Earth and Life Science (Q1)

CREATION MYTH

a symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood by a culture.

Bible

According to Genesis, the creation of universe took place in six days.

BIG BANG THEORY

a great explosion of an empty void that scattered space, time, matter and energy in all directions.

Alexander Friedman and Georges Lemaitre

proposed the Big Bang Theory in 1920

BIG BANG SINGULARITY

no space, nothingness.

INFLATION

expansion of space; universe is still hot and dense, pairs of matter and antimatter (quarks and antiquarks) were formed.

Annihilation

cancelled each pair of quarks and antiquarks back into energy.

NUCLEOSYNTHESIS/NUCLEAR FUSION

protons and neutrons came together to form different types of nuclei.

Plasma Soup

highly energetic where photons are scattered

RECOMBINATION

electrons started to bind ionized protons and nuclei forming neutral atoms.

Dark Ages

when bound particles no longer scattered photons so light and energy moved freely across space

Gravity

caused atoms to form stars and galaxies and other matter. Space continues to expand an accelerating rate increasing distance between it.

Inflationary epoch

universe expanded from the size of an atomic nucleus.

Formation of universe

building up of gravity, strong nuclear force, and electromagnetic force.

Formation of basic elements

Nucleosynthesis

Protons and neutrons + hydrogen nuclei =

helium nucleic

Radiation era

formation of cosmic microwave background radiation

Matter domination

Lithium atom began to formed.

Hydrogen + helium =

neutral atoms

Birth of Stars and Galaxies

last event in big bang theory

Strong Force

short-ranged attractive force which binds the nucleus

Electromagnetic Force

long-range force that binds atoms which can either be repulsive or attractive

Weak Force

short ranged force present in radioactive decay

Gravitational Force

weak, long-ranged and attractive force which binds the solar system

Galaxies Moving Away

an evidence of Big Bang Theory that said the galaxies are clusters of stars which continue to move away from each other.

Edwin Hubble

found that stars are not uniformly distributed in space

Presence of Cosmic Microwaves Background

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered a background radio emission coming from every direction in the sky

Abundance of Light Elements

Helium, Hydrogen, with trace amounts of lithium and beryllium are formed due to big bang nucleosynthesis.

Descartes’ Vortex Theory

whirlpool-like motion of pre-solar materials; planets are primary whirlpool and satellites are secondary whirlpool

Rene Descartes

proponent of the Descartes’ Vortex Theory

Buffon’s Collision Theory

planets were formed by the collision of the sun with a giant comet

Georges Louie Lerclerc and Comfte de Buffon

proponents of the Buffon’s Collision Theory

Kant-Laplace Theory

Nebula is a great cloud of gas and dust which collapsed because of the gravitational pull

Immanuel Kant and Pierre Simon Laplace

proponents of the Kant-Laplace Theory

Jean-Jeffrey’s Tidal Theory

proposed that planets were formed from the substance torn from the sun

James Hopwood Jeans and Harold Jeffreys

proposed the Jean-Jeffrey’s Tidal Theory

Solar Nebular Theory

solar system was formed as a result of condensation of hydrogen gas dust known as interstellar gas and dust cloud; small dust particles and material ejected from former stars collide and coalesce as they rotate

Protoplanets

random collections of dust, rock, and gas from various origins

Cold Accretion Hypothesis

collected cold and held together by gravity with no apparent order

Gaseous Giants Planets

Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus

Small Rocky Planets

Mercury, Venus, Earth

Asteroids

or minor planets; are made up of rocks and atmosphere-free orbiting around the sun

Main asteroid belt

located between the orbits of Mars and which are believed to be remnants of early stages of solar system

Ceres

first known asteroid

Near-Earth Asteroids

asteroids perturbed out of main belt

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

monitoring of asteroids because of possibility of catastrophe

Planets

a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun which have sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid forces and dominate its neighborhood (cleared neighborhood around it)

Comets

composed mainly of ice and nonvolatile dust which becomes active because of sun’s heat

Kuiper Belt

outermost region of the solar system which is also known as solar system’s “Final Frontier”

Oort Cloud

located farther than Kuiper belt and remained unexplored which long period comets originated

