EOS Chapter 1

Introduction to Geology

Origin of universe
o Big Bang

Large explosion created matter and space of universe

Matter and space expand in all directions (raisin in bread)

o Occur ~14 billion years ago

Doppler Effect but for color wavelengths

Short = blue (move toward)

Long = red (move away from)

Elements heated high emit wavelengths

Supernova spectrum shifted toward red

o Ex. Calcium was more than 400 nm

Some galaxies red shift more than others (traveling faster)

Distance estimated using luminosity

Hubbles Law (x-axis distance, y-axis speed): further away=faster

Velocity = Distance * Hubble Constant

o Hubble Constant unit: 1/Time
Nebula swirling clumps of matter
o These collapse due to gravitational attraction (pull towards center) and centrifugal force (pull
outwards)
o Forms galaxy

Milky Way

Spiral, ~100,000 ly in diameter, ~200 billion stars, dense cluster of stars in center

Our solar system on one spur of spiral arm, about half-way from center of galaxy
Our solar system formed like nebular hypothesis (but smaller scales)
o Rotating cloud of gas contracts and flattens
o Forms disk of gas and dust surrounding the proto-sun
o Planets grow and accrete (glom together) from dust and gas in disk
o Things begin to heat up due to

Gravitational collapse (release potential energy as heat)

Impacts during accretion (kinetic energy released as heat)

Radioactive decay (many more radioactive elements early in solar system history)
Planets accrete in thermal gradient (lighter elements go outwards)
o Where its HOT

Rocky materials (rocks, metals) solidify and accrete

Most volatiles (methane, CO2, water) swept out to outer planets

o Where its COLD

Volatiles (methane, CO2, water) solidify and accrete (along with rock)
Inner planets (terrestrial) avg. density ~5 gm/cm3, outer planets (jovian/major) avg. density ~1 gm/cm3
Core formation
o Earth heated enough to largely melt magma ocean was produced

Molten iron is dense

Iron droplets percolated down, accumulating to form iron core

Earth ~4.6 billion years old (radiometric dating)
Inner core (solid)outer core (liquid)lower mantle (solid)upper mantle (solid)lithosphere
Core (iron+nickel)mantle (high density rock)crust (low density rock)
Transition zoneasthenosphere = upper mantle
Continental/oceanic crust+little bit of upper mantle = lithosphere
Lithosphere
o Outermost rigid shell of earth
o ~100 km thick
o Both crush (oceanic/continental)+uppermost mantle
Asthenosphere
o Soft, relatively weak layer beneath lithosphere
o Upper mantle
Most magma produced in mantle
o CrystallizationIgneous rockweatheringsedimentcementationSedimentary
rockmetamorphismMetamorphic rock

EOS Notes Chapter 2

Plate Tectonics

Lithospheric plates various sizes and shapes

Alfred Wegeners theory of Continental Drift (1915)
o Continents have moved horizontally over surface of earth to current location
o Not accepted at that time cuz

He proposed gravitational tidal forces from sun and moon gradually move continents

Opponents: such huge forces dont exist

He envisioned that continents bull-doze way through oceans

Opponents: there should be vast deposits of deformed marine sediments in front of

moving continents and lots of deformed rock at edge of continent
Pangaea = supercontinent
Evidence of continental drift
o Fit of continents

Opponents argued

Continental margins are sites of constant change

Fits arent perfect (gaps, overlaps)

o Fossil evidence

Mesosaurus fossil in S. America and Africa

Glossopteris in southern S. America, S. Africa, Antarctica, and Australia

Opponents argued

Possible land bridges now eroded or rafting

o Matching rock stratigraphy across ocean basins
o Matching mountain ranges

Appalachian/Caledonian Moutains
o Paleoclimate evidence

Tropical swamps (coal) found in northern places

Glacial ice sheets found near equator

o Glacial striations

Glaciers flow downhill (toward oceans) leaving grooves indicating direction of flow
Paleomagnetism #1 apparent polar wander (continents have moved)
Paleomagnetism #2 magnetic reversals (confirming seafloor spreading)
o Rocks erupted at earths surface record polarity reversals of magnetic field
o If we age-date these rocks and determine polarity of magnetization, develop Magnetic Reversal Time
Scale

