Cracked Open and Knit Together by Oxygen

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben McFarland
Keyword(s):  
Periodic Table ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
New Energy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chemical Availability ◽  
Biological Event ◽  
Geological Event ◽  
Chemical Event

The happy insight that biology and geology meet through chemistry has been seen throughout this book when life and rocks interact. A chemical called water transformed this planet’s rocks and opened them to give life its elemental building blocks. The energy in the Earth became the energy in simple cells through chemical wheels. Sunlight split the water with the help of dissolved rocks, and the oxygen from that reaction brought yet more elements out of the rocks and into life. That insight addresses a long-standing mystery here. Long ago, the biggest biologi­cal change in the history of the planet created plant and animal life. What caused the seas to teem with weird new life? I think the periodic table connects that biological event to a previous global geological change. If so, then once again, chemical reactions opened up geology to provide new possibilities for biological complexity. Chemistry shaped the flow of geology and biology at once. The evidence for this connection is like something that happened with the ekko sculpture in northwest Scotland from Chapter 2 (Figure 2.1). After the sculpture had been built, an archaeologist dropped by and found incisions in ekko’s rocks. The archaeologist read the shape and depth of the incisions and concluded that the stones were older than everyone thought, and must have been used for a structure now lost. Like in ekko, there are “incisions” on the Earth made by massive geological processes. Geologists have read these and have concluded that a worldwide event altered the planet’s surface. This geological event was also a chemical event. Soon after, a profusion of fossils filled the rocks. This biological event was also a chemical event. The common denominator of chemistry connects the geology to the biology. The geological event provided chemicals that life used in new ways: especially oxygen, phosphorous, and calcium, resulting in new energy, shells, and signals for life. This hypothesis is that chemical availability drove the evolution of life, and that the periodic table shaped the timing of life’s greatest expansion.

A Discussion on the evolution of the Precambrian crust - Introductory remarks

1973 ◽  
Vol 273 (1235) ◽  
pp. 316-316 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early History ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Precambrian Rocks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

The realization that the behaviour of the Earth has changed radically during geological time has come about largely in the last decade. This development, which constitutes one of the major advances in geological thinking, results from the study of Precambrian phenomena in many parts of the world and in particular from the work of a small number of geochronologists. In the last ten years as large numbers of unfossiliferous Precambrian rocks have been dated, it has become clear that the nature of geological processes has varied throughout geological time and that one of the cardinal doctrines of geology - the concept that the present is the key to the past — could not be applied to the study of the early history of the Earth.

scholarly journals Main biostratigraphic stages in the Earth history. Technogenic scenarios

2013 ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
G. Rudko ◽  
P. Zagorodnyuk
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Continuous Transformation ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Catastrophe

The biostratigraphic history of the Earth as a process of continuous transformation and adaptation from the primary forms of life and till its current state had been considered in the present article.  The development of life on the Earth had started due to the changes of geological processes, changes of the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the aquatic environment, within the period of global catastrophe. As a result of more than 3.8 billion years the anthropogenic system «human – geological and related environment» was formed; it transformed the biosphere in accordance with the needs of human, creating the precedent of inconsistency between human needs and biosphere resources.  The basic scenarios of human and biosphere development within the technogene were defined. The results of studies helped to identify the biostratigraphic conditions of the Earth life. The article investigates scenarios of technogene development as well as the role of human under the conditions of intensive biosphere transformation due to the anthropogenic activities.   

Students discover the rocks and minerals that are behind the chemical elements of the Periodic Table.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natassa Detsika
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Periodic Table ◽  
Chemical Element ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Chemical Type ◽  
Scientific World ◽  
History Of

<p>This work is aimed at young people at the age of 14 to 15 years old.</p><p>The work is based on the study of the Periodic Table. Students show a great interest in learning about the history of the periodic table, as well as the details of each chemical element individually. They want to know how it was discovered, the scientist who did it, in which rock we can find it, where we use it, its properties, and much more.</p><p>Combining the two sciences, Geology and Chemistry, we make a blank Periodic Table with dimensions of 2m to 1,5m. We also make cards with the elements.</p><p>The aims are:</p><ul><li>- To help students study the periodic table through various table games and learn not only the names of chemical elements but their inseparable relationship with the Earth and man.</li> <li>- To make it clear that everything we need and use has its origins in the Earth.</li> <li>- To emphasize the origins of the chemical elements in the minerals and the rocks.</li> </ul><p>For every element there are several cards. An example is Al (Aluminum). For Al, there is a card with the chemical symbol of Al, a card with the picture of Bauxite (the rock from which we get aluminum), a card with the materials made of Al, a card with a small quiz about some of its chemical or physical properties, etc. Τhe cards have colors depending on the group that the chemical elements belong to. There are also cards with the history behind a chemical element.</p><p>Students are divided into groups, in which they then pick up different cards and try to place the chemical elements in the correct box in the periodic table.</p><p>Another game they like to play is to pick a card with the element’s symbol on and try to guess the name of the element and to associate it with the suitable mineral or rock card.</p><p>In addition, the students are given atoms and bonds simulations, as well as the chemical type of a mineral and a picture or a real part of a rock, in which we find the mineral. Their goal is to construct the mineral using the simulations and the written directions. Ιn this way, they also recognize the rocks in which the chemical elements are found.</p><p>The most interesting in the above process is that students prepare the cards themselves. Thus, they are also actively involved in the process of creating their own periodic table.</p><p>In 2019, the scientific world celebrated the 150th anniversary since the creation of the periodic table. Our students, after playing such games as the above, decided to celebrate the International Year of P.T. by painting their own periodic table on canvas.</p><p>Their work is now hanging in a central school area.</p>

