Chapter 1
Introduction to
Earth Science
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In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
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God and nature
• In Christian Theology: An Introduction, 2001,
Alister E. McGrath says:
God, in other words, is to be seen as the
Primary Cause, and various agencies within
the world as the associated secondary
causes.
• The forces in nature (or, we may refer to the
Laws of Nature) are properly called
Secondary Cause(s). They owe their
existence to God’s sustaining power.
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Three Meanings of
the Word Science
• The knowledge base
– Facts
– Questions
– Hypotheses
– Theories
• What is a theory? Distinguish
hypothesis from theory.
• The scientific method
• The scientific establishment
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Hierachy
• Smaller = more numerous = more exclusive
• Larger = less numerous = less exclusive
Small
Many
Size
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Large
Few
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Geologic Time
Long
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Short
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Systems
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Surely there is a vein for the
silver, and a place for gold where
they fine it.
2 Job 28:1
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Chapter 2
Matter and
Minerals
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MINERALS
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Requirements for a Substance to be a Mineral
•
Must be Naturally occurring
(must occur in nature; synthetic rubies are excluded)
•
Must be Inorganic
(not made of organic compounds)
•
Must be Crystalline
(have a crystal structure – ordered array of component atoms)
•
Must be Solid
(minerals are not gases and liquids; ice fits but water does not)
•
Must have Definite physical properties and Definite chemical
composition.
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Elements
• Each element is composed of atoms all of which have the same
distinctive chemical properties.
• Atoms are the smallest units of matter that exhibit chemical
properties, forming chemical compounds.
• Atoms are distinguished by a nucleus with protons and
neutrons, surrounded by orbiting electrons. Normally, protons
balance electrons. The number of electrons determines the
chemical reactivity of an atom. The atomic number of an
element is the number of protons in each nucleus.
• Atoms with more than 82 protons or varying numbers of
neutrons (called isotopes) have inherently unstable nuclei, and
undergo radioactive decay, releasing fast particles and energetic
rays.
• Elements combine in chemical compounds via their atoms
sharing or transferring electrons, forming covalent and ionic
bonds, respectively.
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How do we identify minerals? – 1
• By color: a red mineral is most likely not gold (which has
a shiny gold color) or biotite (which has a black color).
Impurities produce great color variety; hence, color is not
always a good way to identify a mineral.
• By luster: the luster of a mineral describes how shiny it
looks under illumination (silver has a metallic luster while
pure quartz has a glassy luster). Options – metallic, submetallic, vitreous or glassy, pearly, silky, resinous, dull.
• By streak color (or powder color): What color is the streak
when a mineral is rubbed on an unglazed porcelain plate?
• By hardness: How hard is the mineral? (The Mohs
hardness scale uses numbers to describe hardness.)
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How do we identify minerals? – 2
• By crystal form: angles the crystal faces make with
each other; these define crystal type and atomic
symmetry. Crystals may be minute, poorly formed, and
complicated by impurities. A more general feature of
“crystal form” is crystal shape or “habit.”36
• By cleavage: whether, and in what manner, the mineral
breaks along weak internal bonds, yielding one or more
planar surfaces at certain angles to one another.38 - Table
• By fracture: minerals not exhibiting cleavage will
fracture. Types – irregular, conchoidal (smooth curved
surfaces), splinters, fibers.
• By specific gravity: density (ρ ) relative to water.
Density ρ is mass/volume.
Au - 20. PbS – 7.5. Most rocks – between 2 and 3.
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Silicates
Igneous minerals. About 600 known.
Make up 95% of lithosphere
and upper mantle.
Classification based on Si–O
arrangement:
The most abundant are:
Feldspar 50% of Earth’s crust
Quartz SiO2
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Ores are nonrenewable
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