Esp Geology 1

Why study Earth?
The simple answer to this question is that Earth is our home — our only home for
the foreseeable future — and in order to ensure that it continues to be a great place
to live, we need to understand how it works. Another answer is that some of us can’t
help but study it because it’s fascinating. But there is more to it than that:
• We rely on Earth for valuable resources such as soil, water, metals, industrial
minerals, and energy, and we need to know how to find these resources and exploit
them sustainably.
• We can study rocks and the fossils they contain to understand the evolution of our
environment and the life within it.
• We can learn to minimize our risks from earthquakes, volcanoes, slope failures, and
damaging storms.
• We can learn how and why Earth’s climate has changed in the past, and use that
knowledge to understand both natural and human-caused climate change.
• We can recognize how our activities have altered the environment in many ways
and the climate in increasingly serious ways, and how to avoid more severe changes
in the future.
• We can use our knowledge of Earth to understand other planets in our solar
system, as well as those around distant stars.
An example of the importance of geological studies for minimizing risks to the public
is illustrated in Figure 1. This is a slope failure that took place in January 2005 in the
Riverside Drive area of North Vancouver. The steep bank beneath the house shown
gave way, and a slurry of mud and sand flowed down, destroying another house
below and killing one person. This event took place following a heavy rainfall, which
is a common occurrence in southwestern in the winter.
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Figure 1 the aftermath of a deadly debris flow in the riverside drive area of North Vancouver 2005
The irony of the 2005 slope failure is that the District of North Vancouver had been
warned in a geological report written in 1980 that this area was prone to slope
failure and that steps should be taken to minimize the risk to residents. Very little
was done in the intervening 25 years, and the results were deadly.
What do geologists do?
Geologists are involved in a range of widely varying occupations with one thing in
common: the privilege of studying this fascinating planet. In Canada, many
geologists work in the resource industries, including mineral exploration and mining
and energy exploration and extraction. Other major areas where geologists work
include hazard assessment and mitigation (e.g., assessment of risks from slope
failures, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions); water supply planning, development,
and management; waste management; and assessment of geological issues on
construction projects such as highways, tunnels, and bridges. Most geologists are
employed in the private sector, but many work for government-funded geological
organizations, such as the Geological Survey of Canada or one of the provincial
geological surveys. And of course, many geologists are involved in education at the
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secondary and the postsecondary levels. Some people are attracted to geology
because they like to be outdoors, and it is true that many geological opportunities
involve fieldwork in places that are as amazing to see as they are interesting to
study. But a lot of geological work is also done in offices or laboratories. Geological
work tends to be varied and challenging, and for these reasons and many others,
geologists are among those who are the most satisfied with their employment.
Fundamentals of Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics is the model or theory that has been used for the past 60 years to
understand Earth’s development and structure — more specifically the origins of
continents and oceans, of folded rocks and mountain ranges, of earthquakes and
volcanoes, and of continental drift.
Key to understanding plate tectonics is an understanding of Earth’s internal structure,
which is illustrated in Figure 2 Earth’s core consists mostly of iron. The outer core
is hot enough for the iron to be liquid. The inner core, although even hotter, is
under so much pressure that it is solid. The mantle is made up of iron and
magnesium silicate minerals. The bulk of the mantle, surrounding the outer core, is
solid rock, but is plastic enough to be able to flow slowly. Surrounding that part of
the mantle is a partially molten layer (the asthenosphere), and the outermost part
of the mantle is rigid. The crust — composed mostly of granite on the continents and
mostly of basalt beneath the oceans — is also rigid. The crust and outermost rigid
mantle together make up the lithosphere. The lithosphere is divided into about 20
tectonic plates that move in different directions on Earth’s surface. An important
property of Earth (and other planets) is that the temperature increases with depth,
from close to 0°C at the surface to about 7000°C at the centre of the core. In the
crust, the rate of temperature increase is about 30°C/km. This is known as the
geothermal gradient.
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Figure 2 the structure of Earth’s interior
Heat is continuously flowing outward from Earth’s interior, and the transfer of heat
from the core to the mantle causes convection in the mantle (Figure 3). This
convection is the primary driving force for the movement of tectonic plates. At places
where convection currents in the mantle are moving upward, new lithosphere forms
(at ocean ridges), and the plates move apart (diverge). Where two plates are
converging (and the convective flow is downward), one plate will be subducted
(pushed down) into the mantle beneath the other. Many of Earth’s major
earthquakes and volcanoes are associated with convergent boundaries.
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Figure 3 A model of convection within Earth’s mantle

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Why study Earth?

What do geologists do?

Fundamentals of Plate Tectonics

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