Continental drift 

It is the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other by appearing to drift across the ocean bed. The speculation that continents might have 'drifted' was first put forward by Abraham Ortelius in 1596.

The concept was independently (and more fully) developed in 1912 by German geologist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener. He first proposed the theory of continental drift, which states that parts of the Earth's crust slowly drift atop a liquid core. The fossil record supports and gives credence to the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. 

Wegener hypothesized that there was a gigantic supercontinent 200 million years ago, which he named Pangaea, meaning "All-earth“ (in Greek). Pangaea started to break up into two smaller supercontinents, called Laurasia and Gondwanaland, during the Jurassic period. By the end of the Cretaceous period, the continents were separating into land masses that look like our modern-day continents. 

Wegener published this theory in his 1915 book, On the Origin of Continents and Oceans. He was the first to use the phrase “continental drift”.

Fossil Evidence in Support of the Theory

Eduard Suess was an Austrian geologist who first realized that there had once been a land bridge connecting South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. He named this large land mass Gondwanaland (named after a district in India where the fossil plant Glossopteris was found). This was the southern supercontinent formed after Pangaea broke up during the Jurassic period. Suess based his deductions on the fossil plant Glossopteris, which is found throughout India, South America, southern Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

Fossils of Mesosaurus (one of the first marine reptiles, even older than the dinosaurs) were found in

both South America and South Africa. These finds, plus the study of

sedimentation and the fossil plant Glossopteris in these southern continents led Alexander du Toit, a South African scientist, to bolster the idea of the past existence of a supercontinent in the southern hemisphere, Eduard Suess's Gondwanaland. This lent further support to Alfred Wegener's Continental Drift Theory .

Plate tectonics

The theory of plate tectonics (meaning "plate structure") was developed in the 1960's. This theory explains the movement of the Earth's plates (which has since been documented scientifically) and also explains the cause of earthquakes, volcanoes, oceanic trenches, mountain range formation, and other geologic phenomenon. 

The plates are moving at a speed that has been estimated at 1 to 10 cm per year. Most of the Earth's seismic activity (volcanoes and earthquakes) occurs at the plate boundaries as they interact.

The top layers of the plates are called the crust. Oceanic crust (the crust under the oceans) is thinner and denser than continental crust. Crust is constantly being created and destroyed, oceanic crust is more active than continental crust. 

Types of Plate Movement

Divergent

-When two oceanic plates move away from each other which result to formation of new crust (from magma that comes out from Earth’s mantle).

-Divergent takes place at the boundary of the oceanic plates and forms new sea floor. This process is called sea-floor spreading.

-As magma rises up to the surface, it piles up and solidifies, slowly forming a long chain of mountains on the ocean floor, called an oceanic ridge.

-Volcanoes can also form undersea at these divergent boundaries, they are called submarine volcanoes and have gentle eruptions.

Transform A transform plate movement is one where two plates slide laterally past each other. However, movement is not smooth due to friction between the rocks of the two plates. Therefore, sometimes the two plates would get 'stuck' and lock together. But since the convection currents of the underlying magma are still dragging the plates, much tension and pressure is built up at the transform boundary. When there is sufficient buildup of pressure, rocks in the plates break and get jerked apart. This results in earthquakes.

Convergent

When two plates collide, some crust is destroyed in the impact and the plates become smaller. The results differ, depending upon what types of plates are involved. 

When Two Continental Plates Converge :one plate will be forced only slightly under the other, but no subduction will take place. Thus, the pressing together of two plates will fold the crust and forms what we known as fold mountains.

When Two Oceanic Plates Converge: Similarly, when one oceanic plate converge, the other oceanic plate may subduct beneath the other. However, there is no head-on collision for two oceanic plates. Magma will then rise up to form volcanoes.

