Learn More About the Science of Geology

Learn More About the Science of Geology What is geology? It is the study of the Earth, its substances, shapes, processes, and history. There are several different components that geologists study with regard to this fascinating field. Minerals Minerals are natural, inorganic solids with a consistent composition. Each mineral also has a unique arrangement of atoms, expressed in its crystal form (or habit) and its hardness, fracture, color, and other properties. Organic natural substances, like petroleum or amber, are not called minerals. Minerals of exceptional beauty and durability are called gemstones (as are a few rocks). Other minerals are sources of metals,  chemicals  and fertilizers. Petroleum is a source of energy and chemical feedstocks. All of these are described as mineral resources. Rocks Rocks are solid mixtures of at least one mineral. While minerals have crystals and chemical formulas, rocks instead have textures and mineral compositions. On that basis, rocks are divided into three classes reflecting three environments: igneous rocks come from a hot melt, sedimentary rocks from accumulation and burial of sediment, metamorphic rocks from altering other rocks by heat and pressure. This classification points to an active Earth that circulates matter through the three rock classes, on the surface and underground, in what is called the rock cycle. Rocks are important as ores- economic sources of useful minerals. Coal is a rock that is a source of energy. Other rock types are useful as building stone, crushed stone and raw material for concrete. Still others serve for toolmaking, from the stone knives of our prehuman ancestors to the chalk used by artists today. All of these, too, are considered mineral resources. Fossils Fossils are signs of living things that are found in many sedimentary rocks. They may be impressions of an organism, casts in which minerals have replaced its body parts, or even remnants of its actual substance Fossils also include tracks, burrows, nests, and other indirect signs. Fossils and their sedimentary environments are vivid clues about the former Earth and what living there was like. Geologists have compiled a fossil record of ancient life stretching hundreds of millions of years into the past. Fossils have practical value because they change throughout the rock column. The exact mix of fossils serves to identify and correlate rock units in widely separated places, even in the grit pumped up from  drill holes. The geologic time scale is based almost entirely on fossils supplemented with other dating methods. With  it,  we can confidently compare sedimentary rocks from everywhere in the world. Fossils are also resources, valuable as museum attractions and as collectibles, and their commerce is increasingly regulated. Landforms, Structures and Maps Landforms in all their variety are products of the rock cycle, built of rocks and sediment. They were shaped by erosion and other processes. Landforms give testimony of the environments that built and altered them in the geologic past, such as ice ages. From mountains and water bodies to caves to the sculpted features of the beach and seafloor, landforms are clues into the Earth beneath them. Structure is an important part of studying rock outcrops. Most parts of the Earths crust are warped, bent and buckled to some extent. The geologic signs of this jointing, folding, faulting, rock textures, and unconformities help in assessing structure, as do measurements of the slopes and orientation of rock beds. Structure in the subsurface is important for water supply. Geologic maps are an efficient database of geologic information on rocks, landforms and structure.   Geologic Processes and Hazards Geologic processes drive the rock cycle to create landforms, structures and fossils. They include erosion, deposition, fossilization, faulting, uplift, metamorphism, and volcanism. Geologic hazards are powerful expressions of geologic processes. Landslides, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, climate change, flooding and cosmic impacts are extreme examples of ordinary things. Understanding the underlying geologic processes is a key part of mitigating geologic hazards.   Tectonics and Earth History Tectonics is geologic activity on the largest scale. As geologists mapped the worlds rocks, untangled the fossil record and studied geologic features and processes, they began to raise and answer questions about tectonics the life cycle of mountain ranges and volcanic chains, motions of continents, the rise and fall of the ocean, and how the mantle and core operate. Plate-tectonic theory, which explains tectonics as the motions in Earths outer broken skin, has revolutionized geology, enabling us to study everything on Earth in a unified framework. Earth history is the story that minerals, rocks, fossils, landforms, and tectonics tell. Fossil studies, in combination with gene-based techniques, yield a consistent evolutionary history of life on Earth. The Phanerozoic Eon (age of fossils) of the last 550 million years is well mapped as a time of expanding life punctuated by mass extinctions. The previous four billion years, the Precambrian time, is being revealed as an age of enormous changes in the atmosphere, oceans and continents. Geology Is Civilization Geology is interesting as a pure science, but Professor Jim Hawkins at Scripps Institution of Oceanography tells his classes something even better: Rocks are money! What he means is that civilization rests on rocks: Society relies on a good supply of Earth products.For every structure we build, we need to know about the ground it sits on.Our food and fiber come from soil, a thin biogeochemical layer of incredible complexity.Protection against geologic hazards depends on our understanding of them.

