WEEK 1 - SCIENCE: EARTH’S LITHOSPHERE

Lithosphere - is the rigid, rocky outer layer of the earth consisting of the crust and the solid outermost
layer of the upper mantle

The two types of crust in the lithosphere:

● Oceanic crust
● Continental crust

Continental Crust - is the layer of rocks that forms the continents and the areas of shallow seabed
close to their shores known as continental shelves.
Oceanic Crust - outermost layer of lithosphere found under the oceans and formed at spreading
centers on oceanic ridges.

● Continental Crust
○ Makes up our continents
○ Made of light granitic rocks and aluminum silicates
○ 40 to 70 km thick
○ 29% of Earth’s surface
● Oceanic Crust
○ Underlies the ocean floor
○ Made of dense basaltic rocks and composed of magnesium silicates
○ 7 to 10 km thick
○ Coverage 71% of Earth’s surface
● Mantle is about 2900 km thick
● Mantle makes up 80% of the Earth’s mass
● Mantleis made of ferro-magnesium silicate
● Estimated temperature of the Mantle
○ 900 °C
○ 3700 °C
● Outer Core
○ Liquid
○ Made of molten nickel and iron
● Inner Core
○ Solid iron and contains high concentrations of iron and nickel.
● Outer Core is 2270 km thick
● Temperature range of the Outer Core
○ 3700 °C
○ 4300 °C
● Diameter of the Inner Core is about 1220 km
● Estimated temperature of the Inner Core is 6000 °C

Rock Composition
Continental Crust – made up of granitic rock which are less dense.
Oceanic Crust – made up of basaltic rock which are denser

When an oceanic crust collides with a continental crust, which one will subduct?
- The oceanic crust will subduct when it collides with a continental crust due to its higher
density.

What are the primary tectonic plates?

● African Plate
● Antarctic Plate
● Eurasian Plate
● Australian Plate
● North American Plate
● Pacific Plate
● South American Plate
What are the secondary plates?
● Arabian Plate
● Caribbean Plate
● Cocos Plate
● Juan de Fuca Plate
● Nazca Plate
● Philippine Plate
● Scotia Plate
● Convection Current - drives the movement of Earth’s rigid tectonic plates in the planet’s fluid
molten mantle caused by the heat from the core
● Asthenosphere - the upper layer of the Earth’s mantle, in which there is relatively low
resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur

What drives the movement of Earth's tectonic plates?

- Convection currents in the fluid molten mantle, caused by heat from the core, drive the
movement of Earth's rigid tectonic plates.
- Plates move at different speeds depending on their location and the forces acting upon them.
WEEK 2 - SCIENCE: SEISMIC WAVES
Permian - 250 million years ago Triassic - 200 million years ago

Jurassic - 145 million years ago Cretaceous - 65 million years ago

Earthquake - is a sudden, rapid shaking of the ground caused by the shifting of rocks deep
underneath the earth’s surface.

EARTHQUAKES or SEISMIC WAVES - are mechanical vibrations that occur inside the Earth (along
fault lines) which is caused by the breakage of rocks
What are seismic waves?
Seismic waves are mechanical vibrations that occur inside the Earth along fault lines caused by the
breakage of rocks.

What are body waves?

Body waves can travel through the Earth’s body and are used by seismologists in their studies of the
Earth’s interior.

Body waves
❖ can travel through the Earth’s body (interior.)
❖ used by seismologist in their studies of the earth’s interior
❖ relatively faster than surface waves

What are the types of body waves?

● Primary Waves (P Waves): Compressional/longitudinal waves that can pass through solids,
liquids, and gases.
● Secondary Waves (S Waves): Transverse waves that travel through solids only and are slower
than P waves.

Primary Waves
❖ Compressional/ longitudinal waves
❖ Particles vibrate parallel to the direction where the wave is travelling
❖ can pass through solids, liquids and gases

Secondary waves
❖ Transverse waves
❖ Particles vibrate perpendicular to the direction where the wave is travelling
❖ Slower than P waves
❖ Travel through SOLID only

How do particles move in Primary Waves (P Waves)?