Continental Shelf -It is the extended perimeter of each continent  and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but it is now submerged under relatively shallow seas  and gulfs and was similarly submerged .-Continents are the seven main divisions of land on Earth. A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break. From the break, the shelf descends toward the deep ocean floor in what is called the continental slope.-

A mountain range or mountain belt is a geographic area containing numerous geologically related mountains.A mountain system or system of mountain ranges sometimes is used to combine several geological features that are geographically (regionally) related.Mountain ranges are usually segmented by highlands or mountain passes and valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the samegeologic structure or petrology. They may be a mix of different orogenic expressions andterranes, for example thrust sheets, uplifted blocks, fold mountains, and volcanic landforms resulting in a variety of rock types.Asia comprehensively leads the list of the highest mountain ranges in the world. These mountains form the boundary between theIndian subcontinent and rest of Asia, lying to the north of Indian subcontinent and the south of rest of Asia.

Mountain Ranges

TrenchesIn geology, trenches are created as

a result of erosion by rivers or by geological movement of tectonic plates. In the civil engineering field of construction or maintenance of infrastructure, trenches are created to install underground infrastructure or utilities (such as gas mains, water mains or telephone lines), or later to search for these installations. Trenches have often been dug for military defensive purposes. In archaeology, the "trench method" is used for searching and excavating ancient ruins or to dig into strata of sedimented material.

The deepest ocean depth to be sounded is in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench at a depth of 10,911 m (35,798 ft) below sea level.

Paleoclimatology

In geology Paleoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses a variety of proxy methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously preserved within (e.g.) rocks,sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils; it then uses these records to determine the past states of the Earth's various climate regions and its atmospheric system.

Studies of past changes in the environment and biodiversity often reflect on the current situation, and specifically the impact of climate on mass extinctions and biotic recovery.

Limitations in Reconstructing Paleoclimates:

The limitations in this process result from uncertainties associated with dating the proxy indicators or other evidence.

Two fundamental types of dating:

Identify the actual geological time represented by the

evidence. Limited and rely predominately on evaluating

the amount of decay of naturally occurring radioactive

isotopes.

Differentiate time relative to other points in time. Stratigraphy establishes a relative

sequence of events or characteristics within which the evidence lies. If this same

sequence can be identified in multiple locations it can be used to establish the relationship between locations and the

relative timing of the indicators.

Absolute Dating Relative Dating

Causes of Paleoclimatic change

Climate change is always occurring, and that it occurs at all time scales.

In this discussion, we will start with the most ancient changes and move to the more recent changes. Of course, much of what follows is speculation and our picture will undoubtedly change as new paleo-climatological techniques are developed.

Although the basic causes of climate change are still not fully understood, many clues have been collected.

Possible causes include:

*Changes in solar output*Changes in Earth's orbit*Changes in the distribution of continents*Changes in the concentration of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere

Paleoclimatic Evidences

1.0 Fit of the Continents - Noted the similarity in the coastlines of North and South America and Europe and Africa.

2.0 Fossil Similarities - Mesosaurus, reptile similar to modern alligator which lived in shallow waters of South America and Africa.

3.0 Rock Similarities

3.1Rocks of same age juxtaposed across ocean basins.

3.2 Termination of mountain chains

4.0 Paleoclimatic Evidence of

4.1 Glacial deposits at equator

4.2 Coral reefs in Antarctica

Fossil Evidence:

If you look at the fossil record, you find a succession of organisms that suggest a history of incremental development from one species to another. You see very simple organisms at first and then new, more complex organisms appearing over time. The characteristics of newer organisms frequently appear to be modified forms of characteristics of older organisms.

The fossil record provides snapshots of the past that, when assembled, illustrate a panorama of evolutionary change over the past four billion years. The picture may be smudged in places and may have bits missing, but fossil evidence clearly shows that life is old and has changed over time.

Magnetism and Paleomagnetism:

Earth is a bar magnet with a magnetic north and south. At poles a compass needle dips vertically. Downward at the north pole, upward at the south pole and horizontal at the equator. Magnetic poles do not correspond with geographic poles. Variation is termed the magnetic declination. It is 16 degrees east in California. However, it has been found that even though the magnetic and geographic poles do not correspond today when the location of the magnetic north pole is averaged over a 5,000 year period it does correspond with geographic north. Magnetic pole moves as much as 25 km per year.

