Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Geology

Earth's Dynamic Processes and Landforms

The displacement of lithospheric plates is responsible for the construction of Earth's relief, through the formation of mountain ranges and mid-ocean ridges. This movement also causes significant deformation of rocks.

Lithospheric Plate Movement

Formation of Mountain Ranges

Areas of collision between two plates are subjected to immense pressure, which compresses sediments, causing them to fold and form towering mountains.

Mid-Ocean Ridges

Mid-ocean ridges are large submarine elevations located in the middle of oceans, where magma flows through a central groove called a rift.

Oceanic Trenches

Oceanic trenches are deep depressions found along the coasts of oceanic islands and continents, representing the deepest... Continue reading "Earth's Geological Dynamics: Landforms, Rocks, and Cycles" »

Wilson Cycle

1. Hot mantle materials rise, causing the crust to fracture due to its rigidity. The fractures allow magma to output, and blocks of the lithosphere move, initiating the formation of an intracontinental rift valley.
2. The expansion of the ocean floor creates a narrow sea.
3. The growth of the seafloor allows the development of a mature ocean basin. Stable continental margins are limited by the basin's floor, where an important place of sediment deposition occurs.
4. The stable continental margins become active when the oceanic lithosphere begins to sink in subduction.
5. The reduction of the ocean is very evident. Marginal ranges are formed on active continental margins.
6. The oceanic lithosphere continues to subduct and sink until the ocean is completely

Classifying Energy Sources

Non-Renewable Energy

Energy sources available in limited quantities that are consumed much faster than they form.

Fossil Fuels

• Coal: A mineral fossil fuel originating from the decomposition of buried plant matter, accumulated over millions of years. Today, it's primarily used as fuel to produce thermal energy.
• Oil: A thick, dark, oily liquid formed from the decomposition of plant and animal remains buried for millions of years. It has a high calorific value, is relatively easy to extract and transport, and is used to generate electricity and produce materials like plastics and paints.
• Natural Gas: Has a similar origin and formation process to oil, often found together in deposits (jaciments). It's used as fuel or as a feedstock

Coastal Landforms

Coastal Dunes

Besides being in the desert, dunes can also form in coastal areas.

Coastal Dynamics

Coastal Erosion

Coastal relief is modeled by the action of waves, tides, and coastal currents. Waves constantly erode rocky shore areas. By hitting the weakest areas, they form caves, which can cause the gradual erosion of rocks. The resistance of rocks to erosion provokes the formation of arches. The remaining areas are gaps and islets. Rocks erode more easily when they are softer, which can lead to the formation of bays.

Coastal Sedimentation

Sand flats are made of material torn from the cliffs by the waves, materials transported by rivers, and shell fragments left by organisms. The larger sediments are deposited at the bottom of the... Continue reading "Coastal and Karst Landforms" »

The Organization

The organization is a graphical representation of the formal structure of a company. Classes of organization are divided according to:

• Information: Intended to provide an overview of the company.
• Structure-analytical charts: Designed to understand the total structure, including organizational units, reflecting the integrated relationships.

Extension

• General organization: Reflects the overall organizational structure of the company.
• Organization: Concerns a specific business department.

Content

• Organizational Structure: Represents the various units of the company and its relationships.
• Organizational Functionals: Represents the functions of each organizational entity.
• Personal: Indicates the units represented, their rank, and the name

Bathroom Safety Zones

Understanding V0, V1, V2, and V3 Zones

V0 Zone

With Bathtub or Shower Head: Inside the bathtub or shower enclosure.

Without Shower Head and with Fixed Plate: Bounded horizontally by the edges of the plate and vertically from the floor to 0.05m above the floor.

With Movable Shower Head: Bounded by a vertical plane with a 1.2m radius around the water outlet, effectively enclosing the area intended to be occupied by the user.

With Fixed Shower Head: Bounded by a vertical plane with a 0.6m radius around the shower head.

V1 Zone

Extends horizontally 2.25m from the V0 zone and vertically from the floor to 2.25m above the floor. This includes the space accessible without tools.

With Movable Shower Head: Limited by a vertical plane with... Continue reading "Bathroom Safety Zones for Shower and Tub Installations" »

Stone Age: The materials Palaeolithic people used to make their first tools belonged to a set of rocks and minerals with little variety, but with certain properties in common: hard, tough, fragile, and exhibiting a conchoidal fracture. The variety lies in their composition of silicon compounds. In some areas where materials were inaccessible, siliceous stems were used, such as caliza. At first, these tools were crude, but later the technique was perfected to fabricate more complex tools. In the Lower Paleolithic, fire was discovered. This allowed humans to move from simple exploitation and the precarious nature of processing activities. With Homo sapiens came the apogee of Paleolithic technology, developing "carving techniques" and using other... Continue reading "Stone Age to Metal Age: Tools, Materials, and Technological Advancements" »

Pollution

What is contamination? Where does it come from?

The causes of this decline in environmental quality are due to the economic growth model, the growth of the population, and the lack of control over ecological damage. Pollution is any substance or energy that causes loss or damage to property of any kind. Contamination may have different origins: natural sources of pollution and contamination from artificial sources. Man-made pollution is the most common, and we can further control it. It can affect the soil, water, and air, and therefore all living beings.

Air Pollution

We speak of air pollution when certain substances or forms of energy reach above-normal concentrations in the air.

Contamination is emitted into the atmosphere. Control... Continue reading "Understanding Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions" »

Key Influences on Aquinas

The primary influence on Aquinas was Aristotle. His hylomorphic theory, which posits that the soul and body form a single substance, significantly impacted Aquinas's anthropology and epistemology. This concept addresses the structure and order of beings, applying even to God as the total and ultimate being. Aquinas also drew from Aristotle's understanding of knowledge, which begins with sensory experience and progresses through abstraction to universal knowledge. Furthermore, Aristotle's ethical framework, which emphasizes happiness as the ultimate goal and virtues as the means to achieve it, influenced Aquinas. The study of natural pathology also stems from Aristotle, further developed by Albertus Magnus.

Aquinas was... Continue reading "Aquinas' Influences: Philosophy, Theology, and Natural Law" »

Immanuel Kant's Approach to Metaphysics

Human reason is harassed by questions that it cannot answer, as they surpass its faculties. These are the questions posed by metaphysics. Kant believes that understanding is capable of developing a universally valid science. He was a rationalist but, thanks to his awakening from dogmatic slumber, he also recognized the importance of experience. Kant distinguishes between two types of knowledge conditions: empirical knowledge, the origin of form, and formal knowledge, which adds data to experience.

Kant asks: Is metaphysics a science? We know that knowledge is scientific when it progresses, building on what other scientists have accomplished, and when there is a consensus among scientists. If metaphysics... Continue reading "Immanuel Kant's Philosophy: Metaphysics and Knowledge" »