Miracles Stories Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Miracles Stories - Coursework Example In the case of the Bible it indicates the presence God. The early church told the miracle stories to one another to remind themselves of the signs that Jesus had shown them while he was still with them. This would in turn give them hope of better days to come. The early church was also being persecuted at the time, so telling the miracle stories reminded them that through the miracles they could defeat their enemies and spread the word as Christ had promised. There are four main different types of miracles that are shown in the gospels are; the signs of the kingdom, healing miracles, exorcisms and nature miracles. The sign of the kingdom is depicted in the life of Jesus Christ, who is the son of god born to humanity and lived like any other human. By coming to the humanity, Christ shows the presence of the kingdom of God. His resurrection and ascension also depicts the presence of the kingdom. Healing miracles are shown when Jesus heals the sick and raises the death for instance the story of Lazarus and many others who were healed. Exorcisms are miracles shown when Jesus drives away evil spirits that possess people, for instance, the evil spirit that was expelled into swines. Nature miracles are shown in the book of Matthew when Jesus rebuked a storm and it stopped just from the words spoken by Jesus. In the book of Luke chapter 8 from verse 41, there are the miracles of raising Jairus daughter and the healing of the woman with hemorrhage. As Jesus was coming Jairus came to him with information that his child was sick and asked him to accompany him to his house to heal the girl. As they were going the crowds were pressing on him and the woman with hemorrhage came and touched his cloth, and he felt power go away. On arrival to Jairus house they were informed that the girl had died, but Jesus said that he was asleep and went in and raised

Asia In The World Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Asia In The World Economy - Research Paper Example During the late 2008, Yen began to appreciate sharply against dollar and was valued at 86.15 yen in 2009. At the end of 2010, the yen was rated at 88.66 yen. (Source: World Data Bank) The real effective exchange rate as seen from the graph has remained volatile between 1980s and 1990s. During the era of 2000 and forward, the value of yen has declined. It has been going down from the price of 120 dropping to 80. After the financial crisis of 2007-2008, the yen is seen to gain value and is rising till date. Japan’s real exchange rate has appreciated over the years due to the rapid increase in the high-productive manufacturing sector. Trends in Japanese Exports – in terms of value and composition (Source: World Data Bank) The exports in terms of value are an important element in the present Japanese economic adjustment. The structure of exports as well as imports has changed considerably over the years. The above graph shows the trends in exports value since 1980 till date . There has been a constant growth in exports since 1980s till 2000 with minor fluctuations in between. These exports can be attributed to the increase in IT-related goods, consumer goods and US been the largest trading partner. (Source: Statistical Handbook of Japan, 2010) According to the composition of exports, the leading export commodity was transport equipment which is 22% of the total exported value. It is followed by electrical machinery constituting 20% and general machinery 17.8% of total value exported. Another interesting characteristic of Japanese export is the increased proportion of high-value added products such as integrated circuits and steel which are increasing in total Japanese exports. Relationship between exchange rate (nominal and real) and exports The changes in trade surplus, given by the difference in value of exports and imports, are influenced by price changes. Appreciating yen will lower the price of imports relative to exports causing the trade balance to be higher. Given this condition, during 1990s the yen appreciated 20% causing more imports and fewer exports. This affected the competitive price position of Japanese exports in foreign markets. The Japanese trade and exchange rate are very closely related. The real exchange rate of yen is highly positively correlated to Japanese trade and specifically exports price relative to import prices. For instance, between 1990 and 1995, the yen appreciated by 40% against dollars. If the prices of yen and dollar would have remained the same, Japanese products would have been 40% more expensive in comparison to US goods. The government intervention to cut down yen export prices and shifting to manufacturing high-value goods helped the growth of Japanese exports during the 1990s. The export volume grew annually at a rate of 5% through 1990 and 1995. The Japanese exports took a downfall in late 1990s owing to the drop in sales in the European market which is large enough to drop the Japanes e exports by 10%. In 2003, when the nominal yen/dollar exchange rate was at 120, the exports rose rapidly which again declined in 2007-2008 because of the financial crisis which cause the appreciation of yen below 90 to dollar. This caused the Japanese exports to fall drastically. Impact of the Plaza Accord In 1985, the G-5 nations including Japan forced United States to devalue dollar because of the current account deficit. The G-5 nations were

