ES8005 – Chapter 1 A system is any portion of the universe that can be isolated for the purpose of observing & measuring changes A system must have a boundary that sets it apart from its surroundings 3 basic types of systems 1. Isolated system * Boundary prevents the system from exchanging BOTH matter & energy with its surroundings. * Both matter and energy within the system are fixed & finite because none can enter and none can leave the system. * Imaginary
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were once joined together. This theory became apparent when Alfred Wenger identified that the edge of tectonic plates, continental shelf, seeming to fit together in a jig-saw fashion. For example, if you take the eastern edge of South America and the Western side of Africa they fit together almost perfectly, too perfect for it to be a coincidence. Note that it is the edge of the tectonic plates themselves that fit together and not the forever changing individual shorelines of the countries. Continental
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Something else occurs during the mountain building process; the volcano formation. Under tectonic plates there is magma. In fact, it is the magma that is moving the tectonic plates. When the plates crash into each other smalls fissures are formed throughout them; the magma gets into these fissures at high pressure resulting in breakage at the top of the new mountain, and defining the volcano. Located along the entire western coast of South America, the Andes Mountains (also known as Cordillera de
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Journal Article Review on East Africa's Great Rift Valley: A Complex Rift System I. Introduction The never ending saga on how the earth was created continues on. Numerous scientists have attempted to state different theories and this article describes how two Michigan Tech affiliates believe the East African Rift Valley was created. It is written from an old-earth viewpoint as it was believed to have originated billions of years ago. II. Brief Overview and Main Points In this article, the authors
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2509 kwedel@tusd.net Wednesday 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm or by arrangement Welcome to Earth Science – the study of the world around you. Our topics will include Astronomy (study of outer space), Geology (study of rocks, earthquakes, volcanoes and plate tectonics), Meteorology (study of the atmosphere, climate and climate change), and Oceanography (study of the oceans and water systems). This course will use hands-on experimentation, activities, and direct instruction. You will be enabled to learn the
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While scientists initially speculated that the cause of the disaster was the movement of the Caribbean tectonic plate eastward along the EPG strike-slip fault system (which is, in case you didn’t know, a fault in which rock strata are displaced mainly in a horizontal direction, parallel to the line of the fault,) however, when no surface deformation was formed, scientists found that the earthquake was actually caused by contractional deformation along the Léogâne fault. Make sure you have maps indicating
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Earth's crust and mantle Earth cutaway from core to exosphere The crust of the Earth is composed of a great variety of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The crust is underlain by the mantle. The upper part of the mantle is composed mostly of peridotite, a rock denser than rocks common in the overlying crust. The boundary between the crust and mantle is conventionally placed at the Mohorovičić discontinuity, a boundary defined by a contrast in seismic velocity. The crust occupies
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Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word "Igneus" meaning of fire, from "Ignis" meaning fire) is one of the three main rock types (the others being sedimentary and metamorphic rock). Igneous rock is formed by magma (molten rock) cooling and becoming solid. Igneous rock may form with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks. This magma can be derived from partial melts of pre-existing rocks in either a planet's
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surround the liquid core. On top, the many different plates of the crust move in different ways and form boundaries. The boundaries cause many different, violent reactions such as volcanoes that produce powerful eruptions. As I will cover in this paper, the plates move in three different ways, which give way to three different types of effects on the surface. The first type of boundary is the divergent boundary. These boundaries form when two plates or more separate from each other and create an area
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Current on Plate Tectonics Problem: How Do Differences in Temperature Cause Convection Currents? Background Information: * The earth is made of up different layers (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core). Each of these layers has distinct properties. * The continents are part of large lithospheric plates that have moved over geological time and continue to move at a rate of a few centimeters per year. One theory is that convection currents within earth’s mantle drive this plate motion
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