North polarity = normal, south polarity = reversed

Polarity of magnetic field switches randomly

o Time when magnetism is dominantly one is called magnetic chron

We only have good record for ~200 Ma

o Vine and Matthews concluded that seafloor spreading explains magnetic strips
Magnetic declination horizontal angle between direction to geographic and magnetic pole
Magnetic inclination (dip) vertical angle of magnetic field direction (measured from horizon.)
Lavas keep magnetization (fossil compass)
o Lava cools and crystallizes minerals (iron-rich) (ex. Magnetite)
o When these minerals cool below Curie temp., the acquire magnetization direction of earths magnetic
field at that position on the earth (500-1000 degrees)
Plate Tectonics
o Divergent typically mid-ocean ridges

Initially form by continental rifting (ex. Red Sea, East African Rift)

Plate motions produce opposing tensional forces

o Thin lithosphere and promote mantle upwelling

Stretching causes brittle crust to break into blocks that sink

o Rift valley is generated

Continued spreading generates long narrow sea (like Red Sea)

Eventually, expansive deep-ocean basin containing centrally located oceanic ridge is

formed by continued seafloor spreading

May be associated with (some) upwelling limbs of mantle convection cells

Ridge push
o Convergent

Subduction zones (ex. Andes [over-riding plate: continental], Japan [over-riding plate: oceanic])
plate dives under another (never continental to continental)

Subducting plate is always oceanic lithosphere

Over-riding plate can be either continental/oceanic crust

Associated with descending limbs of mantle convection cells
o Slab pull

Collision zones (ex. Himalaya)

Both plates are continental lithosphere

Often preceded by subduction

o Strike-slip/Transform (ex. San Andreas)
Hotspots (mantle plumes) relatively fixed in position in the mantle
o Tracks: from youngest to oldest, point in the direction of plate motion
o Parallel hot spot tracks made by hotspots located under the same plate
o Hot spots are likely rising limbs of convection cells
Thickness of sediments increase with distance from ridge crest (and age)
Seafloor age and GPS can determine plate velocities (avg. 5 cm/year)
Plate motions
o Mantle convection (thermal convection)
o Tectonic factors

Ridge push

Ridge axis is elevated because its hot (recently erupted magma) and buoyant
o Lithosphere slides down due to gravity, and pulls plates apart at ridge axis

Slab pull

Old cold lithosphere is dense, so dives into mantle and pulls plate with it

EOS Chapter 3
Matter and Minerals

Mineral
o
o
o
o

Naturally occurring (not man-made)

Generally inorganic (not produced by plant or animal, such as kidney stones)
Solid
Orderly internal crystalline structure (repetitive arrangement of atoms)

Diamond and graphite have same formula (carbon atoms, strong/weak bonds)
o Specific chemical composition/limited range of compositions

Halite NaCl, quartz SiO2, sulfur S, olivine (Fe,Mg)SiO4

Minerals form by
o Precipitation (often from water)

Halite evaporated in desert lake

Calcite evaporated from groundwater

o Crystallization from a magma
How do we identify different minerals
o Crystal shape

Halite, quartz, diamond

o Luster the way mineral reflects light

Metallic, earthy, vitreous

o Color some minerals come in only one color, some many (different impurities)

Sulfur, malachite

Quartz, corundum Al2O5(either in ruby or sapphire)

o Streak

Hematite (rust-colored), pyrite (black)

o Cleavage (fracture) tendency to split along smooth planes between atoms in crystal

Mica perfect cleavage in 1 direction (weak bond vertical, strong horizontal)

Calcite perfect cleavage in 3 directions

Fracture a more irregular surface of parting (breaking)

Irregular fracture

Conchoidal fracture (quartz)

o Hardness Mohs scale, knife is 5.5 (talc [1] diamond [10])
o Density

Pyrite (5 gm/cm3), halite (2.17 gm/cm3)

o Other (magnetization, taste, smell, dissolution in acid, optical properties)

