GMOA Notes

These are notes that cover Geology, Meteorology, Oceanography, and Astronomy.

Introduction
Earth's four spheres

Hydrosphere - dynamic mass of liquid that is always on the move
 * Oceans - the most prominent feature of the hydrosphere
 * 71% of Earth's surface is covered by ocean which is 97% of Earth's water
 * Only 3% is fresh water - streams, lakes, glaciers and underground supplies
 * Water Cycle - constantly recycles water

Atmosphere
 * Provides us with the air we breath
 * Protects us from the sun's intense heat and radiation
 * Protects us from space

Biosphere
 * Includes all life on Earth
 * Interacts and influences the other 3 spheres

Lithosphere
 * Earth's rigid outer layer called the crust and the upper mantle called the asthenosphere
 * Solid earth consists of 4 layers:
 * core
 * inner, solid core
 * outer, liquid core
 * mantle
 * lithosphere
 * Divisions of Earth's surface
 * continents
 * ocean basins

Sciences

Sciences involved in better understanding the earth integrate chemistry, physics, and biology into the following sciences:

Meteorology - the study of:
 * the atmosphere
 * weather and climate

Geology - the study of the Earth, and is broken into
 * Physical geology
 * minerals
 * rocks
 * Earth processes - mountain building, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.
 * Historical geology - Earth's origin and it's past
 * physical
 * biological

Oceanography - study of the Oceans
 * Composition and movement of seawater
 * Seafloor topography and sea life

Astronomy - the study of the universe
 * Earth is a tiny object in a vast universe
 * to understand Earth helps us to understand other planets and vice versa

Resources and Environmental Issues

Environment
 * Physical environment (abiotic)
 * water
 * air
 * soil
 * rock
 * Biological - living environment (biotic)

Resources
 * Important environmental concern
 * Include:
 * water
 * soil
 * minerals
 * energy
 * Two broad categories of resources
 * Renewable resources
 * can be replenished
 * Examples: plant (lumber) and wind energy
 * Nonrenewable Resources
 * Fixed quantities
 * Examples: fuels and metals

Environmental Problems
 * Local, regional, and global
 * Human-induced and accentuated
 * Urban air pollution
 * Acid rain
 * Ozone depletion
 * Global Warming
 * Natural Hazards
 * Earthquakes
 * Landslides
 * Floods
 * Huricanes
 * World population pressures - in 30 years population increased from 4 to 7 billion
 * US makes up 6% of that but uses 30% of the annual mineral and energy resources
 * Alternate energy sources needed

Scientific Inquiry

Scientific Inquiry - scientific knowledge is gained through the following systematic steps called the scientific method, (PI-HE-RAC)

Gather facts through observation then ask why?
 * Problem - state the problem
 * Information about the problem
 * Hypothesis (untested best guess as to why)
 * Experimentation
 * Record and Analyze results
 * Conclusion - accept or reject hypothesis

Goal of science is to discover patterns in nature and use knowledge to predict what will happen under certain circumstances
 * Theory - tested and confirmed
 * Law - no known deviations have ever been found

Minerals
A mineral is a naturally occurring crystalline solid with a definite but not fixed chemical composition and ordered atmomic arrangement.

Chemistry and Mineral Terms

Chemistry Terms:


 * Chemical Property - characteristics of a material, which depends upon how the material reacts with other materials


 * Periodic Table - list of all known elements


 * Element - matter made up of atoms that are essentially all the same and cannot be subdivided by ordinary chemical methods


 * Atom - smallest part of an element


 * Nucleus - central part of an atom made up of protons and neutrons


 * Protons - subatomic particles with a positive charge


 * Electrons - subatomic particles with a negative charge


 * Neutrons - subatomic particles with a charge of 0


 * Atomic number - the number of protons in an atom (above element symbol on periodic table)


 * Atomic mass - the number of protons plus the number of neutrons (below element symbol on periodic table)




 * Isotope - change in the number of neutrons in an atom. Example, and isotope of sodium may have 10 or 12 neutrons


 * Electron Configuration - how the electrons are arranged around the atom in energy levels
 * 1st energy level has 2 electrons
 * all other energy levels have 8 electrons




 * Ion - change in the number of electrons
 * Atoms are most stable with 8 electrons in the outer energy level
 * Will share, lose, or gain electrons to achieve this


 * Ionic bonding - transfer of electrons
 * example - Sodium and Chlorine


 * Lewis Electron Dot Structure - Short hand for showing "chemistry" activity in the outer level by showing the number of electrons in the outer energy level




 * Covalent bonding - sharing of electrons. VERY STRONG BOND
 * example - bond between Hydrogen and Oxygen


 * Metallic bonding - electrons do not belong to any particular nucleus, they float between nuclei
 * example - two metals touching for a long time can "weld" to each other by metallic bonding. You can increase the speed of this by adding heat.

