Week 2, Chapters 1-2. Cosmology and origin of Earth Atmosphere, Lithosphere, Asthenosphere

What is the focus of the study of Geology?

The study of the solid Earth.

What does Earth Science encompass?

The study of all Earth systems.

Which core sciences are applied in Geology and Earth Sciences?

Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

What is Cosmology?

The scientific study of the history and structure of the Universe.

What did ancient astronomers recognize about the stars?

They recognized order in the stars and noted that some 'stars' wandered.

What does the term 'planēs' mean in Greek?

Wanderer.

What were the two major schools of thought in ancient cosmology?

Geocentric Model and Heliocentric Model.

Who pioneered the Geocentric Model?

Egyptian mathematician Ptolemy.

What was the belief during the Middle Ages regarding the Geocentric Model?

Church leaders in Europe embraced it, believing Earth was the center of the Solar System.

Who developed the Heliocentric Model?

Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei.

What does the Heliocentric Model state?

The Earth and other planets orbit the Sun.

What percentage of the Solar System's mass does the Sun account for?

99.8%.

What are the major components of the Solar System?

The Sun, 8 planets, the Asteroid Belt, and the Kuiper Belt.

What defines a planet according to astronomers?

An object that orbits a star, is roughly spherical, and has cleared its neighborhood of other objects.

What are the characteristics of the Inner Solar System?

Contains smaller terrestrial planets that are rocky.

What are the characteristics of the Outer Solar System?

Contains larger gas and ice planets.

What is a moon?

A solid object of detectable size that orbits a planet.

How many moons are currently counted in the Solar System?

422 orbiting planets.

Which planet has the most moons?

Saturn, with 274 moons.

What are the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud?

Areas beyond Neptune's orbit comprising ~1 trillion bodies of ice.

What is the shape of the Oort Cloud?

Relatively spherical and much farther away than the Kuiper Belt.

What is the Kuiper Belt's shape?

A donut-like ring closer to the orbit of Neptune.

What is the significance of the Sudbury impact event?

It allowed for the determination of the ages of different geologic events at the atomic scale.

What crystallization age was obtained from the homogenous domain in the Sudbury impact study?

2,436 ± 94 million years ago.

What age was determined from the clustered-Fe domains in the Sudbury impact study?

1,852 ± 45 million years ago.

What age was determined from the planar feature in the Sudbury impact study?

1,412 ± 56 million years ago.

What are the two models of the solar system discussed?

Geocentric and Heliocentric models.

What is the Big Bang theory?

It proposes that all matter and energy in the Universe started as a single point that exploded 13.8 billion years ago.

What occurred 3 minutes after the Big Bang?

Cooling allowed the formation of nuclei of hydrogen and helium.

When did the first atoms form after the Big Bang?

About 300,000 years after the Big Bang.

What are nebulae?

Patchy clouds of gas that form as molecules clump together after the Big Bang.

What is a protostar?

A central body where matter becomes super dense and hot enough for fusion to begin.

What is stellar nucleosynthesis?

The process by which stars form elements up to iron (Fe).

What elements are formed during supernova explosions?

Very heavy elements.

What are the most abundant elements in the Universe?

Hydrogen and Helium.

What is the timeline for the formation of the first stars after the Big Bang?

The first stars formed approximately 200 million years after the Big Bang.

When did the formation of our Solar System occur?

Approximately 4.6 billion years ago.

What happens during the process of gravitational attraction in nebulae?

Matter compacts and begins to rotate, forming stars.

What is the significance of the Hubble Extreme Deep Field Image?

It contains approximately 5,500 galaxies.

What role does hydrogen fusion play in stars?

It is the process by which stars produce energy and create helium from hydrogen.

What is the Nebular Theory?

The Nebular Theory suggests that the Solar System formed from a nebular cloud of ice and dust particles about 4.6 billion years ago.

What are the two types of materials found in the nebula?

Volatile materials (like H2O and CO2) and refractory materials (like metals and silicates).

What is the process of accretion in the context of the Solar System's formation?

Accretion is the process where particles in the protoplanetary disk stick together due to gravity, forming larger bodies called planetesimals.

What are planetesimals?

Planetesimals are large bodies (1 km or larger) formed from the accumulation of smaller particles in the protoplanetary disk.

What is differentiation in planetary formation?

Differentiation is the process where denser materials like iron and nickel sink to the center of a body, while lighter materials remain in a shell.

How did the Moon form according to the Giant Impact Hypothesis?

The Moon formed from debris created when a protoplanet named Theia collided with Earth shortly after its formation.

What role did volcanic outgassing play in Earth's evolution?

Volcanic outgassing contributed to the accumulation of Earth's atmosphere and the formation of oceans when the planet cooled.

What are the dimensions of Earth?

Earth has a diameter of 12,756 km and a circumference of 40,075 km.

Who correctly calculated the circumference of the Earth around 200 BCE?

Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth by measuring shadows of towers 800 km apart.

What experiment demonstrated Earth's rotation in the mid-19th century?

Léon Foucault's experiment at the Panthéon in Paris demonstrated Earth's rotation.

What is the distance from Earth to the Sun?

Earth is approximately 150 million km away from the Sun.

What is the significance of meteorites in the context of planetesimals?

Meteorites are remnants of the particles that built up planetesimals, providing insight into the early Solar System.