life in the Past Was Different from Life Today?
Museums and action movies contain scenes, like the one below, of dinosaurs lumbering or scampering across a
land covered by exotic plants. Where does the evidence for these strange creatures come from?
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! This mural shows what types of life were on our planet during the Jurassic Period, approximately
160 million years ago. It was a world dominated by dinosaurs and non-flowering plants.
How Has the Global Climate Changed Since the Ice Ages?
These computer-generated images show where glaciers and large ice sheets were during the last ice age and
where they are today. Note how the extent of these features changed in this relatively short period of time.
What caused this change, and what might happen in the future because of global warming?
Today
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Continental Crust
Mantle
le
Co
km
re
~5
15
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Ou
te
r
The mantle extends from the base of the crust to 2,900 kilometers
(1,800 miles). Much of the upper mantle is composed of
the green mineral olivine, like the center of this rock
(") brought up to the
The lower mantle has a similar composition, but it contains
surface in a volcano.
minerals formed at very high pressures. Nearly all of the
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mantle is solid, not molten. High temperatures allow much
of the mantle to slowly flow as a weak solid and cause
some parts to be partially molten.
~2
90
Lo
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we
rM
an
t
pe
rM
an
tl
Up
Oceanic Crust
km
Inner
Core
6370 km
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Lithosphere
In addition to layers with different compositions, Earth has layers that are defined by strength and how easily the
material in the layers fractures or flows when subjected to forces.
Continental Crust
Upper Mantle Part
of Lithosphere
Oceanic
Crust
Asthenosphere
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Continental Crust
Oceanic Crust
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Isostasy
Upper Mantle
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EARTH IS SUBJECT TO VARIOUS FORCES. Some forces are generated within Earth, and others are imposed
by Earths celestial neighbors. What happens on Earth is a consequence of these forces and how these forces
interact with Earths materials its land, water, air, and inhabitants.
The weight of the air in the atmosphere
presses down on Earths surface and on its
inhabitants. Atmospheric pressure is greater
at sea level than at the top of mountains
because there is more air above (!).
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Heat
Magma
Heat
Ra
dio
a
eD
Fo
ec
ay
rce
Force
cti
v
Force
Fo
rce
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Smaller
Force
Larger
Force
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th
ar
ra
ty
vi
n
oo
h
art
E
n
Su
ity
av
r
G
tic
ne
g
a
m
tro
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e
El
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E
Electromagnetic energy,
including light and cosmic
rays, radiate from the Sun to
Earth. The Moon produces
no light on its own, but the
side facing the Sun can
reflect sunlight toward Earth.
Wind
rr
en
Gravity
Cu
11
Ocean currents move water across the oceans and from one
depth to another. Ocean currents also redistribute heat through
the movement of warm currents and cold currents.
The mass of Earth causes a downward pull of gravity, which
attracts objects toward the center of Earth. Earths gravity is the
force that makes water, ice, and rocks move downhill.
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River channels
contain sand and
cobbles, whereas
low areas beside
the channel accumulate silt and
mud.
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Most
lakes have
a muddy
bottom with
sand around
the lake shore.
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and later hardened into rock. Most sedimentary rocks form from pieces of sediment in this way, but some, such as reef
rocks, are produced by coral and other
organisms that extract material directly
from water.
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T H E N AT U R E O F G E O L O G Y
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! Explosive volcanoes
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Magma
ce
For
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Heating
of Rocks
Magma that does
not erupt may cool
and solidify in a magma
chamber to form new rocks
at depth. Heat from the
magma chamber also can bake adjacent rocks, which
changes them into a different kind of rock. In this photograph (!), magma solidified to form the lighter colored
rock and baked the darker rocks. [Inyo Mtns, California]
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rce
Fo
Deep within
Earth where temperature is high, forces
can squeeze and deform rocks
into new arrangements and into new
types of rocks. Under such force, solid rocks
can slowly flow, shear, and be folded. Changing a rock by heat, pressure, or deformation
is called metamorphism.
Families of Rocks
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1. Weathering
Rock pieces that have been loosened or dissolved by weathering can be stripped away
by erosion, where sediment is removed
from its source. The materials can be
transported by gravity, glaciers,
Transport
flowing water, or the wind.
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8. Uplift
lift
Up
6. Melting
A rock exposed to high
temperatures may melt and
become molten magma.
Such melting usually occurs
at depth in the lower crust
or mantle.
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7. Solidification
As magma cools, either at depth or after being erupted onto the
surface, it begins to crystallize and harden back into solid rock, a
process called solidification. This rock (!) with large, well-formed
crystals formed from magma that solidified at depth. The rock
was later uplifted to the surface. [Capetown, South Africa]
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3. Deposition
After transport, the sediment is laid down, or deposited.
Deposition can occur when the sediment reaches the sea or
at any point along the way, such as beside the river. The
river gravels below are at rest for now but could be picked
up and moved by the next large flood. [Tibet]
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Bu
ria
if
pl
5. Deformation and
Metamorphism
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at least a short distance before being deposited. Under the right conditions, the rock
fragments will be buried beneath other
sediments or perhaps beneath volcanic
rocks that are erupted onto the surface.
Many times, however, sediments are not
buried, but only weathered, eroded, transported, and deposited again. As an example
of this circumstance, imagine a rounded
stone in a river. When the river currents are
strong enough, the rock is picked up and
carried downstream, where it might be
deposited beside the channel and remain
for years, centuries, or even millions of
years. At a later time, a flood that is larger
than the last one may pick up the rock
again and transport it farther downstream.
If the rock does get buried, it has two
possible paths. It can be buried to some
depth and then be uplifted back to the
surface to be weathered, eroded, and
transported again, or the rock may be
buried so deeply that it is metamorphosed
under high temperatures and pressures.