Blindness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Blindness - Essay Example Some of the causes include infections, injuries, lack of glasses, trauma, etc. Blind students are also taught using various technologies, including Braille and assistive computer technology. These technologies enable students to read and listen to lecture notes, presentations, course materials and other reading materials. Causes of blindness depend on the socioeconomic conditions to which a person is exposed. They include causes that affect the eye directly and those that affect visual processing centres like the brain. In developed economies, the primary causes of blindness include macular degeneration, traumatic injuries and ocular diabetes complications. In developing and underdeveloped nations blindness is caused primarily by infections, glaucoma, lack of glasses, injury, and cataracts. Some of the infections that lead to blindness in underdeveloped countries include onchocerciasis (river blindness), leprosy and trachoma. The herpes simplex is the most common cause of blindness in developed countries. There are also other causes of blindness such as retinopathy, deficiency of vitamin A, diseases affective the retina or optic nerve e.g. stroke, inflammation, eye malignancies, abnormalities of the congenital, hereditary eye diseases, and chemical poisoning. According to Bourne et al (2013), catarac ts and macular degeneration are the leading causes of blindness. Cataracts affect people from developing and underdeveloped world while macular degeneration mainly affects people from developed countries. Blindness can also be caused by amblyopia, or the lazy eye. This refers to the condition in which a child is born with poorer vision in one eye than the other (NIH Medline Plus, 2015). Untreated amblyopia leads to vision loss and blindness. As the child grows, the brain ignores images from the affected eye, leading to loss of vision in that eye as the child enters teenage stage of life. The condition starts when one of the child’s eyes develops a

Forensics with UNIX. Prepaid Cell Phones Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Forensics with UNIX. Prepaid Cell Phones - Essay Example One of the most common differences between the UNIX system and Microsoft Windows is the security characteristics in the system design. In most cases, organizations can be drawn into computer investigations even without their will. However, most digital investigations that involve the computer are not successful because of the mistakes that are made in an early stage. One of the most common predicaments is the destruction, compromising and ignoring of digital evidence. This can create a serious crisis within the victim organization (Perrin 2010). Therefore, this crisis is supposed to be managed appropriately in order to ensure a successful digital investigation. The executive individuals in a corporation are supposed to have the capability of devising a corporate plan in the organization. This corporate plan should cover various risks including management structures, resourcing, core procedures, risk analysis and management aims. According to this information, UNIX is a user-friendly system in digital investigation as compared to Microsoft Windows (Sommer 2012). The main difference in the design and the security level of Microsoft Windows and UNIX illustrates one of the crucial and distinct. As stated above, this difference is based on the philosophy of the security level in the design of the operating systems. ... Lastly, the evidence must also satisfy the conditions that are set up by the legal tests of acceptability performed on the systems. UNIX has become one of the well known system targets that have attracted digital investigation. References Perrin, C 2010, UNIX vs. Microsoft Windows: How system designs reflect security philosophy, viewed 4 Oct 2012, http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/unix-vs-microsoft-windows-how-system-designs-reflect-security-philosophy/4627 Sommer, P 2012, Digital evidence, digital investigations and E-disclosure: A guide to forensic readiness for organizations, security advisers and lawyers, viewed 4 Oct 2012, http://www.iaac.org.uk/_media/DigitalInvestigations2012.pdf Week 5 DQ2: prepaid cell phones Recent research proves that the cellular phones have become exceedingly valuable for the human beings. This device can be used by all age groups to assist them with their life styles. The mobile phones have also topped the chart in social interaction. A prepaid cell phone is defined as a mobile phone which uses credit that has already been purchased in advance for the use of the mobile services (Virgin Mobile 2012). In this case, the purchased credit caters for all the mobile phone services that are accessed by the handler of the phone. The users usually top up their credit through several techniques depending of the payment mechanisms. In the contemporary world, the prepaid cell phones are slowly evolving to a social event. This is because the device can be used for several purposes (Barit 2012). It is quite clear that the prepaid phones have a lower cost since; it is easier to control spending. However, the prepaid customers sometimes pay more for the mobile services depending on what they do with their phones.