Particles vibrate parallel to the direction where the wave is traveling

How do particles move in Secondary Waves (S Waves)?

Particles vibrate perpendicular to the direction where the wave is traveling.

What is the difference in the ability of P Waves and S Waves to travel through
different states of matter?
P Waves can pass through solids, liquids, and gases, while S Waves can only travel through solids.
What are surface waves in the context of earthquakes?
Surface waves can travel only on the surface of the earth and are responsible for the destruction and
damages associated with earthquakes

What are the types of surface waves?

● Love Waves: Travel along the surface of the earth directly above the epicenter and are most
damaging.
● Rayleigh Waves: Travel along the free surface of an elastic solid and produce a long wave
duration on seismographs.
- can travel only on the surface of the earth like ripples of water
- lower frequency waves
- arrive after body waves
- responsible for the destruction and damages associated with earthquakes

Love waves
❖ travel only through the lithosphere
❖ travel along the surface of the earth directly above the epicenter
❖ most damaging/most destructive
Rayleigh waves
❖ travel along the free surface of an elastic solid
❖ combination of longitudinal compressions
❖ Produces a long wave duration on seismographs

How do surface waves differ from body waves?

Surface waves travel only on the surface of the earth, while body waves can travel through the
Earth's interior.

WEEK 3 - SCIENCE: PLATE TECTONICS THEORY

Plate Tectonics Theory
❖ states that the Earth consists of slabs of crust called tectonic plates which are continuously
moving
❖ the movement of the plates explains the occurrence of volcanism, seismicity and mountaint
formation
❖ most geologic activities happen along plate boundaries

What are the lithospheric plates?

● North American Plate
● Eurasian Plate
● Juan de Fuca Plate
● Caribbean Plate
● Filipino Plate
● Arabian Plate
● Indian Plate
● Cocos Plate
● Australian Plate
● Nazca Plate
● Pacific Plate
● South American Plate
● African Plate
● Scotia Plate
● Antarctic Plate
WEEK 4 - SCIENCE: PLATE BOUNDARIES
What are the three types of plate boundaries?

● Divergent: Plates move away from each other (spreading)

● Convergent: Plates move toward each other (subduction or collision)
● Transform: Plates slide past each other (shearing)

Convergent Plate Boundaries

- Three sub types:

- Continent-Oceanic crust collision - called

SS SUBDUCTION
- Continent-Continent collision - Forms mountains, e.g.
E European Alps, the himalayas conversion of the indian
a and the eurasian plate
- Oceanic-Oceanic collision
* One oceanic plate will subduct one another
* Creates deep ocean trenches
* Creates volcanic island arcs
* Ex: the Aleutian islands in alaska or japan

Divergent Plate Boundaries - Plates that are moving away from each other
Transform Plate Boundaries - Plates that are sliding past each other
WEEK 5 - SCIENCE: DIVERGENT AND TRANSFORM
PLATE BOUNDARY
The separation oÿ plates is caused by convective ÿorces in the molten maĀma below them.

As they slowly move away from each other, this fluid basalt lava rushes and fills the gap and easily
solidifies, forming a new oceanic crust.
Oceanic- separation occurs within oceanic plates forming oceanic ridges Example - mid-atlantic
ridge

The Mid- Atlantic Ridge - Iceland sits above the Mid- Atlantic Ridge. Eventually, the island will be
moving or splitting away into two separate land masses.

