Geology for EngineersPlanet Earth... Recommended Texts• Course web-site • Understanding Earth 2nd edition, Press & Siever • The Solid Earth 2nd Edition, Fowler • Introducing Groundwater
Trang 1Geology for Engineers
Planet Earth
Trang 4• 3 hour exam
• All the material taught in the course, including practicals and field-trip, is examinable!!!
• Answer 5 out of 7 questions
• 6 set by PB + QC, 1 by BM
• See past exam papers for examples!
Trang 5Course Notes
Trang 6Recommended Texts
• Course web-site
• Understanding Earth (2nd edition), Press & Siever
• The Solid Earth (2nd Edition), Fowler
• Introducing Groundwater (2nd Edition),
Price
• Water wells and boreholes, Misstear,
Bank & Clark
Trang 14Formation of the Solar System
• The stages of solar system formation start with a protostar embedded in a gas cloud, then to an early star with a circumstellar disk, to a star surrounded by small
"planetesimals" that are starting to clump together to a solar system like ours today
Trang 15Formation of the Solar System
www.jwst.nasa.gov/birth.html Credit: Shu et al 1987
Trang 16Composition of the Solar System
• Jovian planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
– Large masses & low densities.
– Mainly composed of gaseous H & He and frozen C-H-N volatiles.
– Interiors may be similar to that of Earth
Trang 17Composition of the Solar System
• The inner, terrestrial planets: Small
masses & high densities
– Mercury: No atmosphere Similar in
composition to Earth.
– Venus: Dense atmosphere of CO2 & N Similar
in composition to Earth.
– Earth: More about “us” later.
– Mars: Polar ice caps in winter – water?
Uniform chemical composition – i.e no iron
core and silicate mantle as in Earth.
Trang 18The Asteroids
www.aerospaceweb.org/
Trang 20Composition of the Solar System
• The asteroids: Located in a belt between the terrestrial and Jovian planets
• Meteorites: Most are probably fragments from the asteroid belt of our solar system
– Siderites, or “irons” (98% metal)
– Siderolites, or “stony irons” (50% metal, 50% silicate)
– Aerolite, or “stones” (silicate > metal)