Warm Up 9/16

1. Warm Up 9/16 • What is the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather and climate? • Meteorology • According to the nebular hypothesis, our solar system formed from a huge rotating cloud made mostly of ________. • Hydrogen and Helium • The area of Earth science that examines the physical and biological changes that have occurred in Earth’s past is called ____. • Historical Geology

2. A View of Earth Chapter 1, Section 2

3. Earth’s Major Spheres • Earth can be thought of as consisting of four major spheres: the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere • Hydrosphere – the water portion of Earth • Atmosphere – the gaseous portion of a planet; the planet’s envelope of air • Geosphere – layer of Earth under both the atmosphere and the oceans • Because the geosphere is not uniform, it is divided into three main parts based on differences in composition—the core, the mantle, and the crust • Biosphere – all life on Earth; the parts of the solid Earth, hydrosphere, and atmosphere in which living organisms can be found

4. Earth’s Layered Structure

5. Concept Check • What are Earth’s four major spheres? • The hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere

6. Plate Tectonics • There are two types of forces affecting Earth’s surface • Destructive forces such as weathering and erosion work to wear away high points and flatten out the surface • Constructive forces such as mountain building and volcanism build up the surface by raising land and depositing new material in the form of lava • The theory that finally emerged, called plate tectonics, provided geologists with a model to explain how earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur and how continents move

7. Earth’s Major Plates

8. Concept Check • What is the difference between destructive forces and constructive forces? • Constructive forces build up the surface material, whereas destructive forces destroy surface material

9. Assignment