3A8 week 01 lecture 01 planet earth

Geology for Engineers Planet Earth Organisation • 30 Lectures: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 10-11am, M17 • Practicals: Tuesday afternoon, Main Lab Geology • Field Trip: Killiney (date to be confirmed), full afternoon • See course website for full details! Assessment • hour exam • All the material taught in the course, including practicals and field-trip, is examinable!!! • Answer out of questions • set by PB + QC, by BM • See past exam papers for examples! Course Notes Recommended 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 Formation 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 Formation of the Solar System protostar planetesimals www.jwst.nasa.gov/birth.html circumstellar disk home Credit: Shu et al 1987 Composition 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 Composition 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 The Asteroids www.aerospaceweb.org/ Composition 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) [...]... similar to that of Earth Composition 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 The Asteroids... 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 Formation of the Solar System protostar planetesimals www.jwst.nasa.gov/birth.html circumstellar disk home Credit: Shu et al 1987 Composition of the Solar System • Jovian planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune – Large masses & low densities... composition – i.e no iron core and silicate mantle as in Earth The Asteroids www.aerospaceweb.org/ Composition 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