Magnetite is often magnetic

Calcite fizzes in acid (release CO2)

Optical properties (ex. double refraction)

Mineral classification

O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Na, K, Mg (most abundant elements)

In continental crust silicates 92%, non-silicate 8%
Felsic is a little more abundant than mafic
Silicates (containing silicon)

Basic building block of all silicates is the silica-oxygen tetrahedron

One Si+4 + four O-2

SiO4 so it bonds with other ions/molecules to achieve neutrality

Olivine

Single tetrahedral

Iron-magnesium

Mafic

Pyroxene (augite)

Single chain
o Positive ions joining single chains

Iron-magnesium

Mafic

Amphibole (hornblende)

Complex double chain

Mafic

Micas

Biotite, muscovite

Complex sheet
o Strong bonds horizontal, weak bonds vertical

Feldspars

Potassium feldspar, plagioclase

Three-dimensional networks

Calcium-sodium-potassium network

Felsic

Quartz

Three-dimensional networks

SiO2, silicon oxide network

Felsic
o Non-silicates (no silicon)

Oxides

Iron oxides magnetite, hematite

Carbonates (CO3-2)

Calcium carbonates calcite (CaCO3), dolomite

Halides

Has halogen anion (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine)

o Ex. halite NaCl

Sulfates

SO4-2
o Gypsum CaSO4
Minerals are building blocks of rocks: Rock an aggregate of one or more minerals
o Granite (rock) made of quartz, amphibole, feldspar
How do we describe rocks?
o Mineral assemblage
o Texture

Size of mineral grains (coarse/fine)

How are mineral arranged? (randomly/aligned)

o
o
o
o

EOS Chapters 4 and 5

Volcanoes and Igneous Rocks

Three volcanic settings:

o Mid-ocean ridges (~800 km)

Morphology: long, linear volcanic ridges

Dominant magma type: basaltic magma, solidifies to form basalt (igneous rock)

Non-explosive eruptions: due to low silica, low gas content of basaltic magma

Pillow lavas (only form by eruption under water)

o Hotspot volcanoes (form over rising mantle plume)

Morphology: shield volcanoes

Dominant magma type: basaltic magma, solidifies to form basalt

Non-explosive eruptions: due to low silica, low gas content of basaltic magma
o Subduction zones (form on the overriding plate)

Morphology: steep-sided composite volcano

Magma types: basaltic, andesitic, and rhyolitic magmas (solidify to basalt, andesite and
rhyolite rocks)

Explosive eruptions: high silica, high gas content in andesitic and rhyolitic magmas

Continental arc

The Cascades
o Mount St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Shasta
Shield volcanoes are much longer than composite/strato volcanoes
Igneous rock classification
o Composition

Mafic (dark, high Fe, low Si) felsic (light, low Fe, high Si)
o Place of crystallization (leads to difference in grain-size)

Extrusive (volcanic, aphanitic): fine-grained higher up, on surface

Basalt mafic (basaltic)

Andesite intermediate (andesitic)

Rhyolite felsic (granitic)

Intrusive (plutonic): coarse-grained lower up, down below

Gabbro mafic (basaltic)

Diorite intermediate (andesitic)

Granite felsic (granitic)

Magma properties (not rock properties)
o Mafic eruption/intermediate-felsic eruption
o Basaltic (mafic)

LEAST silica/gas content (50%/1-2%), viscosity, tendency to form pyroclastics

Highest eruptive temperatures (1000-1250 C)

o Andesitic (intermediate)

INTERMEDIATE silica/gas content (60%/3-4%), viscosity, tendency to form pyroclastics

Middle eruptive temperatures (800-1050 C)

o Rhyolitic (felsic)

MOST silica/gas content (70%/4-6%), viscosity, tendency to form pyroclastics

Least eruptive temperatures (650-900 C)

Phase changes of ice-water-vapor as function of temperature and pressure
Peridotite = mantle rock (olivine + pyroxene)
Adiabatic/decompression melting beneath mid-ocean ridges
o Solid mantle (pulled up by spreading) intersects solidus, begins melting continues to rise, melts
more
o Solid mantle rises to fill void formed by mid-ocean ridge spreading, crosses Solidus, begins melting
o How and why melting happens above hotspots