Continental - separation occurs within continental plates forming rift valleys. Example: East African
Rift
● Rift Valley Example: Baikal Rift Valley (Russia
● Rift Valley Example: Rhine Rift Valley (Germany)

Transform Fault Plate Boundary

- Two adjacent plates slide horizontally past one another resulting to transform fault plate
boundary.
- Does not create nor destroy a crust
- Happens mostly on the seafloor forming oceanic fracture zones

Transform Fault Plate Boundary Faults are produced when transform boundary occurs on land.
Example: San Andreas Fault
WEEK 6 -PROCESS OF CONVERGENT PLATES
CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY
(Destructive Plate Boundary) two neighboring plates move toward each other and one
plate either dives under the other (subduction zone) or the two plates crumple (collision
zone) where they collide

CONTINENTAL-OCEANIC CONVERGENCE FEATURES

● Subduction Zone
● Volcanic Arc
● Trench

Formation of Philippine Archipelago

1. Many parts of the Philippines originated from oceanic-oceanic convergence
2. Majority of the islands of the Philippine archipelago are considered as part of the
Philippine Mobile Belt.
3. Collision of the Philippine Mobile Belt with the sundaland block of the Eurasian Plate
explains the presence of trenches such as the Manila-Negros-Cotabato trench System,
and the Sulu trench.
4.
WEEK 6 - EARTH’S MECHANISM
Seafloor spreading is a geologic process where there is a gradual addition of new oceanic
crust in the ocean floor through a volcanic activity while moving the older rocks away from
the mid-oceanic ridge. The mid-ocean ridge is where the seafloor spreading occurs, in which
tectonic plates—large slabs of Earth’s lithosphere—split apart from each other.

Seafloor spreading was proposed by an American geophysicist, Harry H. Hess in 1960

together with Robert Dietz. By the use of the sonar, Hess was able to map the ocean floor
and discovered the mid-Atlantic ridge (mid-ocean ridge). He also found out that the
temperature near to the mid-Atlantic ridge was warmer than the surface away from it. He
believed that the high temperature was due to the magma that leaked out from the ridge.
The Continental Drift Theory of Alfred Wegener in 1912 is supported by this hypothesis on
the shift position of the earth’s surface.
WEEK 7 - CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
Alfred Lothar Wegener hypothesized in 1912 that the continents are slowly drifting
around the earth and is once a large landmass called Pangaea, a Greek word which
means ''All Earth"

Fossils are preserved remains or traces of organisms (plants and animals) from the
remote past

Fossilized leaves of an extinct plant Glossopteris were found in 250 million years old
rocks. These fossils were located in the continents of Southern Africa, Australia, India
and Antarctica, which are now separated from each other by wide oceans. The large
seed of this plant could not possibly travel a long journey by the wind or survive a rough
ride through ocean waves

Mesosaurus and Lystosaurus are freshwater reptiles. Fossils of these animals were
discovered in diff continents, such as in South America and Africa. It is impossible for
these reptiles to swim over the vast oceans and move from one continent to another.
Fossils were also found in Antarctica
Fossils found in rocks support the continental drift theory. The rocks themselves also
provide evidence that continents drifted apart from each other.

Rock formations in africa line up with that in south america as if it was a long mountain
range

Coal beds were formed from the compaction and decomposition of swamp plants that
lived million of years ago. Coal beds were discovered in south america, africa, indian
subcontinent, southeast asia and even in antarctica

The current location of Antarctica could not sustain a substantial amount of life. If there
is a substantial quantity of coal in it, thus, it only means that Antarctica must have been
positioned in a part of the Earth where it once supported large quantities of life. This
leads to the idea that Antarctica once experienced a tropical climate, thus, it might have
been closer before to the equator.

Some of the most telling climatological evidence comes from the continents of South
America, Africa, India, and Australia. All of these continents show evidence of past
glaciation. This evidence comes in the form of glacial striations.
Alfred Lothar Wegener was the main proponent of the Continental Drift Theory that
states that continents were once connected as a big landmass called Pangaea, which
means “all Earth”

Continental Drift Theory was being supported by the following evidence:

1. Shapes or matching edges of continents
2. Fossil evidence
3. Matching rocks
4. Coal deposits
5. Ancient climates
6. Glacial carvings/striations