Apes Energy Review (The Earth’s Major Geological Processes and Hazards (11))

• Core

  Composed of high-density nickel and iron (iron most abundant)
• Evidence for plate tectonics

  • Continental Drift
  • Fossil record
  • Offset in topography
  • Earthquakes
  • Volcanoes
• Many people believe that oxygen is the most abundant element in the atmosphere however nitrogen gas is. (N2=78% O2=21%)
• Mantle

  • The asthenosphere is composed of floating magma
  • The lithosphere is the solid portion of the mantle that makes up the Earth’s tectonic plates
• Crust

  The thin, outermost layer of the Earth. Oxygen is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, mainly found in silicates
• Types of plate boundaries

  • Divergent: Two plates move away from each other
  • Convergent: Two plates move toward each other
  • Transform: Two plates slide by each other
• Divergent Plate Boundaries

  1. Found at Mid-ocean ridges where they cause sea-floor spreading, form submarine volcanoes and move continents

  2. Found at Rift valleys where they tear continents apart (Pangaea)
• Convergent Plate boundaries

  1. Ocean to continent: Oceanic plate moves under continental plate in a process called subduction causing formation of volcanoes, mountain ranges, deep ocean trench, and earthquakes

  2. Continent to continent: Collisions cause tall mountains, high plateaus, and earthquakes
• Major tectonic plates of the world

  • Eurasian Plate: Europe + Asia
  • Philippine Plate: Philippines
  • Arabian Plate: Between the Eurasian and Philippine plate
  • African Plate: Africa
  • Australian-Indian Plate: Australia + India
  • Antarctica Plate: Antarctica
  • Pacific Plate: Pacific Ocean
  • North American Plate
  • Caribbean Plate
  • Nazca Plate: On the left of South American Plate
  • Cocos Plate: On the left of the Caribbean plate
  • South American Plate: South America
• The most famous transform fault is located where the North American Plate is sliding past the Pacific Plate, called the San Andreas Fault
• Transform Plate Boundaries


  Plates slide past each other causing frequent earthquakes, offset in topography
• Earth's layers The core, the mantle, and the crust
• How tectonic plates move

  Lithosphere is floating on the molten rock of the asthenosphere. Magma cycle of heating and cooling forms a convection current or thermal convection. Moving magma builds up pressure under plates causing earthquakes
• Phenomena forming volcanoes

  • Subduction
  • Mid ocean ridges
  • Hot spots
• A volcano is an opening in the Earth's surface allowing hot molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from deep below the surface
• The Ring of Fire is an area located around the Pacific Ocean where 4/5 of all volcanic activity on Earth's surface is found
• Hot spots

  • land form volcanoes. Yellowstone is over a hot spot
  • Hot spots in the oceans form islands. Hawaii is formed by a hot spot
• Earthquakes are categorized in two ways: The Mercalli scale is a qualitative description of damage and intensity, ranked by Roman numerals I to XII. The Richter magnitude scale is a quantitative scale, with each whole number increase representing a tenfold increase in strength
• Seismic waves

  • P waves (primary waves) are the fastest waves. They are the first waves that indicate the beginning of an earthquake and cause a back and forth shaking
  • S waves (secondary waves) travel at a medium speed and are several times larger and more destructive than P waves
  • Surface waves are a combination of waves and travel just under the Earth's surface. They travel very slow and are the most destructive type of seismic wave
• Focus


  The location inside the Earth's crust where the earthquake begins. It is the position where the energy stored in the strained rock is released
• Hot spots

  • Not all volcanoes develop along plate boundaries
  • Sometimes they pop up in the middle of tectonic plates
  • A fixed opening in the plate where magma can push through and form a volcano as a tectonic plate passes over it
  • The magma will feed the volcano until the plate passes by it
• Mineral Resources: Some naturally occurring materials in the earth’s crust can be extracted and made into useful products or used as an energy resource
• Epicenter


  The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the point where an earthquake originates, or the focus
• Tsunami is a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake that causes an upward thrust of a plate pushing water toward land and a drop in a plate causing water to drop and move towards land
• Energy resources


  • Fossil fuels like coal, Lead, Gold, Aluminum, Iron, Copper
• Earthquakes

  1. An earthquake is a sudden movement of tectonic plates as rocks break along a fault

  2. They occur as built-up pressure is released or a volcanic eruption produces seismic waves
• The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) regulates the environmental effects of coal mining and the reclamation of abandoned mine lands in the United States
• Acid Mine Drainage is highly acidic leachate that spreads from the spoils whenever it rains
• Types of Mining

  1. Subsurface mining: the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels

  2. Area strip mining: Earth movers strip away overburden and giant shovels remove mineral deposit in large horizontal beds

  3. Contour strip mining is done in hilly terrain

  4. Mountaintop removal: Heavy machinery removes the overburden on top of mountains to expose coal

  5. Open-pit Mining: Machines dig holes and remove ores, sand, gravel, and stone