Portal:Earth sciences

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Introduction

Earth sciences (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or Earth Science) is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is a special type of planetary science which deals with the structure and composition of the Earth, its origins, physical features, changing aspects, and all of its natural phenomena. Earth is the only planet known to have life, and hence the only planet with biological processes and a biosphere.

The major disciplines of Earth sciences use physics, mathematics, and chemistry to build a quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of the Earth system. As in many sciences, the Earth can be studied both experimentally and theoretically. Also, there are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth Science.

Although mining and precious stones have been human interests throughout the history of civilization, their development into the sciences of economic geology and mineralogy did not occur until the 18th century. The study of the earth, particularly palaeontology, blossomed in the 19th century and the growth of other disciplines like geophysics in the 20th century led to the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s, which has had a similar impact on the Earth sciences as the theory of evolution had on biology. Earth sciences today are closely linked to climate research and the petroleum and mineral exploration industries.

Applications of Earth sciences include the exploration and exploitation of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, cartography, weather forecasting patterns, and warning of volcanic eruptions. Earth sciences are related to the environmental sciences as well as the other subfields of planetary astronomy.

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Selected article

Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, at the intersection of the borders of the provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga. Ancestral Pinatubo was a stratovolcano made of andesite and dacite. Before 1991, the mountain was inconspicuous and heavily eroded. It was covered in dense forest which supported a population of several thousand indigenous people, the Aeta, who had fled to the mountains from the lowlands when the Spanish conquered the Philippines in 1565. The volcano's eruption in June 1991, more than 490 years after the last known eruptive activity, produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century. Successful predictions of the onset of the climactic eruption led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from the surrounding areas, saving many lives, but as the surrounding areas were severely damaged by pyroclastic flows, ash deposits, and later, lahars caused by rainwater remobilising earlier volcanic deposits, thousands of houses were destroyed. The effects of the eruption were felt worldwide. It ejected roughly 10 billion metric tons of magma, and 20 million tons of SO₂, bringing vast quantities of minerals and metals to the surface environment. It injected large amounts of aerosols into the stratosphere—more than any eruption since that of Krakatoa in 1883. Over the following months, the aerosols formed a global layer of sulfuric acid haze. Global temperatures dropped by about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F), and ozone destruction increased substantially.

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Selected picture

A 2002 eruption of Mount Etna, a volcano on the Italian island of Sicily, viewed from the International Space Station

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Did you know?

Ojos del Salado

• ...that Ojos del Salado (as pictured) is the highest volcano on Earth?
• ...that the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory was originally built to study fluctuations in Earth's magnetic field?
• ...that Atlantic hurricane reanalysis is an ongoing project within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which seeks to correct and add new information about past Atlantic tropical cyclones?
• ...that Robert Case, a National Weather Service meteorologist, dubbed the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter "The Perfect Storm"?
• ...that the 1912 Novarupta eruption of Mount Katmai was the largest of the 20th century?

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• Rocks and Minerals
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See also

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• History of Science
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Quality content

Featured articles

Featured articles related to Earth sciences-
• 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens • 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake • Chicxulub crater • Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event • Earth • Ediacara biota • Geology of the Bryce Canyon area • Geology of the Capitol Reef area • Geology of the Lassen volcanic area • Global warming • Oil shale • Silverpit crater • Yellowstone National Park (More...)

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• Amchitka • Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve • Eldfell • Enceladus (moon) • Io (moon) • Mauna Loa • Metacomet Ridge • Mount Pinatubo • Mount St. Helens • Mount Tambora • Surtsey • Triton (moon) (More...)