Concepts of Natural Law and Time in the History of Geology

1989 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Guntau
Keyword(s):  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Natural Laws ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of Geology ◽  
Cyclic Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law

Our contemporary conceptions of time in terms of geology have developed since the Renaissance. In addition to an adequate notion of the age of the earth, these ideas include different concepts of the nature of geological processes in history. Until the 19th century the different concepts of geological time were determined by views on cyclic processes and processes which have a direction, as well as sequences of events, with or without relations between their various phases. These different aspects of geological thought have finally been incorporated into evolutionary conceptions of geohistory. Despite objective and epistemological problems, geological laws were formulated in the history of geology such as the law of superposition by Steno in 1669, the law of stratigraphy by Smith in 1799, and the law of development of the earth by Cotta in 1858. Laws of nature are interpreted as essential correlations of a general and necessary nature which exist independently of human cognition. Some fundamental geological processes have not been effective throughout the history of the earth. Presupposing that these processes were governed by natural laws as well, it is inferred that laws of nature exist over certain different periods of time. There are four possibilities of how long laws of nature, or combinations of them, can exist: (1) temporally unlimited existence, (2) existence from the beginning up to a certain point in time, (3) existence from a certain point in time up to the present time, (4) existence over a certain past period of time. Thus the science of geology shows that natural laws are of a historical nature, in that they do not exist eternally nor everywhere.

THE CONTENT OF THE ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF THE ABIOTIC EARTH SPHERES AND THE ACCOUNTING OF THEIR INDEXES IN THE CODE OF RULES FOR ENGINEERING-ECOLOGICAL SURVEYS FOR CONSTRUCTION

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
V. T. Trofimov ◽  
M. A. Kharkina
Keyword(s):  
Lower Atmosphere ◽  
Ecological Functions ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Guidance Documents ◽  
Technical Guidance

Abstract: starting with the works of V.I. Vernadsky, the history of the development of ideas about the interaction of the abiotic spheres of the Earth (upper lithosphere, pedosphere, lower atmosphere and surface hydrosphere) and the living (society, microorganisms, vegetation and land wildlife, hydrobionts (bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macrobenthos)) is presented. The modern ideas about the content of the concept "ecological functions of abiotic spheres of the Earth", including the resource, geochemical, geophysical and geodynamic, involved in the resource and energy support of life and development of biota, are formulated. Three time stages of formation of the ecological functions of abiotic spheres of the Earth are allocated and characterized. It is shown that at the third technogenic-natural stage of development of these functions, when engineering-ecological surveys are carried out, at local sites, the consequences of technogenesis are leading in the assessment of the current state of ecosystems. The interaction of the lithosphere, pedosphere, surface hydrosphere, Earth's atmosphere with each other and the technosphere is described. The issues of necessity of taking into account perception of ecological functions of the Earth in the code of rules (SP) for engineeringecological surveys and the input of new terminology are considered. It is noted that each ecological function of the abiotic spheres of the Earth is characterized by a large number of indicators of private and complex properties, the study of which has long been mandatory during engineeringecological surveys. The statistics on the composition of the work on the study of the spheres of the Earth in the technical guidance documents of different years on engineering-ecological surveys is adduced. It is stated that in the current SP 47.13330.2016 “Engineering surveys for construction. Main provisions” in terms of engineering-ecological surveys, the vast number of characteristics of ecological functions of the abiotic spheres of the Earth, including the study and evaluation of modern geological processes affecting biota are taken into account. The recommendations on improvement of technical guidance documents for engineering-ecological surveys are formulated.

scholarly journals Classic Rock Tours 1. Hutton’s Unconformity at Siccar Point, Scotland: A Guide for Visiting the Shrine on the Abyss of Time

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42
Author(s):  
Andrew Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Charles Lyell ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of Geology ◽  
De Se ◽  
History Of ◽  
Devonian Age