Parcel of mantle rising in hotspot is hotter (at same depth) than mantle beneath a mid-ocean
ridge

It begins melting deeper, and produces more total melt than melting beneath a midocean ridge
Melting at subduction zones
o The addition of water to mantle peridotite, lowers the melting temperature of peridotite: so it begins to
melt
How magma changes as it travels to the surface
o How melts evolve (change in composition or differentiate) as they crystallize in crustal magma

Melt evolution at crustal levels (~5-15 km)

o Crystallization in crustal magma chamber

Magma with mafic (basaltic) composition erupt fluid basaltic lavas

Replenishment with basaltic magma from below

Cooling of magma body causes crystals of olivine, pyroxene, and calcium-rich plagioclase to
form and settle out, or crystalize along the magma bodys cool margins

Remaining melt will be enriched with silica, and should a subsequent eruption occur, the rocks
generated will be more silica-rich and closer to the felsic (granitic) end of the compositional
range than the initial magma

Start as mafic magma with high Fe, low Si, low gases, low viscosity

End as felsic magma with low Fe, high Si, high gases, and high viscosity
Reasons for explosive vs. non-explosive

NON explosive

Constant replenishment with basaltic magma (low gas, low viscosity)

Mid-ocean ridges, hotspots (ex. Hawaii)

o Explosive

Small amounts of basaltic magma crystallize to andesitic and rhyolitic magmas (high gas, high
viscosity)

Subduction zones
Igneous structures
o Volcanic structures

Common types of basaltic lava eruption structures

Pahoehoe (ropey lava) (well-stirred) Hawaii

Aa (spiky lava) (to burn) Hawaii

Pillow lava (lobes forms only under water old (exposed on-land) Iceland, Tasmania

Common types of andesitic and rhyolitic eruption structures

Pyroclastic [fire-fragment] materials (ash, dust, house-sized ejected materials)

Philippines

Calderas Crater Lake

Ring fractures, magma chamber, pyroclastic deposits (welded tuff), resurgent dome

Flood basalts Columbia river flood basalts (erupted ~17 mya) mile-thick lava

Plate motion, rising mantle plume

o Plutonic structures

Dikes: near vertical tabular bodies

Sills: near horizontal tabular bodies

Pluton: a crystallized magma chamber Half Dome

Batholith: many plutons caused by extensive uplift and erosion Sierra Nevada
o

EOS Chapter 6
Weathering and Soil

Weathering disintegration and decomposition of rocks at the earths surface

o Mechanical physical disaggregation of rock

Frost-wedging: expansion of ice along cracks breaks rock

Talus: angular rock debris that accumulates at the base of a cliff/slope

Old Man of the Mountain New Hampshire

Unloading/sheeting: removal of rock from above decreases pressure below, leading to sheeting

Exfoliation dome (Half Dome)

Biological activity (roots, burrows, lichen [secrete chemicals])

Thermal expansion (common in deserts): repeated heating/cooling (even in absence of

freezing)cracking
o Chemical chemical decomposition of rocks: minerals dissociate into constituent elements, sometimes
forming new minerals, sometimes washing away. Most effective in WARM, MOIST climates (water is
important)

Dissolution: some minerals dissolve in water or slightly acidic water (ex. halite, calcite)

Ex. calcite in marble or limestone

Acidic rain or groundwater provides H+

CaCO3 (calcite) + 2H+ H2O + CO2 + Ca+

Oxidation: loss of electrons from a cation to oxygen, resulting in a higher valence state. Iron
(Fe) most common oxidizing cation

Mafic minerals are particularly prone to oxidation

Fe+2 Fe+3

Hydrolysis: H+ in water replaces positive ions in silicates, resulting in change in mineral

structure (mineralogy)

Ex. feldspars + H+ clay minerals + other ions (carried away water)

o Mechanical weathering promotes chemical weathering

As mechanical weathering breaks rock into smaller pieces, more surface area is exposed to
chemical weathering