Mineral Terms:


 * A mineral is a naturally occurring crystalline solid with a definite but not fixed chemical composition and ordered atomic arrangement
 * Size of the ion is important because ions that are within 10% of the same size may be substituted in many minerals. This is why minerals of the same type have different chemical compositions.
 * examples - Si,Al; Fe,Mg; Na, Ca


 * Mineral formation
 * Melting - Volcanic activity
 * Evaporation - Salt water: Halite, Gypsum
 * Biological activity - sulfur producing bacteria
 * Oxidized - comes into contact with oxygen: Limonite
 * Leached - as water moves through the soil it dissolves elements. A leech line forms due to mineral formation where the water stops: bauxite
 * Metamorphic processes - formed by heat and pressure. Examples: graphite, chlorite, diamonds. Alters chemical composition and structure, called recrystallization


 * Mineral Types
 * Native minerals - contain one element
 * examples - graphite, C; Copper, Cu; Sulfur, S
 * Sulfides and Sulfates - contain Sulfur and other elements
 * Silicates - contain silicon and other elements
 * Oxides - contain oxygen and other elements
 * Carbonates - contain CO and other elements
 * will effervesce in the presence of an acid
 * Phosphate - contains PO and other elements


 * Physical Property - is controlled by the chemical properties of a material...how its bonded can determine the hardness and the type of impurities that are present in its change in color


 * Color - reflected light; very poor indicator of the true color due to impurities


 * Streak - true color of the mineral found by powdering it. This is found by scratching the mineral across a streak plate.


 * Hardness - the resistance to scratching


 * Cleavage - the tendency for a mineral to break along flat smooth planes that reflect light
 * This is controlled by a weakness in structure, may break where bonds are longer or fewer
 * predictable pattern, not random
 * 1 perfect - stacks like sheets of paper, example: mica
 * 2 perfect - break in two directions and is very clear, example: calcite
 * 3 cubic - breaks into perfect cubes, example: halite
 * none - no repeating faces
 * conchoidal fracture - concentric circles are around breaks, irregular fracture pattern, example: quartz


 * Magnetism - minerals that contain iron and are polarized, example: magnetite


 * Taste - how they taste: bitter, sweet, salty


 * Luster - appearance
 * metallic - look like metal
 * nonmetallic - look earthy


 * Density = mass/volume


 * Specific gravity - how heavy something is in air compared to how heavy it is in water