Terrestrial/Inner Planets

composed of mostly dense, rocky and metallic materials

Jovian Planets/Gas Planets

made up mostly of hydrogen and helium

International Astronomers Union

an organization responsible for naming planetary bodies and their satellites

Dwarf Planet

orbits around the sun, has sufficient mass, doesn’t have cleared neighborhood around it, not a satellite

Eris

Ceris

Makemake

Pluto

Examples of Dwarf Planets

1. Galaxies Moving Away

2. Presence of Cosmic Microwaves Background

3. Abundance of Light Elements

Evidences of Big Bang Theory

1. Accretion of cm-sized particles

2. Physical Collision of km-sized planetisimals

3. Gravitational accretion of planetisimals

4. Formation of molten protoplanet due to heat accretion

5. Differentiation of Earth

Steps in Formation of Earth

Differentiation of Earth

Iron and Nickel sink to the center of the Earth; light materials rise to the surface

1. Inner Core

2. Lehmann Discontinuity

3. Outer Core

4. Gutenberg Discontinuity

5. Lower Mantle

6. Upper Mantle

7. Mohorovicic Discontinuity

8. Crust

Layers of the Earth

Inge Lehmann

a seismologist who discovered that the Earth has a solid inner core

Lehmann Discontinuity

boundary between outer and inner core

Inner Core

composed of iron and nickel; magnetic; solid; 1250 km

Outer Core

composed of iron and nickel; magnetic; liquid; 2300 km; cause of Earth’s magnetic field

Mantle

longest and intermediate part of the Earth

Magma

molten rocks found in the mantle

Gutenberg Discontinuity

between lower mantle and outer core (seismic waves)

Mohorovicic Discontinuity

a boundary that separates upper mantle from Earth’s crust

Andrija Mohorovicic

discovered the Mohorovicic discontinuity in 1909

Asthenosphere

layer after the lithosphere which plays a critical role in the movement of plates

Joseph Barell

named the asthenosphere

Lower/Mid Mantle

asthenosphere; soft/magma; exhibits “plasticity'“; convection currents; 2240 km

Upper Mantle

Lithosphere; rigid/solid; moho boundary; 660 km

Oceanic Crust

dark-colored;

rock sample: basalt

more dense

thin layer

50 km

Continental Crust

light-colored

rock sample: granite

Less dense

coarse-textured

thick layer

40-70 km

Lithosphere

solid outer section of Earth

Pangaea

huge landmass which were locked up in the beginning

Plate Tectonic Theory

large-scale movement of Earth’s plate

Philippine Sea Plate

Philippine plate has been changed into

Lithosphere Boundary

border between tectonic plates

Divergent

Convergent

Transform

three types of tectonic plate boundaries

Continents

large masses of land separated by expanses of water

Plates

layers of rigid, solid rocks that are moving

Atmosphere

changed by UV rays and Cyanobacteria

UV rays

caused water to split (2H2O → 2H2O+O2)

Cyanobacteria

carried out the first photosynthesis (CO2+H2O → C6H12O6 + O2)

development of ozone (O3)

Enough oxygen in the atmosphere =

Nitrogen

most abundant element in the atmosphere

1. Troposphere

2. Stratosphere

3. Mesosphere

4. Thermosphere

5. Exosphere

Layers of the atmosphere

Troposphere

lowest layer; 12 km in height; 9km at poles and 17km at equator

80% of the total mass of the atmosphere

water vapor is mostly present

Tropopause

temperature stops decreasing, found on top of the troposphere

Stratosphere

second lowest layer, 12km above Earth’s surface, 50km altitude

temperature increases as altitude

water vapor is mostly present

Mesosphere

third layer, 50km to 80km altitude

temperature decreases as altitude increases

protects us from meteoroids

Shooting Stars or Burning Meteors

burn up in the atmosphere due to intense friction

Meteorites

meteoroids that manage to reach Earth

Thermosphere

second highest layer, 80km to 700km altitude

temperature increases as altitude increases

Nitrogen and Oxygen absorb UV radiation and turns into heat

Ionosphere

portion of the thermosphere composed of highly ionized gas

Ionized Gas

formed when UV rays knock off electron from nitrogen and oxygen

Exosphere

outermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere

700km to 1000km altitude

orbiting satellites

low density elements (Helium and Hydrogen)

Ocean

a body of saltwater with almost no boundary and limitless volume

Sea

part of an ocean that is partially surrounding a landform