The angular unconformity at Siccar Point in Scotland is one of the most famous localities in the history of geology. At this spot, steeply dipping, folded turbiditic sandstone of early Silurian age is clearly overlain by subhorizontal red conglomerate, breccia and sandstone of late Devonian age. Siccar Point was not the first unconformity ever to be described or illustrated, but it is unquestionably one of the most spectacular and informative that geologists are likely to see. In June of 1788, a famous excursion by James Hutton, John Playfair and Sir James Hall first discovered this striking evidence for the cyclic nature of geological processes and the probable antiquity of the Earth. Contrary to myth, it was likely not the inspiration for Hutton’s famous phrase no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end, but Playfair’s metaphor of looking so far into the abyss of time is forever associated with this place. Siccar Point influenced many other geologists, including the young Charles Lyell, who would eventually bring the ideas of James Hutton together with those of William Smith, to build the uniformitarian paradigm that founded modern geology. Lyell’s writings would in turn influence the young Charles Darwin in his search for the reality and causes of evolution. Siccar Point is easy to visit from the historic and vibrant city of Edinburgh, and such a pilgrimage is easily combined with other sights of geological or cultural interest. Visiting the shrine involves a short coastal hike in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland. This article combines practical advice for would-be pilgrims to Siccar Point with some historical context about its pivotal role in the development of geological ideas in the enlightenment of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.RÉSUMÉLa discordance angulaire de Siccar Point en Écosse est l'une des localités les plus célèbres de l'histoire de la géologie. À cet endroit, un grès turbiditique plissé à fort pendage du début du Silurien est recouvert de conglomérats rouges subhorizontaux, de brèches et d’un grès de la fin du Dévonien. Siccar Point n'est pas la première discordance qui ait été décrite ou illustrée, mais c'est sans conteste l'une des plus spectaculaires et révélatrices que les géologues puissent voir. En juin 1788, avec leur célèbre excursion, James Hutton, John Playfair et Sir James Hall ont découvert cette preuve frappante de la nature cyclique des processus géologiques et de l`ancienneté probable de la Terre. Contrairement à ce qu'on croit, ce n'est probablement pas la fameuse phrase de Hutton « aucun vestige d'un début, aucune perspective de fin », mais la métaphore de Playfair « voir si loin dans l'abîme du temps » qui est à jamais associée à ce lieu. Siccar Point a influencé de nombreux autres géologues, y compris le jeune Charles Lyell, qui a fini par réunir les idées de James Hutton et celles de William Smith qui ont défini le paradigme uniformitariste, devenu le fondement de la géologie moderne. Les écrits de Lyell influenceront à leur tour le jeune Charles Darwin dans sa recherche de la réalité et des causes de l'évolution. Il est facile de se rendre à Siccar Point depuis cette ville chargée d'histoire et dynamique qu’est Édimbourg, et un tel pèlerinage se combine facilement avec d'autres sites d'intérêt géologique ou culturel. La visite de ce « sanctuaire » implique une courte randonnée côtière dans l'une des plus belles régions d'Écosse. Le présent article combine des conseils pratiques pour les visiteurs potentiels à Siccar Point et présente un historique de son rôle central dans le développement des idées géologiques à la fin du XVIIIe siècle et au début du XIXe siècle.

George Hoggart Toulmin: politics and geology

1978 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-481
Author(s):  
ROY PORTER
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Great Distance ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Christian View ◽  
The Social ◽  
French Enlightenment ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
History Of

The physician George Hoggart Toulmin (1754–1817) propounded his theory of the Earth in a number of works beginning with The antiquity and duration of the world (1780) and ending with his The eternity of the universe (1789). It bore many resemblances to James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth" (1788) in stressing the uniformity of Nature, the gradual destruction and recreation of the continents and the unfathomable age of the Earth. In Toulmin's view, the progress of the proper theory of the Earth and of political advancement were inseparable from each other. For he analysed the commonly accepted geological ideas of his day (which postulated that the Earth had been created at no great distance of time by God; that God had intervened in Earth history on occasions like the Deluge to punish man; and that all Nature had been fabricated by God to serve man) and argued they were symptomatic of a society trapped in ignorance and superstition, and held down by priestcraft and political tyranny. In this respect he shared the outlook of the more radical figures of the French Enlightenment such as Helvétius and the Baron d'Holbach. He believed that the advance of freedom and knowledge would bring about improved understanding of the history and nature of the Earth, as a consequence of which Man would better understand the terms of his own existence, and learn to live in peace, harmony and civilization. Yet Toulmin's hopes were tempered by his naturalistic view of the history of the Earth and of Man. For Time destroyed everything — continents and civilizations. The fundamental law of things was cyclicality not progress. This latent political conservatism and pessimism became explicit in Toulmin's volume of verse, Illustration of affection, published posthumously in 1819. In those poems he signalled his disapproval of the French Revolution and of Napoleonic imperialism. He now argued that all was for the best in the social order, and he abandoned his own earlier atheistic religious radicalism, now subscribing to a more Christian view of God. Toulmin's earlier geological views had run into considerable opposition from orthodox religious elements. They were largely ignored by the geological community in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, but were revived and reprinted by lower class radicals such as Richard Carlile. This paper is to be published in the American journal, The Journal for the History of Ideas in 1978 (in press).

Forecast of manifestations of dangerous geological processes in Dnipropetrovsk with the use of methods of aerospace remote sensing of the Earth

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 194-196
Author(s):  
V.I. Voloshin ◽  
◽  
A.S. Levenko ◽  
N.N. Peremetchik ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
The Earth
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