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Ann Arbor, Michigan · Antarctica · Australia · Bangalore · Bangladesh · Bath, Somerset · Belgium · Bhutan · Boston, Massachusetts · Buckingham Palace · Bryce Canyon National Park · Cambodia · Canberra · Cape Horn · Carlsbad Caverns National Park · The Catlins · Cathedral of Magdeburg · Chennai · Chetwynd, British Columbia · Chew Valley Lake · City status in the United Kingdom · Cleveland, Ohio · Colditz Castle · Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve · Dawson Creek, British Columbia · Death Valley National Park · Dogpatch USA · Dorset · Eldfell · Gangtok · Geography of India · Geography of Ireland · Goa · Great Mosque of Djenné · Gyeongju · Hong Kong · India · Isan · Johannesburg · Kalimpong · Kerala · Lake Burley Griffin · Louisville, Kentucky · Malwa · Marshall, Texas · Moorgate · Mount Pinatubo · Mount Rushmore · Mount St. Helens · Mumbai · National parks of England and Wales · Nepal · Niagara Falls · Oakland Cemetery · Pakistan · Palace of Westminster · Palazzo Pitti · People's Republic of China · Piccadilly Circus · Rondane National Park · San Jose, California · Sarajevo · Sealand · Seattle, Washington · Sheffield · Shoshone National Forest · Shrine of Remembrance · Sikkim · St Kilda · South Africa · Suburbs of Johannesburg · Surtsey · Waterfall Gully, South Australia · Yellowstone National Park · Yarralumla, Australian Capital Territory · Yosemite National Park · Zambezi · Zion National Park (More...)

Featured topics

| discuss | book 18 articles 2003 Atlantic hurricane season
List of storms Timeline Tropical Storm Ana Tropical Storm Bill Hurricane Claudette Hurricane Danny Hurricane Erika Tropical Depression Nine Hurricane Fabian Tropical Storm Grace Tropical Storm Henri Hurricane Isabel (subtopic) Hurricane Juan Hurricane Kate Tropical Storm Larry Tropical Storm Nicholas Tropical Storm Odette

| discuss | book 6 articles Florida hurricanes, Lists of
Pre-1900 1900–1949 1950–1974 1975–1999 2000–present

| discuss | book 9 articles Hurricane Isabel
Effects in Canada Effects in Delaware Effects in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Effects in New Jersey Effects in New York and New England Effects in North Carolina Effects in Pennsylvania Effects in Virginia

| discuss | book 9 articles Retired Pacific hurricanes
Tropical Storm Alma Hurricane Iniki Hurricane Ioke Hurricane Ismael Hurricane Iwa Hurricane Kenna Typhoon Paka Hurricane Pauline

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Views of Earth from space and satellites

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Featured lists related to Earth science-
· Storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season · Baja California Peninsula hurricanes · California hurricanes · Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes · Category 5 Pacific hurricanes · Delaware hurricanes · Florida hurricanes · Florida hurricanes (pre-1900) · Florida hurricanes (1900–1949) · Florida hurricanes (1950–1974) · Florida hurricanes (1975–1999) · Florida hurricanes (2000–present) · New Jersey hurricanes · New York hurricanes · North Carolina hurricanes · North Carolina hurricanes (pre-1900) · North Carolina hurricanes (1900–1949) · North Carolina hurricanes (1950–1979) · North Carolina hurricanes (1980–present) · Retired Pacific hurricane names · Retired Pacific typhoon names (JMA) · Snow events in Florida · South America tropical cyclones · Storms in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season · United States hurricanes · Wettest tropical cyclones in the United States · Volcanoes in Indonesia · Canadian provinces and territories by area · Canadian provinces and territories by population · Counties of Lithuania · Indian districts · Indian state and union territory capitals · Islands of Scotland · Municipalities of Lithuania · Orkney islands · Provinces of the Philippines · Shetland islands · Provinces of Thailand · U.S. states by date of statehood · U.S. states by elevation · Municipalities of Portugal · Ohio county name etymologies · List of areas in the National Park System of the United States

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Related topics

Atmosphere	Hydrosphere	Lithosphere
Atmospheric chemistry Climatology Meteorology Hydrometeorology Paleoclimatology	Hydrology Glaciology Limnology Hydrogeology Oceanography Chemical oceanography Marine biology Marine geology Paleoceanography Physical oceanography	Geology Geochemistry Geography Geomorphology Hydrogeology Mineralogy Petrology Volcanology Speleology
Biosphere	Systems	Others
Biogeography Paleontology Palynology Micropaleontology Geomicrobiology	Environmental science Geography Human geography Physical geography Gaia hypothesis	Cartography Geoinformatics (GIS) Geophysics Geostatistics Geodesy and Surveying Soil Science Edaphology Pedology

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Related Portals

Atmospheric sciences	Weather	Tropical cyclones	Earthquakes

Sustainable development	Volcanoes	Geography	Global warming

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