Lecture 1

Lecture Notes 1: Earth’s Internal
Structure
Dr. Jonathan Atuquaye Quaye
Department of Petroleum Engineering
College of Engineering
KNUST, Kumasi.
Email: [email protected]
Marks allocation
Assignments & Group Presentation - 10 %
Mid – Semester Examination - 20%
End of Semester Examination - 70 %
Total – 100 %
Course Outline
 Internal structure of the earth.
 Rocks and the rock cycle.
 Mineralogy.
 Plate tectonics, earthquakes, surface geomorphology. Origin and
Evolution of the Ocean Floor.
 Fossils, geological time scale, radiometric methods of age
determination
 Weathering, transport, and deposition of siliciclastic sediment.
 Sedimentary textures (Primary & Secondary Structures).
 Sedimentary environments.
Origin of Planet Earth
 The birth of our solar system began as dust
and gases (nebula) started to gravitationally
collapse.
 The nebula contracted into a rotating disk
that was heated by the conversion of
gravitational energy into thermal energy.
 Cooling of the nebular cloud caused rocky
and metallic material to condense into
tiny particles.
 Repeated collisions caused the dust-size
particles to gradually coalesce into asteroid-
size bodies.
Formation of the solar system according to the
 Within a few million years these bodies nebular theory.
accreted into the planets.
GEOLOGY
GEO - Earth
LOGOS - Discourse/Study
Geology - Study of earth
Geology: the study of the earth

GEOLOGY
 Geology is traditionally divided into two broad areas—physical and historical.
 Physical geology examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to

understand the many processes that operate beneath and upon its surface.
 Historical geology, on the other hand, is to understand the origin of Earth and its
development through time.
Geology
• The study of physical geology logically
precedes the study of Earth history because we
must first understand how the Earth works
before we attempt to unravel its past.
• It should also be pointed out that physical and

historical geology are divided into many areas
of specialization.
Large exposure of
igneous rock in
California’s Sierra
Nevada was once a
molten mass found
deep within Earth.
Geology
Geology
 A great deal of geology is based on
measurements, observations, and experiments
conducted in the field.
 Frequently, geology requires an understanding

and application of knowledge and principles
from physics, chemistry, and biology.
 Geology is a science that seeks to expand our

knowledge of the natural world and our place
in it.
History
 Catastrophism is a doctrine that states that the Earth’s
landscapes had been shaped primarily by great catastrophes.
 The idea of catastrophism was put forth by James Ussher, Anglican

Archbishop of Armagh in the mid 1600’s which strongly influenced
people’s thinking about the earth during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries.
 Features such as mountains and canyons, which today we know

take great periods of time to form, were explained as having been
produced by sudden and often worldwide events.
Catastrophism
Mountains were
created in a single
rapid event such as
a great earthquake
rather than by
imperceptibly slow
uplift and
erosion according
to Catastrophism.
The Birth of Modern Geology
 James Hutton, a Scottish gentleman in the 18th century

gave the concept of uniformitarianism.
 According to the Principle of Uniformitarianism; physical,

chemical and biological laws that operate today also
operated in the geologic past.
 Sometimes this whole idea is also known as “The present

is the key to the past.”
James Hutton (1726–
1797) a founder of
modern geology.
Uniformitarianism
The Grand
Canyon of the
Colorado River
in northern
Arizona. The
rocks exposed
here represent
hundreds of
millions of years
of Earth history.
It also took
millions of years
for weathering
and erosion to
create the
canyon.
Earth
 The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old
and is believed that it was formed by accretion
of small particles.
 The Earth has a layered structure. The center is a

dense, hot composed mainly of iron and nickel.
The Earth is made up of 3 parts;
1. The Crust(Continental/Oceanic) The parts of the earth

2. The Mantle
3. The Core(Outer/Inner)
Cross section of the earth

Earth’s Internal Structure
The Crust The thin rocky outer skin of the earth is of two different types:
 Oceanic crust : roughly 5 miles thick and composed of

the dark igneous rock basalt.
 Continental crust : roughly has an average thickness of
about 22 to 40 miles thick and is composed mainly of
light colored igneous called granite.
The Crust
THE MANTLE
 More than 82 percent of Earth’s volume is contained in
the mantle, a solid, rocky shell that extends to a depth of
nearly 2900 kilometers 1800 miles.
 The dominant rock type in the uppermost mantle is

peridotite, which is richer in the metals magnesium and
iron than the minerals found in either the continental or
oceanic crust.
THE MANTLE
The insert is drawn on an expanded scale to show near-surface layering of

the earth’s mantle.
THE CORE
 The Core : The composition of the core is thought to
be an iron-nickel alloy with minor amounts of
oxygen, silicon, and sulfur—elements that readily
form compounds with iron. The core is divided into
two regions that exhibit very different mechanical
strengths; the inner and outer core.
 The Outer Core : Made of molten iron and nickel

which is a liquid layer 2270 kilometers (1410 miles)
thick. It is the movement of metallic iron within this
zone that generates Earth’s magnetic field.
Earth’s inner and outer core
HOMEWORK
1. Name and briefly outline the theory that describes the formation
of our solar system.
2. Compare and contrast uniformitarianism and catastrophism. Give

an example of each type of geologic change.
3. What two gases comprise most of the Earth’s atmosphere?
4. How old is the Earth?
5. Give a concise definition of Geology.

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Lecture Notes 1: Earth’s Internal

Assignments & Group Presentation - 10 %

Mid – Semester Examination - 20%

End of Semester Examination - 70 %

Geology: the study of the earth

 Physical geology examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to

• It should also be pointed out that physical and

 Frequently, geology requires an understanding

 Geology is a science that seeks to expand our

 The idea of catastrophism was put forth by James Ussher, Anglican

 Features such as mountains and canyons, which today we know

 James Hutton, a Scottish gentleman in the 18th century

 According to the Principle of Uniformitarianism; physical,

 Sometimes this whole idea is also known as “The present

 The Earth has a layered structure. The center is a

1. The Crust(Continental/Oceanic) The parts of the earth

Cross section of the earth

 Oceanic crust : roughly 5 miles thick and composed of

 The dominant rock type in the uppermost mantle is

The insert is drawn on an expanded scale to show near-surface layering of

 The Outer Core : Made of molten iron and nickel

2. Compare and contrast uniformitarianism and catastrophism. Give

3. What two gases comprise most of the Earth’s atmosphere?

4. How old is the Earth?

5. Give a concise definition of Geology.

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