Causes of Earth's Magnetism:

1.0 First thought to be the result of a permanently magnetized core. However, it has been shown that when any substance is heated above 500 degrees C it looses its permanent magnetism.

2.0 Earth is a Dynamo - Outer core is a fluid consisting largely of iron, so it is an excellent conductor. Electromagnetic currents are generated and amplified by motion within the liquid caused by convection. Rotation of the Earth unifies the random convective movements generating the magnetic field.

Paleomagnetism:

In the 1950's scientists discover how to measure paleomagnetism (magnetism frozen in the rock at the time it formed). With this knowledge scientists could tell the direction and latitude of geomagnetic pole at the time the rock formed. Europeans were the first to extensively study paleomagnetic pole locations and found that by 500 MY ago magnetic north was located near Hawaii. At first it was assumed the poles were free to wander (Apparent Polar Wandering). North American geologists attempted similar studies largely to disprove the Europeans and found that 500 my ago North American rocks showed the magnetic north pole to be in the East Pacific, 3000 miles to the west of the European magnetic north at that time.

A geologic process in which one edge of one crustal plate is forced below the edge of another.

The process by which collision of the earth's crustal plates results in one plate's being drawn down or overridden by another, localized along the juncture (subduc′tion zone`) of two plates.

The denser of the two plates sinks beneath the other. As it descends, the plate often generates seismic and volcanic activity (from melting and upward migration of magma) in the overriding plate.

It is the concerted, collective movement of ensembles of molecules within  fluids (e.g., liquids, gases) and rheids. Convection of mass cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids. Diffusion of heat can take place in solids, but is referred to separately in that case as heat conduction.Convective heat transfer is one of the major modes of heat transfer and convection is also a major mode of mass transfer in fluids. Convective heat and mass transfer take place through both diffusion – the random Brownian motion of individual particles in the fluid – and by advection, in which matter or heat is transported by the larger-scale motion of currents in the fluid.

Cliff Valley

A high steep rock especially one facing the sea. It runs along the sea shore and has the strata

exposed.

When rocks are deformed plastically are bent into fold .The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat, level surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of pressure.

Folding

Stress is the applied force (The pushing and pulling on the rock layers).

Strain is the bending & twisting that happens to the rock also known as deformation.

Monocline: 

This is when the rock layer has a gently dipping bend in the horizontal rock layer.

3 Main types of Fold

Anticlines:

This is when layers are folded upwards in what looks like an arch. The layers are symmetrical (look alike) to either side of its center. Rock layers in anticlines dip away from the center axis. The oldest rocks are exposed on the center axis.

Synclines:

This is when the rock layers are folded downward. The youngest layers of rock are exposed on the center axis.

Fault

When rocks are deformed (broken), britty and displaced along fractures.

It is often caused by earthquake (seismic and volcanic).

Breaks in rocks are put in 2 categories:

Fractures-when there is no movement along either side of the rock break.

Fault-when either side of the rock break moves in opposite direction.

Fault Terminology

1)"Hanging Wall"- The surface of block that is on top of the plane of the fault.

2)"Footwall"- The surface or block that lies below the plane of the fault.

3) "Strike"- The direction in which the fault runs. Two layers of rock are shifted horizontally or parallel to the fault plane.

4) "Dip"- The dip direction is perpendicular to the strike direction

2 Types of Dip-Slip Fault

Normal Fault: The hanging wall has slipped down in comparison to the foot wall. Gravity causes the hanging wall to slip down. Normal Faults are from layers being pulled apart. Also known as a GRAVITY FAULT.

Reverse Fault:The hanging wall has slipped up in comparison to the foot wall. When layers are pushed together this is the kind of fault that occurs. Also known as a THRUST FAULT.

Earthquake

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic

activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time.

Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than

approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe. The more numerous earthquakes smaller than magnitude 5

reported by national seismological observatories are measured mostly on the local magnitude scale, also

referred to as the Richter scale.

Landslide

A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow 

debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of 

gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the

actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released.

Soil Compaction

It is the process in which a stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or other liquid) being displaced from between the soil grains then consolidation, not compaction, has occurred. Normally, compaction is the result of heavy machinery compressing the soil, but it can also occur due to the passage of (e.g.) animal feet.

In soil science and agronomy soil compaction is usually a combination of both engineering compaction and consolidation, so may occur due to a lack of water in the soil, the applied stress being internal suction due to water evaporation as well as due to passage of animal feet.

Affected soils become less able to absorb rainfall, thus increasing runoff and erosion.

Plants have difficulty in compacted soil because the mineral grains are pressed together, leaving little space for air and water, which are essential for root growth. Burrowing animals also find it a hostile environment, because the denser soil is more difficult to penetrate. The ability of a soil to recover from this type of compaction depends on climate, mineralogy and fauna. Soils with high shrink-swell capacity, such as vertisols, recover quickly from compaction where moisture conditions are variable (dry spells shrink the soil, causing it to crack). But clays which do not crack as they dry cannot recover from compaction on their own unless they host ground-dwelling animals such as earthworms.

5 Techniques of Soil Compaction

Static - a large stress is slowly applied to the soil and then released. Impact - the stress is applied by dropping a large mass onto the surface of the soil.Vibrating - a stress is applied repeatedly and rapidly via a mechanically driven plate or hammer. Often combined with rolling compaction.Gyrating - a static stress is applied and maintained in one direction while the soil is a subjected to a gyratory motion about the axis of static loading. Limited to laboratory applications.Rolling - a heavy cylinder is rolled over the surface of the soil. Commonly used on sports pitches. Roller-compactors are often fitted with vibratory devices to enhance their ability.Kneading - shear is applied by alternating movement in adjacent positions. An example, combined with rolling compaction, is the 'sheeps foot' roller used in waste compaction at landfills.

Soil Liquefaction

Describes a phenomenon where by a saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid.

In soil mechanics the term "liquefied" was first used by Hazen in reference to the 1918 failure of the Calaveras Dam in California. He described the mechanism of flow liquefaction of the embankment dam as follows:

If the pressure of the water in the pores is great enough to carry all the load, it will have the effect of holding the particles apart and of producing a condition that is practically equivalent to that of quicksand… the initial movement of some part of the material might result in accumulating pressure, first on one point, and then on another, successively, as the early points of concentration were liquefied.

The phenomenon is most often observed in saturated, loose (low density or uncompacted), sandy soils. This is because a loose sand has a tendency to compress when a load is applied; dense sands by contrast tend to expand in volume or 'dilate'. If the soil is saturated by water, a condition that often exists when the soil is below the ground water table or sea level, then water fills the gaps between soil grains ('pore spaces'). In response to the soil compressing, this water increases in pressure and attempts to flow out.

Tsunami

TSU-Harbor / NAMI-Wave (Kanji-Japanese)

The  2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with over 230,000 people killed in 14

countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

It is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, generally an ocean or a large lake, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.

Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this reason they are often referred to as tidal waves. Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train". Wave heights of 10 meters can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins.

Plants Impact on Environment

MaintainsBiodiversity

Green House Gases

Neutralizer

Aides for soil compaction

ProvidesOxygen

Gives Medicine

Provides Nutrition

Tool forEconomic

Growth

Human Impact on Enviroment

# Literally connoted as pigs (baboy sa gawain).# We are the producer of all pollutions due to population growth & industrialization (aerial, water & land), acid rains (burning of fossil fuel that release nitrates & sulphates).# Guilty of deforestation (lost of biodiversity, oxygen & natural habitats), Ozone depletion (ozone layer was disappearing), and extinction of other nature species (endangered animals)-Contributes to Global Warming and Climate Change.