The metamorphic rock then may be
uplifted toward the surface.
If the rock, however, remains at depth
and is heated to even higher temperatures,
it can melt. The magma that forms may
remain at depth or may be erupted onto
the surface. In either case, the magma
eventually will cool and solidify into an
igneous rock. Igneous rocks formed at
depth may be uplifted to the surface or
they may remain at depth, where the rocks
can be metamorphosed or even remelted.
A key point to remember is that the rock
cycle illustrates the possible things that can
happen to a rock. Most rocks do not complete the cycle because of the many paths,
interruptions, and shortcuts a rock can
take. The path a rock takes through the
cycle depends on the geologic events that
happen and the order in which they occur.
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Precipitation
River
rr
en
r Flo
Cu
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ce
an
Grou
ndw
ate
ts
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Precipitation
Ultraviolet
Energy
Infrared Energy
Some of the light that strikes Earth is converted to infrared energy. Some of
this energy radiates upward and
is trapped by the atmosphere, causing it to
warm. This process regulates temperatures on
the planet. The moderate
temperatures on Earth allow
water to exist as liquid water,
gaseous water vapor, and solid ice.
Wind
Evaporation
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1. The Sun is the center of our solar system. It is by far the largest object in our solar system, but it is only a medium-sized
star compared with other suns in other solar systems in our galaxy. The Suns gravity is strong enough to keep all the planets
orbiting around it. On Earth, a year is defined as the time it takes Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun.
2. The Sun creates light, heat, and other types of energy by fusing together hydrogen atoms
in a process called nuclear fusion. This process is different than the process of nuclear fission,
which causes atoms to break apart and is how Earth generates much of its internal heat. The
Sun is the only object in our solar system that generates its own light all the planets and
moons, including our own, are bright because they reflect the Suns light.
Venus
SUN
Mars
Earth
Mercury
Moon
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Jupiter
Pluto
Uranus
Saturn
Neptune
4. Farthest from the Sun, Pluto is a small, icy
object whose status as a planet is currently
being debated. An international group of
astronomers has proposed to demote Pluto
to a dwarf planet status, leaving our Solar
System with eight true planets. Its size is
greatly exaggerated here compared
with the rest of the planets.
5. Asteroids are rocky fragments left over from the formation of the solar system. They are concentrated in an
orbit between those of Mars and Jupiter and have a composition that is similar to certain meteorites.
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The sizes of
the planets are
greatly exaggerated here relative to the size
of the Sun.
Observe that all of the planet orbits, including Earths orbit, are almost circular. In other
words, Earth is at about the same distance
from the Sun during all times of the year.
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1.9
APPLICATION
! As seen in this shaded relief map, the Black Hills are an isolated
mountainous area that rises above the surrounding Great Plains. The
region has moderately high elevation, more than 1,000 m (3,000 ft)
above sea level, because the continental crust beneath the area is thick
(about 45 km, or 28 mi).
Famous gold deposits of the Homestake Mine formed at submarine hot
springs nearly 1.8 billion years ago. The rocks were then buried deep
within the crust, where they were heated, strongly deformed, and metamorphosed. Much later, uplift of the Black Hills brought the rocks closer
to the surface.
Rapid City is on the eastern flank of the Black Hills. To the south, Badlands National Park, known for its intricately eroded landscapes, is
carved into soft sedimentary rocks. The region around Rapid City is also
famous for its caves.
The presidents faces at Mt. Rushmore (") were chiseled into a granite that solidified in a magma chamber 1.7 billion years ago. The
granite and surrounding
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metamorphic rocks were
uplifted to the surface
when the Black Hills
formed 60 million years
ago.
" This figure shows the geometry of rock units beneath the surface in
the Black Hills. The Black Hills rose when horizontal forces squeezed
the region and warped the rock layers upward. As the mountains were
uplifted, weathering and erosion stripped off the upper layers of rock
exposing an underlying core of ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks
(shown here in brown). Rapid City is on the boundary between the hard,
ancient bedrock of the mountains (shown in brown)
and sedimentary rocks
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of the plains, (shown
in purples, blues, and
greens).
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Rapid
City
Rapid
City
Ra
d
pi
ek
re
C
d
ee
Cr
pi
Ra
k
ree
C
pid
Ra
N
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1.10
INVESTIGATION
Begin by reading the procedures list on the next page. Then examine the figure and read
the descriptions flanking the figure.
Reservoir
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Procedures
Use the figure and descriptions to complete the following steps. Record your answers in the worksheet.
1. Using the image below explore this landscape. Make observations about the land and the geologic processes implied in the
landscape. Next, mark on the provided worksheet at least one location where the following geologic processes would likely
occur: weathering, erosion, transport of sediment, deposition, formation of igneous rock, flooding, and landsliding.
2. Using your observations and interpretations, list on the worksheet all the ways that geology might influence the lives of the people
who live here. Think about each landscape feature and each geologic process, and then decide whether it has an important
influence on the people.
3. Using all your information, select a location away from geologic hazards that would be a relatively safe place to live. Mark this
location on your worksheet with the word Here.
5. Several of these dark lumpy hills are volcanoes that have erupted in the recent geologic past (last million years). When the volcanoes erupted,
they poured molten rock (lava) onto the surface and launched hot volcanic projectiles into the air.
6. The Hurricane Cliffs mark the location of the Hurricane fault, a huge
crack through the crust. Movement along this fault uplifted rocks on the
east side, forming the cliffs. The fault has been active recently, causing
a few small and moderate-sized earthquakes.
Volcano
Oil
Fiel
Fr
ee
ay
Riv
er
Farms
City of St.
George
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