 * Radioactivity - the breakdown of atoms in the nucleus

Mineral Key
{|class="sortable" style="text-align:center" !Hardness!!Color!!Streak!!Cleavage!!Remarks!!Name!!Composition
 * +Mineral Key
 * 1 to 1.5||Steel Grey to Iron Black||Black to Grey||1 Perfect||Metallic Luster, Greasy feel-marks paper, Use Pencil Lead||Graphite||C
 * 2.5||Blue-Black to Lead Grey||Grey-Black||3 Cubic||Cubic cleavage, High Specific Gravity, Metallic Luster, Use-Lead Ore||Galena||PbS
 * 2 to 2.5||Reddish||Red||2 perfect||Usually Granular, Distinguished by Red Streak, Use-Mercury Ore||Cinnabar||HgS
 * 1 to 1.5||Blue-Black||Greenish Black||1 perfect||Metallic Luster, Greasy feel, use-Molybdenum Ore||Molybdenite||MoS
 * 2.5 to 3||Black to Dark Green||Brownish Black, Green Black to Colorless||1 perfect||Perfect cleavage 1 direction, commonly in stacks or sheets--one on the micas||Biotite||K(Mg,Fe)3(AlSi3O10)(OH)2
 * 2 to 2.5||Colorless||Colorless||1 perfect||Perfect cleavage 1 direction, commonly in stacks||Muscovite||KAL2(AlSi3O10(OH)2
 * 1||White or Grey||White to Greenish White||1 perfect||Greasy feel, non-metallic luster, use-talcum powder||Talc||Mg3Si4O10(OH)2
 * 2||Colorless to White||White to Colorless||1 perfect||Perfect cleavage i direction, may be fibrous, use-sheet rock||Gypsum||CaSO4+H2O
 * 2 to 2.5||Green||Green||1 perfect||Feels greasy, use-fertilizer||Chlorite||(Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH) 2S/sub>
 * 1 to 2||White||White||None||Absorbs water, greasy feel, one of the clay minerals, use-kaolinite||Kaolinite||Al2Si2O5(OH)4
 * 1.5 to 2.5||Yellow||Yellowish White||None||usually granular, streak smells like sulfur, use-chemical industry||Sulfur||S
 * 1 to 3||Brown, Yellow Orange to White||Yellowish to White||None||Rounded grains, usually clay like, use-aluminum||Bauxite||Al(OH)3
 * 3||White to Colorless||Colorless||3 perfect not at right angles||effervesces with HCl, shows double refraction, use-calcium||Calcite||CaCO3
 * 3||Gray to colorless||Colorless||3 perfect hard to see||A type of calcite, effervesces with HCl, usually massive||Aragonite||CaCO3
 * 2 to 2.5||Colorless to White||Colorless to White||3 perfect at 90 degrees||Tastes salty, soluble in water, use-salt||Halite||NaCl
 * 1.5 to 5||Yellow, Brown, Orange-Brown||Rusty yellow, Brown-red||None||Characterized by rusty streak, mars mineral, use-iron||Limonite||FeO
 * 2.5 to 3||Copper Red, Green Tarnish||Copper Red||None||Metallic Luster with distinctive streak, use-copper||Copper||Cu
 * 2 to 2.5||Green||Green||1 perfect||Feels greasy, use-fertilizer||Chlorite||(Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH) 2S/sub>
 * 1 to 2||White||White||None||Absorbs water, greasy feel, one of the clay minerals, use-kaolinite||Kaolinite||Al2Si2O5(OH)4
 * 1.5 to 2.5||Yellow||Yellowish White||None||usually granular, streak smells like sulfur, use-chemical industry||Sulfur||S
 * 1 to 3||Brown, Yellow Orange to White||Yellowish to White||None||Rounded grains, usually clay like, use-aluminum||Bauxite||Al(OH)3
 * 3||White to Colorless||Colorless||3 perfect not at right angles||effervesces with HCl, shows double refraction, use-calcium||Calcite||CaCO3
 * 3||Gray to colorless||Colorless||3 perfect hard to see||A type of calcite, effervesces with HCl, usually massive||Aragonite||CaCO3
 * 2 to 2.5||Colorless to White||Colorless to White||3 perfect at 90 degrees||Tastes salty, soluble in water, use-salt||Halite||NaCl
 * 1.5 to 5||Yellow, Brown, Orange-Brown||Rusty yellow, Brown-red||None||Characterized by rusty streak, mars mineral, use-iron||Limonite||FeO
 * 2.5 to 3||Copper Red, Green Tarnish||Copper Red||None||Metallic Luster with distinctive streak, use-copper||Copper||Cu
 * 3||Gray to colorless||Colorless||3 perfect hard to see||A type of calcite, effervesces with HCl, usually massive||Aragonite||CaCO3
 * 2 to 2.5||Colorless to White||Colorless to White||3 perfect at 90 degrees||Tastes salty, soluble in water, use-salt||Halite||NaCl
 * 1.5 to 5||Yellow, Brown, Orange-Brown||Rusty yellow, Brown-red||None||Characterized by rusty streak, mars mineral, use-iron||Limonite||FeO
 * 2.5 to 3||Copper Red, Green Tarnish||Copper Red||None||Metallic Luster with distinctive streak, use-copper||Copper||Cu
 * 1.5 to 5||Yellow, Brown, Orange-Brown||Rusty yellow, Brown-red||None||Characterized by rusty streak, mars mineral, use-iron||Limonite||FeO
 * 2.5 to 3||Copper Red, Green Tarnish||Copper Red||None||Metallic Luster with distinctive streak, use-copper||Copper||Cu
 * 2.5 to 3||Copper Red, Green Tarnish||Copper Red||None||Metallic Luster with distinctive streak, use-copper||Copper||Cu
 * 2.5 to 3||Copper Red, Green Tarnish||Copper Red||None||Metallic Luster with distinctive streak, use-copper||Copper||Cu