The Geosphere

Mount Rainier, Washington, USA, part of the Cascades volcanic arc, formed when water released from a downgoing slab of Pacific Ocean floor causes melting in the overlying Mantle. Viewed at sunrise while approaching Seattle WA. Mount St. Helen’s can be seen in the background.  JWF Waldron CC BY-SA-NC

In this part of the book, we examine the solid Earth, the Geosphere. We begin by looking at the great diversity of chemical substances — minerals — that make up the Geosphere. Then we look at the mixtures of minerals — rocks — that are found in the Earth’s crust, and learn how they are recycled over geologic time, the next topic. Then, we examine the tectonic system – the dynamic processes that move plates around and create new rocks from old. Finally, we take a look at tectonic settings, and how they have produced materials that humans have used over recorded history.

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Planet Earth Copyright © 2024 by John W.F. Waldron is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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