Chemical weathering promotes mechanical weathering

o Factors that affect rates of weathering

Parent material: mineral stability (resistance to chemical weathering)

Stability related to number of Si-O bonds (more Si, rapid; less Si, slow)

Quartz is very resistant remains long after other minerals have chemically weathered
away
Leads to differential weathering (different rocks are composed of different minerals
(mineral proportions), which vary in resistance to weather ex. Utah toadstools

Climate

Rainfall (water involved in various processes), temperature and temp variations

(affects rate of reactions)

Low temp low rainfall = strong physical weathering, high temp high rainfall = strong
chemical weathering, high temp, low rainfall = slight weathering
o Ex. Cleopatras Needle (Central Park, NYC) carved 3500 years ago, Egypt NYC 1880. Acid rain &
frost-wedging
Soil an interface between solid earth, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. Plays an essential role in
making nutrients available for the food chain. Combination of mineral/rock matter and organic matter + pore
space
o Mineral/rock matter: regolith
o Organic matter: humus decayed remains of plants and animals
o Pore space: filled by water or air
o Idealized soil profile soil horizons

Topsoil

O humus

A zone of leaching of soluble salts (+clays)

B zone of accumulation of salts (subsoil) (+clay)

C weathered parent material (bedrock)

Gradational contact

Fresh parent material (bedrock)

o Climate is a significant control of soil formation
o Rate of soil formation (ex. in S. Alaska melting [retreating] glaciers leave unweathered parent material,
which then begins to form soil. So one can estimate the RATE of soil development)
o Soil loss

Natural agents of soil loss/erosion (water [rain and run-off], wind)

Human actions: almost triple the natural rate of soil erosion primarily by disrupting
vegetation cover; roots hold soil in place

Agricultural practices, overgrazing, deforestation

Dust Bowl Drought (31-39) problems made worse by agricultural practices not
adapted to dry land farm
Mass wasting: downslope movement due to gravity

EOS Chapter 7
Sedimentary Rocks

Weathering creates sediment and ions dissolved in water. Sediment and ions are transported by water, wind
and ice, and deposited in various sedimentary environments and deposition, leading to formation of
sedimentary rock
Lithification: the process by which loose sediment becomes consolidated sedimentary rock
o Compaction: weight (pressure) of overlying sediment compacts deeper sediment, reducing pore space
o Cementation: water percolating through pore spaces deposits cementing minerals, which binds
sediment grains together

Most common cementing minerals: calcite, silica or iron-oxide

3 types defined of type and origin of sediment that makes up the rock
o Detrital (clastic) sedimentary rocks: broken fragments of pre-existing rock (sediment/sedimentary rock)

Coarse (over 2 mm)

Gravel (rounded) conglomerate

Gravel (angular) breccia

Medium

Sand sandstone

Fine

Mud siltstone

Very fine (less than 1/256 mm)

Mud shale/mudstone

Maturity of Detrital (clastic) Sediments

Average grain size (grains become smaller)

Grain size sorting (grains become more uniform in size)

Roundedness vs Angularity (grains become more rounded)

These sediments mature the farther they are transported from their source
o Chemical sedimentary rocks: usually precipitated from solution (ex. evaporates), some types of
limestone (CaCO3) and chert (SiO2) that result from precipitation from water
o Organic (biogenic) sedimentary rocks: composed predominantly of shells or plant remains (ex.
limestones) composed of CaCO3 from coral or from shells; chert composed of diatoms or radiolaria
shells (SiO2); coal composed of decomposed plant remains

Limestone (both chemical and organic)

Calcite, CaCO3 (crystalline limestone, fossiliferous, limestone, chalk)

Composed of calcium carbonate shells of animals, such as foraminifera (plankton type)

o Macroscopic shells, microscopic shells (chalk)

Chert (both chemical and organic)

Quartz, SiO2

Chemical: Silica precipitated from solution

Organic: composed of silica shells (from diatoms, a form of plankton)

Evaporites: chemical

CaSO4, 2H2O (rock gypsum) halite, Nacl (rock salt)

