Earth Systems 3209

Unit 1: Introduction to Earth Science

How the solar system and Earth formed, how Earth separated into layers, and the idea that runs through the whole course — Earth as a dynamic planet whose processes operate across interacting spheres. STSE nature-of-science and inquiry skills are woven throughout.

• The nebular hypothesis
• Formation of Earth's layers

• A dynamic Earth and its spheres

Unit 2: Historical Geology

How geologists read time from rock — the principle of uniformitarianism, relative and absolute (radiometric) dating, fossils and fossilization, and the geologic time scale from Precambrian through the Phanerozoic. Nature-of-science framing and inquiry skills are woven throughout.

• Uniformitarianism
• Principles of relative dating
• Interpreting geological cross-sections

• Theories of Earth's internal structure
• Radiometric dating and absolute time
• Fossils and fossilization
• Using fossils and evidence of change

• Divisions of the geologic time scale
• Eras and their dominant life forms
• Evidence that Earth has changed over time

Unit 3: Earth Materials

The matter Earth is built from — mineral chemistry and the silicate tetrahedron, how minerals are identified, and the full rock story: igneous rocks (composition, texture, Bowen's series), sedimentary rocks (clastic, chemical, biochemical), and metamorphic rocks. The rock cycle ties them together. Inquiry skills and careers are woven throughout.

• Atoms, compounds, and mineral chemistry
• Abundance of crustal elements

• Defining minerals and mineral groups
• The silicate tetrahedron
• Identifying minerals by properties
• Rocks versus minerals

• Igneous rocks: composition
• Igneous texture and Bowen's series
• Identifying igneous rocks and kimberlite

• Formation and classes of sedimentary rocks
• Clastic sedimentary rocks
• Chemical and biochemical sedimentary rocks

• The process of metamorphism
• Types and locations of metamorphism

Unit 4: The Forces within Earth

The engine of the dynamic Earth — plate tectonics and its boundaries, the evidence for it, crustal deformation (folds and faults), earthquakes and seismic waves, and volcanism — and how the hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere interact. Inquiry skills and risk framing are woven throughout.

• Plate boundaries and rift valleys
• Evidence for plate tectonics

• Crustal deformation and stress
• Faults and folds

• Earthquakes and plate boundaries
• Seismic waves and measuring earthquakes
• Earthquake scales

• Volcanoes and eruptions
• Hotspots and sphere interactions

Unit 5: Earth Resources: Real-Life Applications

Putting earth science to work — the importance and extraction of mineral resources and ore processing, and the geology of petroleum: how hydrocarbons form from kerogen, the traps and reservoirs that hold them, and how they are extracted and refined — closing with sustainable resource development. STSE decision-framing and careers are woven throughout.

• Minerals, exploration, and ore processing
• Processing ore materials

• Petroleum formation and kerogen
• Petroleum traps and reservoirs
• Extracting and refining petroleum