Action Research - Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Action Research - - Assignment Example I have gained confidence while in class. I find duty delegation to be one of my strongholds in managing students. I have constantly built on this vice without considering the credibility of my objectives. However, some of my classes have been affected by late arrival of students, murmuring among students and absenteeism. In my career as a teacher, I am perplexed by fact that teachers are expected to effectively manage classroom arrangement which is independent of good student behavior but due to poor planning. Classroom arrangement requires that the teacher observe all the students at ago and monitor their behavior and work. It also demands that teacher must see the door while in his or her desk. Furthermore, teachers should make sure that frequently used areas are easily accessible and unobstructed. In addition, common classroom materials such as student reference materials and attendance pads should be availed. As if to make it worse, the students should be able to see the teacher without movement and undue turning. Furthermore, setting the expectation of students and periodically talking to them is very difficult. In addition, monitoring the degree by which students comply with school rules and regulations is one of the irritating outcomes as a teacher. The use of teacher led instructions and explaining school wide regulations is a source of irritation. What can I do about it? Again and again I get angry about the fact that students are held accountable for their performance and work. In addition, I get angry by the fact that focus of students is centered on academic purpose while learning is considered as the core purpose of students’ effort. As a teacher, if there is disruptive behavior like fighting, possession of drugs continuous lesson interruption stealing in my class and later actions taken in accordance to the school rules and

AS Unit F911- Communication in care settings Coursework

AS Unit F911- Communication in care settings - Coursework Example The receiver must then respond to the message given to them. As an example, when the practitioner wants to convey information about a particular health situation, they may first tell the patient the condition that they have found through testing and other means. They may next send the family to a website that gives more information about the disease or condition, and they would probably provide written handouts about the disease or condition. These are all effective ways of communicating to the patient. Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication, also known as body language, is a type of communication that people convey to one another on an unconscious level. This level of communication goes back and forth between two people who are talking to each other all the time. As an example, an individual may be sending a verbal message to another person. Person one is conveying the information and person two is listening. If person two does not like what person one is saying, or they ar e feeling uncomfortable with what is being said, they may cross their arms. This is a signal to the other person that something is going wrong with how person two is receiving the message. If person one recognizes the body language, they can ask the individual if they are feeling uncomfortable and they can talk more about the issue so that person two finds a better comfort level. Nonverbal communication is a system of cues from one person to another and there are fiver roles they can play (Segal, 2011): 1. Nonverbal communication can repeat a verbal message or add emphasis to it. Often, people will use hand gestures as they are trying to make a specific point which can add emphasis to what is being said. 2. Noverbal communication can contradict what an individual is trying to say. For example, the individual may be saying that they are happy about a situation when in fact, they are feeling nervous. Their eyes or the fact that they are fidgeting may show that they are uncomfortable w ith what is being said. 3. Nonverbal communication can substitute for a verbal expression. As an example, when sending a message of empathy, showing empathy with the eyes, or with a warm smile can convey more than stating how someone feels about a situation. 4. Nonverbal communication can compliment what is being said. A caregiver who rubs the back of someone who is feeling depressed while they are telling them not to worry can be comforting to the individual hearing the message of bad news. 5. Nonverbal communication can also add an accent to the communication. As an example, someone pounding their fist on the table while conveying anger would accent the message that was given. Nonverbal communication is essential to an understanding in patient care because the practitioner must understand how to read the body language of their patients and/or the family so they can better serve their needs. Verbal Communication Most people are familiar with verbal communication because it is how w e talk to each other. Verbal communication can be quiet or loud and it can serve the purpose of getting information across to a patient and/or their family members. When verbally communicating in care settings it is important to use simple language, make sure that the pace of the conversation is not too fast or slow and it is important to use short sentences (NVQ Made Simple, 2010). The reason these things are important is