The Earth’s lithosphere, which includes the crust and upper mantle, is made up of a series of pieces, or tectonic plates, that move slowly over time (Figure 8.1).
The first way plates move is away from each other at divergent plate boundaries.
The second way plates move is together at convergent plate boundaries.
As the ocean plate subducts, or is forced below the continental plate, the ocean plate melts and rises.
The Ring of Fire (see Figure 8.4) is an area around the Pacific Plate where a “ring” of volcanoes and earthquakes can be found because of convergent plate boundaries.
Island arcs are a chain of volcanic islands found on subduction zones and there are often earthquakes associated with these.
The final way plates move is at transform boundaries (Figure 8.5) where two plates moving in opposite directions slide by one another.
Hot spots are areas where the magma from the mantle rises through the lithosphere creating a volcano (Figure 8.6). If the lithosphere is moving over a stationary hot spot, you can get a line of volcanic islands.
The Hawaiian Islands are an example of a hot spot volcanism.
The topic of soil formation and erosion, as well as the next section on composition and properties of soil, will be tested in the context of a scientific experiment.
When rock is broken down (weathered) by rain, wind, snow, ice, and so on, and carried to another place and deposited, soil can be formed.
Soil is broken down by many horizons as shown in Figure 8.7.
The top layer is the “O” horizon, or organic layer, where freshly dead leaves and other organic matter are found. Lots of decomposition is happening here.
The second layer, the “A” horizon or surface layer, is often called topsoil and is rich in organic matter.
The “B” horizon, or subsoil, often has a lot of clay from above layers.
The “C” horizon, or substratum, is mostly weathered rock from the bedrock below.
Soil erosion can be caused from water and wind taking soil away.
Different types of soil allow water through at different rates, or not at all.
The type of soil determines how much water the soil can hold, or the soil’s water-holding capacity.
Porosity: Having small spaces between the particles. The finer the particle size, the more porosity.
Permeability: The ability of a material to allow liquid to flow through it. Sand has a high permeability since water flows easily through it.
You may be asked to read a soil triangle and determine the type of soil based on the percentage of sand, silt, and clay. A soil triangle looks like Figure 8.9.
The Earth’s atmosphere is mostly made of nitrogen gas.
The Earth’s atmosphere has layers as you move away from the land; the layers are seen in Figure 8.10.
Look at Figure 8.11. The Earth is tilted at a 30-degree angle. Because of this, the sun’s radiation hits the Earth with different intensities.
This sinking, dry air is where the Earth’s major deserts are found.
Coriolis effect: Because the Earth is spinning on its axis, winds and water veer to the right, and storms like hurricanes spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and veer to the left and spin clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere (Figure 8.12).
Our Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees and solar radiation hits the planet at different intensities depending on the season and latitude. Look at the visual representation shown in Figure 8.13.
The diagram on the left is the Earth in December.
Now, look at the diagram on the right; this is the Earth in June.
The amount of sunlight varies seasonally. In addition, the equator gets direct sun year-round and as you move up or down to the poles the sunlight becomes less and less direct.
The fact that the Earth is tilted and rotates around the sun accounts for the Earth’s seasons.
Figure 8.14 shows the rain shadow effect. Our planet’s weather and climate are impacted by other things in addition to the tilt of the Earth and the amount of sunlight.
Weather and climate can be impacted by things like tall mountains.
In the picture, the ocean is on the left, which provides a lot of moisture to the area.
As the moisture evaporates and clouds are formed, there is a lot of rain on the windward side of the mountain.
However, because the mountain is so tall, the rain clouds don’t go over the mountain and it is very dry on the other side.
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