Earth’s Interior: Structure, Dynamics, and Geological Processes
Methods of Studying the Earth’s Interior
Direct observation of the Earth’s materials provides very limited information. The rocks extracted are comparable to those that emerge on the surface of the Earth.
- Study of mines: 2,000 m deep.
- Polls: 7,000 m deep.
Indirect observations provide more data on the Earth’s interior.
- Erosion of mountains brings out rocks that originated in depth.
- Lavas emitted by volcanoes are made of materials originating at depths of up to 100 km.
- Meteorites fallen on Earth are considered
Essential Glossary of Geographic and Atmospheric Terms
Temperature Range
The temperature range is the difference between the highest and the lowest temperatures in a place or area during a certain period.
Anticyclone
An anticyclone is a high-pressure air zone, where the atmospheric pressure (corrected to sea level) is higher than the surrounding air.
Aridity
Aridity is drought, a lack of moisture.
Bay
A bay is an entry in a sea, ocean, or lake, surrounded by land except for an opening, usually wider than the rest of the inland penetration.
Barlovento
Barlovento
Read MoreBuilding Materials: Properties and Classification
Item 34: Introduction to Building Materials
1. Introduction
Building materials, understood as such since primitive architectural constructions appeared, are still true architectures with which humans tried to solve a fundamental building problem: to cover and close a space protected from nature. The Industrial Revolution entailed, among other things, the provision of large quantities of building materials, and even new building materials at low prices, with more uniform quality and even higher than
Read MoreGeography of Spain: Landforms, Climate, and Regions
What is Geography?
Geography is the science of human relationships with the environment in which they live. We can differentiate between economic, human, and physical geography.
Cartography
Cartography is the discipline that studies and produces maps. We can differentiate between general and thematic cartography.
Projections
Projections are based on the shadows of the meridians and parallels of a sphere left on a surface and can become flat with some deformation (cylindrical, conical, azimuthal, polar,
Read MoreEvolution: From Fossils to Modern Synthetic Theory
Fossils
Fossils are the remains of organisms or their activity that lived on Earth in times past and became preserved. The fossil record shows that many species that existed in the past no longer exist today, i.e., they are extinct. Moreover, fossils of modern organisms are not found in ancient rocks. The study of fossils reveals a process of change in living beings over time.
Comparative Anatomy
Structural similarities inherited by organisms are called homologies, and the affected organs are called
Read MoreSolar System and Earth’s Formation: A Comprehensive View
Copernicus and the Heliocentric Theory
Nicolaus Copernicus proposed that to explain the constitution of the universe, we must acknowledge that the Sun is the center of the world, a concept known as the Heliocentric Theory.
The Sun and the Milky Way
The Sun is one among the 100,000 million stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The solar system resides in one arm of the Milky Way, rotating at a speed of 760,000 Km/h. It takes 230 million years to complete one orbit, known as a galactic year.