Dead Sea (Israel-Jordan), Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, Gypsum, Colorado

Coal: organic sedimentary rock

Altered plant fragments (bituminous coal)

Sedimentary structures
o Sedimentary strata (beds, layers): usually close to horizontal, when deposited in quiet water
environments

Ex. Grand Canyon

o For determining wind or water direction

Cross-bedding: layers deposited at an angle, due to prevailing wind or water movement (can
tell direction)

Lee slope

Ripple marks: form in shallow running water (can tell direction of water movement)

Asymmetrical ripples are like small cross-beds with prevailing currents (direction of
current)

Symmetrical ripples form in wave environments (water moves back and forth)
o For telling which sediments are younger vs. older

Graded beds: grain size grades from coarse at the base to finer at the top (can be used to tell
which way is up)

Mud cracks: form, for example, in ephemeral lakes of deserts (can tell which way is up because
cracks widen at top)
o For studying annual progressions

Varve: alternating coarse and fine-grained layers. Form where lake freezes in winter (finegrained) while in summer rivers bring in coarse-grains.

Warm seasons: heavy runoff into lake; coarse sediments (thick, light-colored)

Winter: lake iced over, no sediment influx, fine clays settle (thin, dark-colored)
Sedimentary rocks help us study climate change and evolution

EOS Chapter 8
Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic rock: a rock whose original mineralogy, texture or composition has been changed in the solid
state
o Original rock (parent rock or protolith) can be igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic
o Results from:

Changes in temperature

Changes in pressure

Changes in composition due to circulating fluids

o Change in minerology: different minerals are stable at different temperatures and pressures

Same composition, different mineral structure

Graphite diamond: both carbon, increasing T and P

Different mineral compositions (change in amount of elements by circulating fluids)

Clay mica: increasing T and P + change in composition

o Change in texture (changes in crystal size or arrangement)

Crystal size (typically grains increase in size with increasing T and P)

Shale (fine) schist (coarse grained): increasing T and P

Crystal arrangement: grains become more interlocking (pore spaces reduced, recrystallization
occurs)

Sandstonequartzite: increasing T and P

o Change in orientation of grains

Uniform stress (pressure same in all directions: confining pressure)

Leads to random orientation called non-foliated

Differential stress (pressure greater in one direction than another)

Leads to preferred orientation called foliation

Foliation: parallel alignment of mineral grains
o Grains in foliated rocks become aligned by

Rotation of existing platy or elongate minerals

Slippage along crystal planes (they elongate perpendicular to direction of maximum stress)

Pressure solution recrystallization

Recrystallization that produces new minerals

New elongate or platy minerals tend to crystallize perpendicular to maximum stress

and segregate

Shale (sedimentary rock): clays, quartz, iron oxides

Gneiss (metamorphic rock): feldspar, quartz, micas, amphibole

Metamorphism takes place in the solid state
o If significant melting occurs: igneous rock/process
o Migmatite: transitional between metamorphic & igneous rock
Three settings of metamorphism that differ in terms of temperature and pressure conditions
o Contact metamorphism: temperature increases rapidly approaching the magma, pressure low
(because its near surface)

Metamorphic aureole over igneous pluton

High T, Low P

Produces non-foliated rocks

Ex. quartz sandstonequartzite, limestonemarble (increasing metamorphic grade)

o Subduction zone metamorphism: low to high pressures at relatively LOW temperatures (slab is cold)
ex. bluschist

Low T, High P
o Regional metamorphism increasing T and P
Shale: lowhigh grade, increasing T and P, increasing foliation and grain size, slatephylliteschistgneiss
o Slate tiny chlorite and mica flakes, breaks in flat slabs called slaty cleavage, smooth dull surfaces
o Phyllite fine-grained, glossy sheen, breaks along wavy surfaces
o Schist medium-to-coarse-grained, scaly foliation, micas dominate
o Gneiss coarse-grained, composition banding due to segregation of light and dark colored minerals
Index minerals
o Low grade: chlorite (low T,P), intermediate grade: garnet (med T,P), high grade: sillimanite (high T,P)