Analysing Earth and Its Subsystems Essay

One of the biggest tectonic events that has an effect on the earth climate is volcanic activity.

The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s lithosphere (top layer of the Earth’s crust) is split up into rigid sections called plates that are moving relative to one another as they move on top of the underlying semi-molten mantle. These plates are either continental, The North American Plate, or oceanic, The Nazca Plate.

Often the two become confused: lives and human tragedy are considered a product, something that will engender interest and thereby generate revenue. The greater the suffering, the more successful the program and the greater market share.

Plate Tectonics is a scientific theory which study how the Earth’s plates are driven and shaped by geological forces to keep them in constant movement. The theory explains the present-day tectonic behavior of the Earth, particularly the global distribution of mountain building, earthquake activity, and volcanism in a series of linear belt. (Pitman, W.C., 2007)

The theory of plate tectonics states that Earth’s outer shell is divided into plates. The crust and upper mantle is broken into plates that move around on the mantle, changing in size throughout time. The lithosphere makes up the crust and upper mantle and the asthenosphere a plastic like layer beneath the lithosphere. There are three types of plate boundaries. Divergent boundaries where two plates move away from each other. The ocean widens and new crust forms at the mid-oceanic ridge. Convergent boundaries has three types of converging, moving two plates towards each other. First we have an ocean floor plate that collides with a less dense continental plate. Next an ocean floor plate collides with another ocean floor plate. Finally a continental plate collides with another continental plate. Transform boundaries were two plates slide past one another. The resulting effects of plate tectonics is landforms such as rift valleys,

The science that is connected with planet earth encompasses geosciences or earth science among others. Containing old histories, this is considered as a part of planetary science while it possesses holistic and reductionist approaches in the science of the planet Earth. This discipline can cope with lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere or hydrosphere. Quantitative understanding has been developed by the scientists to understand the ground systems with the tools by mathematics, physics, chronology, biology, chemistry alike that help to know how the universe is evolved.

The Earth has been experiencing a considerable amount of climate change for the last several decades. Natural factors that contribute to the climate system consist of: solar output, volcanic activity and earth’s orbit around the sun. The two factors relevant on timescales of contemporary climate exist in volcanic activity and changes in solar radiation. The earth’s energy balance primarily influences the amount of incoming energy from volcanic eruptions, which have a relatively short-term effect on climate. Changes in solar output have contributed greatly to climate trends over the past century. The effect of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has been at least ten times that of changes in the Sun’s output and the ocean covers more than 70 percent of the earth’s surface, receiving twice the amount of earth’s radiation. Although the sun is the engine that drives all the weather, oceans and atmosphere control the sun 's energy along certain

Plate tectonics is the scientific theory that attempts to explain the movements of the Earth's lithosphere that have formed the landscape features we see across the globe today” (Briney). Geology defines “plate” as a large slab of solid rock, and “tectonics” is part of the Greek root word for “to build.” Together the words define how the Earth’s surface is built up of moving plates. The theory of plate tectonics dictates that individual plates, broken down into large and small sections of rock, form Earth’s lithosphere. These fragmented bodies of rock move along each other atop the Earth’s liquid lower mantle to create the plate boundaries that have shaped Earth’s landscape. Plate tectonics originated from meteorologist Alfred Wegener’s theory, developed in the early 20th century. In 1912, he realized that the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa appeared to piece together like a jigsaw puzzle. He further examined the globe and deduced that all of Earth’s continents could somehow be assembled together and proposed the idea that the continents had once been linked in a single supercontinent called Pangaea. To explain today’s position of the continents, Wegener theorized that they began to drift apart approximately 300 million years ago. This theory

Earth's plates and continents do not always just stay in one place. They shift, collide, and move apart, causing destruction in many different parts of the world. The movement of plates causes volcanic eruptions, changes in the oceans, and perhaps the most dangerous of all, earthquakes. Earthquakes may have the most devastating effects on people and cities.

Scientist know the earth has undergone a series of ice ages that last for millions of years. We are in the Cenozoic period, which has seen ice ages from 36, 15, and 3 million years ago, with the most recent glacier development peaking about 20,000 years ago during the Ice Age. Scientists believe that during the first two steps of this cooling, the yearly average air temperature in North America dropped by about 12 degree Celsius, a shift that would have had immediate effects on the plants, animals, and ecosystems of the continent. Scientists also feel confident that the movements of continental plates affects climate by altering the contours of the earth and seabed. By altering the earth’s surface, plate tectonics might also affect the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For example, a volcanic explosion will create more carbon dioxide through a degassing process, but will cut down on emissions by burying organic material that normally releases carbon dioxide as it decays. Plate tectonics might also alter greenhouse gas concentrations when mountains are created, exposing silicate rocks which also release carbon dioxide through

Vast volcanic eruptions split Rodinia apart, melted snowball earth, and put CO2 in the air causing the greenhouse effect.

Tectonic plates never stop moving and continue to change the surface of the earth in present day. The movement of tectonic plates is the main reason for the formation of the Panama Isthmus with an arc of islands that eventually connected to create a link between North and South America. With the Panama Isthmus came many changes to the world. Animals were introduced to new areas. Fossil records help scientists understand what animals made their way across the land bridge into both Americas. The closing of the link between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans altered the environment and climate of the world. The world today would be very different if the isthmus had not formed; with tectonic plates in constant motion, the world will continue to change and be completely different in the future than it is today.

The Queensland Theatre Company’s rendition of ‘The Wider Earth’ was a highly captivating piece of theatre, which recounted the scientific visionary, Charles Darwin’s voyage on the HMS beagle. Through the extensive manipulation of dramatic languages, in which ritualistic movement, characterisation, tension of relationship, and symbolism were all employed in order to achieve the company’s artistic director, Sam Strong’s aims to have “the cast beautifully transform the various historical and fictional characters into three dimensional human beings.”

Earth is in fact an intricate planet that has multiple layers of differing compositions. To be exact the earth has four main layers. The uppermost layer is the one humans come in most contact with, the crust. The crust consists of “thin silicate rock material”(Structure of the). Although the crust is not entirely the same. Actually there are two distinct types of crust, oceanic and continental. “The continental crust is made up of mostly rocks similar to granite while the oceanic crust is much denser and made up of a material similar to basalt”(Structure of the, Rose). The second layer is called the mantle. “The mantle is much denser than the crust and contains similar to the crust mostly solid silicate crust”(Structure of the). “As we travel further down the earth we wind up in the outer core. The outer core is a core of molten nickel and iron. Finally there’s the inner core. The inner is a solid metal core made up of nickel and iron”(Structure of the). All these layers functioning together cast out a magnetic

When collisions between plates occur, the crust is pushed up sometimes forming ranges of mountains. This is the way that most